--- utils/mount/fstab.c
+++ utils/mount/fstab.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ mtab_does_not_exist(void) {
 	return var_mtab_does_not_exist;
 }
 
-static int
+int
 mtab_is_a_symlink(void) {
         get_mtab_info();
         return var_mtab_is_a_symlink;
--- utils/mount/fstab.h
+++ utils/mount/fstab.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #define _PATH_FSTAB "/etc/fstab"
 #endif
 
+int mtab_is_a_symlink(void);
 int mtab_is_writable(void);
 int mtab_does_not_exist(void);
 void reset_mtab_info(void);
--- utils/mount/mount.c
+++ utils/mount/mount.c
@@ -230,6 +230,13 @@ create_mtab (void) {
 	int flags;
 	mntFILE *mfp;
 
+	/* Avoid writing if the mtab is a symlink to /proc/mounts, since
+	   that would create a file /proc/mounts in case the proc filesystem
+	   is not mounted, and the fchmod below would also fail. */
+	if (mtab_is_a_symlink()) {
+		return EX_SUCCESS;
+	}
+
 	lock_mtab();
 
 	mfp = nfs_setmntent (MOUNTED, "a+");