diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
index 81fc719f..843a6489 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
@@ -2837,9 +2837,12 @@ ostree_repo_load_file (OstreeRepo         *self,
                */
               if (S_ISLNK (mode) || out_input)
                 { 
-                  if (!gs_file_openat_noatime (self->objects_dir_fd, loose_path_buf, &fd,
-                                               cancellable, error))
-                    goto out;
+                  fd = openat (self->objects_dir_fd, loose_path_buf, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+                  if (fd < 0)
+                    {
+                      glnx_set_error_from_errno (error);
+                      goto out;
+                    }
                 }
 
               if (S_ISREG (mode) && out_input)
@@ -2876,9 +2879,12 @@ ostree_repo_load_file (OstreeRepo         *self,
                 {
                   glnx_fd_close int fd = -1;
 
-                  if (!gs_file_openat_noatime (self->objects_dir_fd, loose_path_buf, &fd,
-                                               cancellable, error))
-                    goto out;
+                  fd = openat (self->objects_dir_fd, loose_path_buf, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+                  if (fd < 0)
+                    {
+                      glnx_set_error_from_errno (error);
+                      goto out;
+                    }
 
                   if (out_xattrs)
                     {