diff --git a/classpath/java-io.cpp b/classpath/java-io.cpp
index 5b723114ae..c1373a3c58 100644
--- a/classpath/java-io.cpp
+++ b/classpath/java-io.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@
 #    define R_OK 4
 #  else
 #    define OPEN _wopen
-#    define CREAT _wcreat
 #  endif
 
 #  define GET_CHARS GetStringChars
@@ -71,7 +70,6 @@ typedef wchar_t char_t;
 #  define STRUCT_STAT struct stat
 #  define MKDIR mkdir
 #  define CHMOD chmod
-#  define CREAT creat
 #  define UNLINK unlink
 #  define RENAME rename
 #  define OPEN_MASK 0
@@ -102,12 +100,6 @@ OPEN(string_t path, int mask, int mode)
     return -1; 
   }
 }
-
-inline int
-CREAT(string_t path, int mode)
-{
-  return OPEN(path, _O_CREAT, mode);
-}
 #endif
 
 inline bool
@@ -407,21 +399,28 @@ Java_java_io_File_mkdir(JNIEnv* e, jclass, jstring path)
   }
 }
 
-extern "C" JNIEXPORT void JNICALL
+extern "C" JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL
 Java_java_io_File_createNewFile(JNIEnv* e, jclass, jstring path)
 {
+  bool result = false;
   string_t chars = getChars(e, path);
   if (chars) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "create file \"%s\"\n", chars);
     if (not exists(chars)) {
-      int fd = CREAT(chars, 0600);
+      int fd = OPEN(chars, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_EXCL, 0600);
       if (fd == -1) {
-        throwNewErrno(e, "java/io/IOException");
+        fprintf(stderr, "errno %d\n", errno);
+        if (errno != EEXIST) {
+          throwNewErrno(e, "java/io/IOException");
+        }
       } else {
+        result = true;
         doClose(e, fd);
       }
     }
     releaseChars(e, path, chars);
   }
+  return result;
 }
 
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT void JNICALL
diff --git a/classpath/java/io/File.java b/classpath/java/io/File.java
index a77502c041..59c7da8d16 100644
--- a/classpath/java/io/File.java
+++ b/classpath/java/io/File.java
@@ -204,15 +204,10 @@ public class File implements Serializable {
     }
   }
 
-  private static native void createNewFile(String path) throws IOException;
+  private static native boolean createNewFile(String path) throws IOException;
 
-  public boolean createNewFile() {
-    try {
-      createNewFile(path);
-      return true;
-    } catch (IOException e) {
-      return false;
-    }
+  public boolean createNewFile() throws IOException {
+    return createNewFile(path);
   }
 
   public static native void delete(String path) throws IOException;
diff --git a/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp b/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
index 2866b6072b..bfa759d63d 100644
--- a/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
+++ b/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
 #    define S_IWUSR _S_IWRITE
 #  else
 #    define OPEN _open
-#    define CREAT _creat
 #  endif
 
 #  define O_RDONLY _O_RDONLY
@@ -82,6 +81,8 @@ typedef int socklen_t;
 
 #endif // not PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 
+#define JVM_EEXIST -100
+
 using namespace vm;
 
 namespace {
@@ -97,12 +98,6 @@ OPEN(string_t path, int mask, int mode)
     return -1; 
   }
 }
-
-inline int
-CREAT(string_t path, int mode)
-{
-  return OPEN(path, _O_CREAT, mode);
-}
 #endif
 
 namespace local {
@@ -4819,7 +4814,12 @@ EXPORT(JVM_NativePath)(char* path)
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL
 EXPORT(JVM_Open)(const char* path, jint flags, jint mode)
 {
-  return OPEN(path, flags, mode);
+  int r = OPEN(path, flags, mode);
+  if (r == -1) {
+    return errno == EEXIST ? JVM_EEXIST : -1;
+  } else {
+    return r;
+  }
 }
 
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL
diff --git a/test/Files.java b/test/Files.java
index f3d1988f31..b5484462cf 100644
--- a/test/Files.java
+++ b/test/Files.java
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ public class Files {
     isAbsoluteTest(false);
     setExecutableTestWithPermissions(true);
     setExecutableTestWithPermissions(false);
+  
+    { File f = new File("test.txt");
+      f.createNewFile();
+      expect(! f.createNewFile());
+      f.delete();
+    }
   }
 
 }