diff --git a/vpnor/partition.cpp b/vpnor/partition.cpp
index 4547d64..90156f7 100644
--- a/vpnor/partition.cpp
+++ b/vpnor/partition.cpp
@@ -133,37 +133,42 @@
 
     size_t fileSize = fs::file_size(path);
 
-    int fd = ::open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
-    if (fd == -1)
+    size_t access_len = 0;
+    if (offset < fileSize)
     {
-        MSG_ERR("Failed to open backing file at '%s': %d\n", path.c_str(),
-                errno);
-        throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
-    }
+        int fd = ::open(path.c_str(), O_RDONLY);
+        if (fd == -1)
+        {
+            MSG_ERR("Failed to open backing file at '%s': %d\n", path.c_str(),
+                    errno);
+            throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
+        }
 
-    int rc = lseek(fd, offset, SEEK_SET);
-    if (rc < 0)
-    {
-        MSG_ERR("Failed to seek to %zu in %s (%zu bytes): %d\n", offset,
-                path.c_str(), fileSize, errno);
-        throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
-    }
+        int rc = lseek(fd, offset, SEEK_SET);
+        if (rc < 0)
+        {
+            MSG_ERR("Failed to seek to %zu in %s (%zu bytes): %d\n", offset,
+                    path.c_str(), fileSize, errno);
+            throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
+        }
 
-    auto access_len = std::min(len, fileSize - offset);
-    rc = fd_process_all(::read, fd, dst, access_len);
-    if (rc < 0)
-    {
-        MSG_ERR("Requested %zu bytes but failed to read %zu from %s (%zu) at "
+        access_len = std::min(len, fileSize - offset);
+        rc = fd_process_all(::read, fd, dst, access_len);
+        if (rc < 0)
+        {
+            MSG_ERR(
+                "Requested %zu bytes but failed to read %zu from %s (%zu) at "
                 "%zu: %d\n",
                 len, access_len, path.c_str(), fileSize, offset, errno);
-        throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
+            throw std::system_error(errno, std::system_category());
+        }
+
+        close(fd);
     }
 
     /* Set any remaining buffer space to the erased state */
     memset((char*)dst + access_len, 0xff, len - access_len);
 
-    close(fd);
-
     return len;
 }