diff -r 6543a4a393fe Lib/test/test_file_jy.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_file_jy.py	Wed Jan 21 04:25:24 2015 +0000
+++ b/Lib/test/test_file_jy.py	Tue Jan 20 22:45:35 2015 -0800
@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@
         else:
             self.assertTrue(False)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(hasattr(os, 'chmod'), 'chmod() support required for this test')
+    def test_issue2081(self):
+        f = open(test_support.TESTFN, 'wb')
+        f.close()
+        os.chmod(test_support.TESTFN, 200)      # write-only
+        f = open(test_support.TESTFN, 'w')      # should succeed, raised IOError (permission denied) prior to fix
+        f.close()
+
 
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(FileTestCase)
diff -r 6543a4a393fe src/org/python/core/io/FileIO.java
--- a/src/org/python/core/io/FileIO.java	Wed Jan 21 04:25:24 2015 +0000
+++ b/src/org/python/core/io/FileIO.java	Tue Jan 20 22:45:35 2015 -0800
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
         File absPath = new RelativeFile(name.toString());
 
         try {
-            if (appending && !(reading || plus)) {
+            if ((appending && !(reading || plus)) || (writing && !reading && !plus)) {
                 // Take advantage of FileOutputStream's append mode
                 fromFileOutputStream(absPath);
             } else {
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@
      * @param absPath The absolute path File to open
      */
     private void fromFileOutputStream(File absPath) throws FileNotFoundException {
-        fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(absPath, true);
+        fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(absPath, appending);
         fileChannel = fileOutputStream.getChannel();
     }