diff --git a/archivebox/system.py b/archivebox/system.py
index a9b3758b..533dadc6 100644
--- a/archivebox/system.py
+++ b/archivebox/system.py
@@ -53,8 +53,11 @@ def chmod_file(path: str, cwd: str='.', permissions: str=OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS) ->
     if not root.exists():
         raise Exception('Failed to chmod: {} does not exist (did the previous step fail?)'.format(path))
 
-    for subpath in Path(path).glob('**/*'):
-        os.chmod(subpath, int(OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS, base=8))
+    if not root.is_dir():
+        os.chmod(root, int(OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS, base=8))
+    else:
+        for subpath in Path(path).glob('**/*'):
+            os.chmod(subpath, int(OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS, base=8))
 
 
 @enforce_types
diff --git a/tests/test_init.py b/tests/test_init.py
index 0b2832c3..133aaaa9 100644
--- a/tests/test_init.py
+++ b/tests/test_init.py
@@ -51,3 +51,11 @@ def test_correct_permissions_output_folder(tmp_path, process):
         file_path = tmp_path / file
         assert oct(file_path.stat().st_mode)[-3:] == OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS
 
+def test_correct_permissions_add_command_results(tmp_path, process):
+    os.chdir(tmp_path)
+    add_process = subprocess.run(['archivebox', 'add', 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/static/example.com.html'], capture_output=True)
+    archived_item_path = list(tmp_path.glob('archive/**/*'))[0]
+    for path in archived_item_path.iterdir():
+        assert oct(path.stat().st_mode)[-3:] == OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS
+
+