diff --git a/src/modbus-rtu.c b/src/modbus-rtu.c
index ebef9347..8f1ef289 100644
--- a/src/modbus-rtu.c
+++ b/src/modbus-rtu.c
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ static int _modbus_rtu_connect(modbus_t *ctx)
 
        Timeouts are ignored in canonical input mode or when the
        NONBLOCK option is set on the file via open or fcntl */
-    flags = O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NONBLOCK | O_EXCL;
+    flags = O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NONBLOCK;
 #ifdef O_CLOEXEC
     flags |= O_CLOEXEC;
 #endif