diff --git a/bin/tee b/bin/tee
index 3996e7b5..04704d93 100755
--- a/bin/tee
+++ b/bin/tee
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ if ($nostdout) {
 $| = 1 if $unbuffer;
 
 for (@ARGV) {
-    if (!open($fh, (/^[^>|]/ && $mode), $_)) {
+    if (!open($fh, $mode, $_)) {
 	warn "$0: cannot open $_: $!\n"; # like sun's; i prefer die
 	$status++;
 	next;