diff --git a/libkmipclient/kmip.c b/libkmipclient/kmip.c
index 1c3a07d4..7d847798 100644
--- a/libkmipclient/kmip.c
+++ b/libkmipclient/kmip.c
@@ -1489,7 +1489,7 @@ retry:
 		}
 
 		if (i == 0 && server_cert_pem != NULL) {
-			fp = fopen(server_cert_pem, "w");
+			fp = fopen_nofollow(server_cert_pem, "w");
 			if (fp == NULL) {
 				rc = -errno;
 				kmip_debug(debug, "Failed to open %s for write",
@@ -1507,7 +1507,7 @@ retry:
 			fp = NULL;
 
 			if (server_pubkey_pem != NULL) {
-				fp = fopen(server_pubkey_pem, "w");
+				fp = fopen_nofollow(server_pubkey_pem, "w");
 				if (fp == NULL) {
 					rc = -errno;
 					kmip_debug(debug, "Failed to open %s "
@@ -1533,7 +1533,7 @@ retry:
 
 		if (i > 0 && cert_chain_pem != NULL) {
 			if (fp == NULL)
-				fp = fopen(cert_chain_pem, "w");
+				fp = fopen_nofollow(cert_chain_pem, "w");
 			if (fp == NULL) {
 				rc = -errno;
 				kmip_debug(debug, "Failed to open %s for write",
diff --git a/libkmipclient/utils.c b/libkmipclient/utils.c
index ef70c453..0baf586c 100644
--- a/libkmipclient/utils.c
+++ b/libkmipclient/utils.c
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
 
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <err.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <strings.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "names.h"
@@ -726,3 +728,32 @@ enum kmip_tag kmip_find_v1_attribute_name_tag(struct kmip_node *parent)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+FILE *fopen_nofollow(const char *path, const char *mode)
+{
+	int flags = O_NOFOLLOW;
+	int fd;
+	FILE *fp;
+
+	/* Determine flags based on mode */
+	if (mode[0] == 'r')
+		flags |= (mode[1] == '+') ? O_RDWR : O_RDONLY;
+	else if (mode[0] == 'w')
+		flags |= O_CREAT | O_TRUNC |
+				((mode[1] == '+') ? O_RDWR : O_WRONLY);
+	else if (mode[0] == 'a')
+		flags |= O_CREAT | O_APPEND |
+				((mode[1] == '+') ? O_RDWR : O_WRONLY);
+	else
+		return NULL;
+
+	fd = open(path, flags, 0600);
+	if (fd < 0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	fp = fdopen(fd, mode);
+	if (fp == NULL) {
+		close(fd);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	return fp;
+}
diff --git a/libkmipclient/utils.h b/libkmipclient/utils.h
index 89734feb..a8ef8c5c 100644
--- a/libkmipclient/utils.h
+++ b/libkmipclient/utils.h
@@ -58,4 +58,6 @@ void kmip_node_dump(struct kmip_node *node, bool debug);
 
 enum kmip_tag kmip_find_v1_attribute_name_tag(struct kmip_node *parent);
 
+FILE *fopen_nofollow(const char *path, const char *mode);
+
 #endif