diff --git a/drivers/rtcd/src/main.rs b/drivers/rtcd/src/main.rs
index 3e913780..41383ca3 100644
--- a/drivers/rtcd/src/main.rs
+++ b/drivers/rtcd/src/main.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use std::io::Write;
 
 // TODO: Do not use target architecture to distinguish these.
 #[cfg(any(target_arch = "x86", target_arch = "x86_64"))]
@@ -17,7 +18,14 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
         let time_s = self::x86::get_time();
         let time_ns = u128::from(time_s) * 1_000_000_000;
 
-        std::fs::write("/scheme/sys/update_time_offset", &time_ns.to_ne_bytes())
+        // Open the sys scheme resource directly without O_CREAT, since update_time_offset
+        // is a pre-existing kernel resource. Using std::fs::write (which sets O_CREAT) can
+        // trigger EEXIST from the kernel's named pipe subsystem.
+        let mut file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
+            .write(true)
+            .open("/scheme/sys/update_time_offset")
+            .context("failed to open time offset")?;
+        file.write_all(&time_ns.to_ne_bytes())
             .context("failed to write to time offset")?;
     }
     // TODO: aarch64 is currently handled in the kernel