1 files changed, 2 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/coreutils/chmod.c b/coreutils/chmod.c
index 5ee45b942..a21c6d501 100644
--- a/coreutils/chmod.c
+++ b/coreutils/chmod.c
@@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ static int FAST_FUNC fileAction(const char *fileName, struct stat *statbuf, void
                 if (S_ISLNK(statbuf->st_mode))
                         return TRUE;
         }
-        newmode = statbuf->st_mode;
 
-        if (!bb_parse_mode((char *)param, &newmode))
+        newmode = bb_parse_mode((char *)param, statbuf->st_mode);
+        if (newmode == (mode_t)-1)
                 bb_error_msg_and_die("invalid mode '%s'", (char *)param);
 
         if (chmod(fileName, newmode) == 0) {