diff --git a/qubes/storage/__init__.py b/qubes/storage/__init__.py
index 468c08de..aabcf3f5 100644
--- a/qubes/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/qubes/storage/__init__.py
@@ -540,10 +540,8 @@ class Storage:
     @asyncio.coroutine
     def create(self):
         ''' Creates volumes on disk '''
-        old_umask = os.umask(0o002)
         yield from qubes.utils.void_coros_maybe(
             vol.create() for vol in self.vm.volumes.values())
-        os.umask(old_umask)
 
     @asyncio.coroutine
     def clone_volume(self, src_vm, name):
diff --git a/qubes/storage/file.py b/qubes/storage/file.py
index 789ff35c..086d1da9 100644
--- a/qubes/storage/file.py
+++ b/qubes/storage/file.py
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ class FileVolume(qubes.storage.Volume):
         assert isinstance(self.size, int) and self.size > 0, \
             'Volume size must be > 0'
         if not self.snap_on_start:
-            create_sparse_file(self.path, self.size)
+            create_sparse_file(self.path, self.size, permissions=0o664)
 
     def remove(self):
         if not self.snap_on_start:
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ class FileVolume(qubes.storage.Volume):
 
 
 
-def create_sparse_file(path, size):
+def create_sparse_file(path, size, permissions=None):
     ''' Create an empty sparse file '''
     if os.path.exists(path):
         raise IOError("Volume %s already exists" % path)
@@ -463,6 +463,8 @@ def create_sparse_file(path, size):
     if not os.path.exists(parent_dir):
         os.makedirs(parent_dir)
     with open(path, 'a+b') as fh:
+        if permissions is not None:
+            os.fchmod(fh.fileno(), permissions)
         fh.truncate(size)