diff --git a/templates/xbps-base-pkg/template b/templates/xbps-base-pkg/template
index be344079ad6..a0111168ef1 100644
--- a/templates/xbps-base-pkg/template
+++ b/templates/xbps-base-pkg/template
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ do_install()
 	mkdir -p ${destdir}/lib
 
 	for f in bin cmpver digest repo pkgdb; do
-		install -D -m644 /usr/local/sbin/xbps-${f} \
+		install -D -m755 /usr/local/sbin/xbps-${f} \
 			${destdir}/sbin/xbps-${f}
 	done
 	cp -a /usr/local/lib/libxbps.so* ${destdir}/lib