diff --git a/libports/run/libc_ffat.run b/libports/run/libc_ffat.run
index a0726759d1..71dbd42ebb 100644
--- a/libports/run/libc_ffat.run
+++ b/libports/run/libc_ffat.run
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ set config {
 	</start>
 	<start name="test-libc_ffat">
 		<resource name="RAM" quantum="2M"/>
+		<config>
+			<iterations value="1"/>
+		</config>
 	</start>
 }
 
diff --git a/libports/run/libc_fs.run b/libports/run/libc_fs.run
index ce26ba2234..d18a2764f3 100644
--- a/libports/run/libc_fs.run
+++ b/libports/run/libc_fs.run
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ install_config {
 	</start>
 	<start name="test-libc_fs">
 		<resource name="RAM" quantum="2M"/>
+                <config>
+                        <iterations value="1"/>
+                </config>
 	</start>
 </config>
 }
diff --git a/libports/src/lib/libc_ffat/plugin.cc b/libports/src/lib/libc_ffat/plugin.cc
index 167a674a29..92e88c0860 100644
--- a/libports/src/lib/libc_ffat/plugin.cc
+++ b/libports/src/lib/libc_ffat/plugin.cc
@@ -449,7 +449,10 @@ class Plugin : public Libc::Plugin
 				ffat_flags |= FA_WRITE;
 
 			if ((flags & O_CREAT) == O_CREAT)
-				ffat_flags |= FA_CREATE_NEW;
+				if ((flags & O_EXCL) == O_EXCL)
+					ffat_flags |= FA_CREATE_NEW;
+				else
+					ffat_flags |= FA_CREATE_ALWAYS;
 
 			FRESULT res = f_open(&ffat_file, pathname, ffat_flags);
 
diff --git a/libports/src/test/libc_ffat/main.cc b/libports/src/test/libc_ffat/main.cc
index 7c39e8eba0..6d635e401e 100644
--- a/libports/src/test/libc_ffat/main.cc
+++ b/libports/src/test/libc_ffat/main.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
  * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.
  */
 
+/* Genode includes */
+#include <os/config.h>
+
 /* libc includes */
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
@@ -38,62 +41,70 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int ret, fd;
 
 	char const *dir_name      = "/testdir";
-	char const *dir_name_long = "testdir long";
 	char const *file_name     = "test.tst";
 	char const *pattern       = "a single line of text";
 
-	/* create directory (short name) */
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, mkdir(dir_name, 0777), ret == 0, "dir_name=%s", dir_name);
+	unsigned int iterations = 1;
 
-	/* change to new directory */
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, chdir(dir_name), ret == 0, "dir_name=%s", dir_name);
+	try {
+		Genode::config()->xml_node().sub_node("iterations").attribute("value").value(&iterations);
+	} catch(...) { }
 
-	/* create directory (long name) */
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, mkdir(dir_name_long, 0777), ret == 0, "dir_name_long=%s", dir_name_long);
+	for (unsigned int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
 
-	/* write pattern to a file */
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(fd, open(file_name, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY), fd >= 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
-	size_t count = strlen(pattern);
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, write(fd, pattern, count), ret > 0, "count=%zd", count);
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, close(fd), ret == 0, "");
+		/* create directory (short name) */
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, mkdir(dir_name, 0777), ((ret == 0) || (errno == EEXIST)), "dir_name=%s", dir_name);
 
-	/* query file status of new file */
-	struct stat stat_buf;
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, stat(file_name, &stat_buf), ret == 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
-	printf("file size: %u bytes\n", (unsigned)stat_buf.st_size);
-	struct tm *file_time = gmtime(&stat_buf.st_mtime);
-	printf("last modified: %04u-%02u-%02u %02u:%02u:%02u\n",
-		   file_time->tm_year, file_time->tm_mon, file_time->tm_mday,
-		   file_time->tm_hour, file_time->tm_min, file_time->tm_sec);
+		/* change to new directory */
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, chdir(dir_name), ret == 0, "dir_name=%s", dir_name);
 
-	/* read and verify file content */
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(fd, open(file_name, O_RDONLY), fd >= 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
-	static char buf[512];
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(count, read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)), count > 0, "");
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, close(fd), ret == 0, "");
-	printf("content of file: \"%s\"\n", buf);
-	if (strcmp(buf, pattern) != 0) {
-		printf("unexpected content of file\n");
-		return -1;
-	} else {
-		printf("file content is correct\n");
-	}
+		/* write pattern to a file */
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(fd, open(file_name, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY), fd >= 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
+		size_t count = strlen(pattern);
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, write(fd, pattern, count), ret > 0, "count=%zd", count);
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, close(fd), ret == 0, "");
 
-	/* read directory entries */
-	DIR *dir;
-	CALL_AND_CHECK(dir, opendir(dir_name), dir, "dir_name=\"%s\"", dir_name);
-	printf("calling readdir()\n");
-	for (;;) {
-		struct dirent *dirent = readdir(dir);
-		if (dirent) {
-			if (dirent->d_type == DT_DIR)
-				printf("found directory %s\n", dirent->d_name);
-			else
-				printf("found file %s\n", dirent->d_name);
+		/* query file status of new file */
+		struct stat stat_buf;
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, stat(file_name, &stat_buf), ret == 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
+		printf("file size: %u bytes\n", (unsigned)stat_buf.st_size);
+		struct tm *file_time = gmtime(&stat_buf.st_mtime);
+		printf("last modified: %04u-%02u-%02u %02u:%02u:%02u\n",
+			   file_time->tm_year, file_time->tm_mon, file_time->tm_mday,
+			   file_time->tm_hour, file_time->tm_min, file_time->tm_sec);
+
+		/* read and verify file content */
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(fd, open(file_name, O_RDONLY), fd >= 0, "file_name=%s", file_name);
+		static char buf[512];
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(count, read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)), count > 0, "");
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(ret, close(fd), ret == 0, "");
+		printf("content of file: \"%s\"\n", buf);
+		if (strcmp(buf, pattern) != 0) {
+			printf("unexpected content of file\n");
+			return -1;
 		} else {
-			printf("no (more) direntries found\n");
-			break;
+			printf("file content is correct\n");
 		}
+
+		/* read directory entries */
+		DIR *dir;
+		CALL_AND_CHECK(dir, opendir(dir_name), dir, "dir_name=\"%s\"", dir_name);
+		printf("calling readdir()\n");
+		for (;;) {
+			struct dirent *dirent = readdir(dir);
+			if (dirent) {
+				if (dirent->d_type == DT_DIR)
+					printf("found directory %s\n", dirent->d_name);
+				else
+					printf("found file %s\n", dirent->d_name);
+			} else {
+				printf("no (more) direntries found\n");
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (i < (iterations - 1))
+			sleep(2);
 	}
 
 	return 0;