diff --git a/src/core/io/qsettings.cpp b/src/core/io/qsettings.cpp
index 559bfe7ac..15ebe8069 100644
--- a/src/core/io/qsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/core/io/qsettings.cpp
@@ -286,13 +286,6 @@ void QSettingsPrivate::write()
     }
 
     QMutexLocker locker(qSettingsMutex());
-    QFile writefile(filename);
-    if (Q_UNLIKELY(!writefile.open(QFile::WriteOnly))) {
-        status = QSettings::AccessError;
-        qWarning("QSettingsPrivate::write: failed to open %s", filename.toLocal8Bit().constData());
-        return;
-    }
-
     QSettings::SettingsMap mergemap;
     QFile readfile(filename);
     if (readfile.open(QFile::ReadOnly)) {
@@ -302,6 +295,13 @@ void QSettingsPrivate::write()
         mergemap.insert(key, map.value(key));
     }
 
+    QFile writefile(filename);
+    if (Q_UNLIKELY(!writefile.open(QFile::WriteOnly))) {
+        status = QSettings::AccessError;
+        qWarning("QSettingsPrivate::write: failed to open %s", filename.toLocal8Bit().constData());
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (Q_UNLIKELY(!writeFunc(writefile, mergemap))) {
         status = QSettings::FormatError;
         qWarning("QSettingsPrivate::write: could not write %s", filename.toLocal8Bit().constData());