diff --git a/src/common/file.cpp b/src/common/file.cpp
index 1f1c1b85c5..33553f518f 100644
--- a/src/common/file.cpp
+++ b/src/common/file.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,6 @@
 #ifndef WX_PRECOMP
     #include  "wx/string.h"
     #include  "wx/intl.h"
-    #include  "wx/file.h"
     #include  "wx/log.h"
 #endif // !WX_PRECOMP
 
@@ -477,6 +476,13 @@ bool wxTempFile::Open(const wxString& strName)
         return FALSE;
     }
 
+    // actually open the file now (it must already exist)
+    if ( !m_file.Open(m_strTemp, wxFile::write) )
+    {
+        // opening existing file failed?
+        return FALSE;
+    }
+
 #ifdef __UNIX__
     // the temp file should have the same permissions as the original one
     mode_t mode;