diff --git a/util-linux/fbset.c b/util-linux/fbset.c
index 72284a6..be1e3c3 100644
--- a/util-linux/fbset.c
+++ b/util-linux/fbset.c
@@ -198,8 +198,7 @@
 	char buf[256];
 	char *p = buf;
 
-	if ((f = fopen(fn, "r")) == NULL)
-		perror_msg_and_die("readmode(fopen)");
+	f = xfopen(fn, "r");
 	while (!feof(f)) {
 		fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), f);
 		if ((p = strstr(buf, "mode ")) || (p = strstr(buf, "mode\t"))) {