diff --git a/etc/mtree/BSD.root.dist b/etc/mtree/BSD.root.dist
index a8ff6e8e85d5..f93d36a9128d 100644
--- a/etc/mtree/BSD.root.dist
+++ b/etc/mtree/BSD.root.dist
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
     ..
     rescue
     ..
-    root
+    root            mode=0750
     ..
     sbin
     ..