diff --git a/qutebrowser/browser/downloads.py b/qutebrowser/browser/downloads.py
index 6060fed88..3f1e88f6b 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/browser/downloads.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/browser/downloads.py
@@ -260,7 +260,8 @@ class DownloadItem(QObject):
             fileobj = open(self._filename, 'wb')
         except OSError as e:
             self._die(e.strerror)
-        self.set_fileobj(fileobj)
+        else:
+            self.set_fileobj(fileobj)
 
     def set_fileobj(self, fileobj):
         """"Set the file object to write the download to.