diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index 8d3142e81..ca4061f30 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -1836,17 +1836,12 @@ def write_json_file(obj, fn):
                 os.unlink(fn)
             except OSError:
                 pass
-        mask = os.umask(0)
-        os.umask(mask)
-        os.chmod(tf.name,
-                 (stat.S_IRUSR
-                  | stat.S_IWUSR
-                  | stat.S_IRGRP
-                  | stat.S_IWGRP
-                  | stat.S_IROTH
-                  | stat.S_IWOTH)
-                 & ~mask)
-
+        try:
+            mask = os.umask(0)
+            os.umask(mask)
+            os.chmod(tf.name, 0o666 & ~mask)
+        except OSError:
+            pass
         os.rename(tf.name, fn)
     except Exception:
         try: