--- ./lib/rpmdb.c.orig	2020-05-28 10:04:25.037136686 +0000
+++ ./lib/rpmdb.c	2020-09-30 12:23:50.708547165 +0000
@@ -387,9 +387,11 @@ int rpmdbClose(rpmdb db)
 {
     rpmdb * prev, next;
     int rc = 0;
+    int dbmode;
 
     if (db == NULL)
 	goto exit;
+    dbmode = db->db_mode;
 
     prev = &rpmdbRock;
     while ((next = *prev) != NULL && next != db)
@@ -423,7 +425,7 @@ int rpmdbClose(rpmdb db)
 
     db = _free(db);
 
-    if (rpmdbRock == NULL) {
+    if (rpmdbRock == NULL && (dbmode & (O_RDWR|O_WRONLY)) != 0) {
 	rpmsqActivate(0);
     }
 exit:
@@ -510,7 +512,7 @@ static int openDatabase(const char * pre
 	int justPkgs = (db->db_flags & RPMDB_FLAG_REBUILD) &&
 		       ((db->db_mode & O_ACCMODE) == O_RDONLY);
 	/* Enable signal queue on the first db open */
-	if (db->db_next == NULL) {
+	if (db->db_next == NULL &&  (db->db_mode & (O_RDWR|O_WRONLY)) != 0) {
 	    rpmsqActivate(1);
 	}