diff --git a/cmd/gaiad/cmd/testnet.go b/cmd/gaiad/cmd/testnet.go
index b8d01f9b1e8..8bccfd34966 100644
--- a/cmd/gaiad/cmd/testnet.go
+++ b/cmd/gaiad/cmd/testnet.go
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ func writeFile(name string, dir string, contents []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	err = tmos.WriteFile(file, contents, 0o644)
+	err = os.WriteFile(file, contents, 0o600)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}