diff --git a/tests/e2e/initialization/config.go b/tests/e2e/initialization/config.go
index a2f08e731..680e44015 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/initialization/config.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/initialization/config.go
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ func initGenesis(chain *internalChain, forkHeight int) error {
 
 	// write the updated genesis file to each validator
 	for _, val := range chain.nodes {
-		if err := util.WriteFile(filepath.Join(val.configDir(), "config", "genesis.json"), genesisJSON); err != nil {
+		if err := util.WritePublicFile(filepath.Join(val.configDir(), "config", "genesis.json"), genesisJSON); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/util/io.go b/tests/e2e/util/io.go
index 8df59376d..84b8387b2 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/util/io.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/util/io.go
@@ -32,15 +32,6 @@ func CopyFile(src, dst string) (int64, error) {
 	return nBytes, err
 }
 
-func WriteFile(path string, body []byte) error {
-	_, err := os.Create(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return os.WriteFile(path, body, 0o600)
-}
-
 func WritePublicFile(path string, body []byte) error {
 	_, err := os.Create(path)
 	if err != nil {