diff --git a/usr/kinit/capabilities.c b/usr/kinit/capabilities.c
index eab4d93..c606144 100644
--- a/usr/kinit/capabilities.c
+++ b/usr/kinit/capabilities.c
@@ -167,6 +167,9 @@
 		hi32 &= ~(1 << (cap_ordinal - 32));
 
 	/* Commit the new bit masks to the kernel */
+	ret = fseek(file, 0L, SEEK_SET);
+	if (ret != 0)
+		fail("Failed on file %s to seek %d\n", filename, ret);
 	sprintf(buf, "%u %u", lo32, hi32);
 	ret = fwrite(buf, 1, strlen(buf) + 1, file);
 	if (ret != 0)