diff --git a/src/core/manager.c b/src/core/manager.c
index dadfc51369..37e4f70950 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.c
+++ b/src/core/manager.c
@@ -1030,7 +1030,7 @@ int manager_new(RuntimeScope runtime_scope, ManagerTestRunFlags test_run_flags,
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
 
-                self_dir_fd = open_parent(self_exe, O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY, 0);
+                self_dir_fd = open_parent(self_exe, O_CLOEXEC|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY, 0);
                 if (self_dir_fd < 0)
                         return self_dir_fd;