diff --git a/docs/changelog/753.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/753.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23200ca8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/753.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Skip access-denial checks when the process can read mode-``0o000`` files. Keep mode-bit checks enabled for privileged
+processes on filesystems that support POSIX permissions.
diff --git a/tasks/capabilities.py b/tasks/capabilities.py
index 19bb53ec..0fe353fc 100644
--- a/tasks/capabilities.py
+++ b/tasks/capabilities.py
@@ -214,16 +214,32 @@ def _reports_object_tracebacks() -> bool:
     return True
 
 
-def _enforces_file_mode() -> bool:
-    # Without POSIX permission bits a chmod does not read back.
+def _supports_file_mode() -> bool:
+    with _unreadable_file() as probe:
+        return probe.stat().st_mode & 0o777 == 0
+
+
+def _enforces_file_permissions() -> bool:
+    # Privileged processes can retain mode bits while bypassing access checks.
+    with _unreadable_file() as probe:
+        try:
+            probe.read_bytes()
+        except PermissionError:
+            return True
+        return False
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def _unreadable_file() -> Iterator[Path]:
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
-        probe = Path(directory, "probe")
+        probe: Final[Path] = Path(directory, "probe")
         probe.touch()
-        probe.chmod(_OWNER_READ_WRITE)
-        return probe.stat().st_mode & 0o777 == _OWNER_READ_WRITE
-
+        probe.chmod(0)
+        try:
+            yield probe
+        finally:
+            probe.chmod(0o600)
 
-_OWNER_READ_WRITE: Final[int] = 0o600
 
 #: Capability -> whether this runtime provides it. Tests gate their skipif on this same mapping.
 CAPABILITIES: Final[dict[str, bool]] = {
@@ -239,7 +255,8 @@ def _enforces_file_mode() -> bool:
     "fcntl": find_spec("fcntl") is not None,
     "unlink-open-file": _supports_unlinking_an_open_file(),
     "posix-signals": hasattr(signal, "SIGKILL"),
-    "file-mode": _enforces_file_mode(),
+    "file-mode": _supports_file_mode(),
+    "file-permissions": _enforces_file_permissions(),
     "prompt-finalization": _finalizes_on_last_reference(),
     "collected-finalization": _finalizes_on_collection(),
     "class-collection": _collects_classes(),
diff --git a/tests/capability_marks.py b/tests/capability_marks.py
index 5fcf8746..daf632ba 100644
--- a/tests/capability_marks.py
+++ b/tests/capability_marks.py
@@ -54,7 +54,13 @@
 )
 
 NEEDS_FILE_MODE: Final[pytest.MarkDecorator] = pytest.mark.skipif(
-    not CAPABILITIES["file-mode"], reason="making a folder or a claim unreadable needs POSIX permission bits"
+    not CAPABILITIES["file-mode"],
+    reason="requires a filesystem that preserves POSIX mode bits",
+)
+
+NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS: Final[pytest.MarkDecorator] = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    not CAPABILITIES["file-permissions"],
+    reason="requires enforced file permissions",
 )
 
 NEEDS_UNLINK_OPEN_FILE: Final[pytest.MarkDecorator] = pytest.mark.skipif(
@@ -105,6 +111,7 @@
     "NEEDS_COLLECTED_FINALIZATION",
     "NEEDS_FCNTL",
     "NEEDS_FILE_MODE",
+    "NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS",
     "NEEDS_FORK",
     "NEEDS_FORK1",
     "NEEDS_GENERATOR_EXCEPTION_CONTEXT",
diff --git a/tests/test_filelock.py b/tests/test_filelock.py
index 125ef0cd..1a680647 100644
--- a/tests/test_filelock.py
+++ b/tests/test_filelock.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 from filelock._api import _append_exception_context, _raise_grouped_errors, _registry
 from tests.capability_marks import (
     NEEDS_FCNTL,
-    NEEDS_FILE_MODE,
+    NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS,
     NEEDS_PARENT_SYMLINK_COLLAPSE,
     NEEDS_PROMPT_FINALIZATION,
     NEEDS_SYMLINK,
@@ -98,17 +98,13 @@ def make_ro(path: Path) -> Iterator[None]:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def tmp_path_ro(tmp_path: Path) -> Iterator[Path]:  # pragma: needs file-mode
+def tmp_path_ro(tmp_path: Path) -> Iterator[Path]:  # pragma: needs file-permissions
     with make_ro(tmp_path):
         yield tmp_path
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("lock_type", [FileLock, SoftFileLock])
-@NEEDS_FILE_MODE  # pragma: needs file-mode
-@pytest.mark.skipif(
-    sys.platform != "win32" and os.geteuid() == 0,
-    reason="Cannot make a read only file (that the current user: root can't read)",
-)
+@NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS  # pragma: needs file-permissions
 def test_ro_folder(lock_type: type[BaseFileLock], tmp_path_ro: Path) -> None:
     lock = lock_type(str(tmp_path_ro / "a"))
     with pytest.raises(PermissionError, match="Permission denied"):
diff --git a/tests/test_strict_soft.py b/tests/test_strict_soft.py
index 6719a425..7df2fb3e 100644
--- a/tests/test_strict_soft.py
+++ b/tests/test_strict_soft.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from tests.capability_marks import NEEDS_FILE_MODE
+from tests.capability_marks import NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS
 
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 11):
     from builtins import ExceptionGroup  # pragma: >=3.11 cover
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ def test_strict_soft_rejects_non_directory_coordination_path(tmp_path: Path) ->
         StrictSoftFileLock(lock_path).acquire()
 
 
-@NEEDS_FILE_MODE  # pragma: needs file-mode
+@NEEDS_FILE_PERMISSIONS  # pragma: needs file-permissions
 def test_strict_soft_unreadable_claim_fails_closed(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     lock_path = tmp_path / "resource.lock"
     lock = StrictSoftFileLock(lock_path)
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index e289c314..bb354220 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
+import runpy
 import socket
 import stat
 import sys
 import time
 from contextlib import suppress
+from errno import EACCES, EIO, ENOENT, EPERM
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Final
 
@@ -237,3 +239,35 @@ def test_touch_does_not_follow_symlink(tmp_path: Path) -> None:  # pragma: needs
 
     assert victim.stat().st_mtime == pytest.approx(past, abs=1)  # a timestamp round-trip need not be bit-exact
     assert link.lstat().st_mtime > victim.stat().st_mtime
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("error", "expected"),
+    [
+        pytest.param(None, False, id="privileged"),
+        pytest.param(PermissionError(EACCES, "denied"), True, id="access-denied"),
+        pytest.param(PermissionError(EPERM, "denied"), True, id="operation-denied"),
+    ],
+)
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("_read_failure")
+def test_file_permissions_capability(*, expected: bool) -> None:
+    assert runpy.run_module("capabilities")["CAPABILITIES"]["file-permissions"] is expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "error",
+    [
+        pytest.param(OSError(EIO, "probe failed"), id="io-error"),
+        pytest.param(OSError(ENOENT, "probe failed"), id="missing-file"),
+    ],
+)
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("_read_failure")
+def test_file_permissions_probe_propagates_io_errors(error: OSError) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(OSError, match="probe failed") as raised:
+        runpy.run_module("capabilities")
+    assert raised.value is error
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def _read_failure(mocker: MockerFixture, error: OSError | None) -> None:
+    mocker.patch.object(Path, "read_bytes", autospec=True, side_effect=error, return_value=b"")