diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 9531f2e8257..b9d8c6e500a 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ What's New in Python 3.7.0 alpha 1
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #28746: Fix the set_inheritable() file descriptor method on platforms
+  that do not have the ioctl FIOCLEX and FIONCLEX commands.
+
 - Issue #26920: Fix not getting the locale's charset upon initializing the
   interpreter, on platforms that do not have langinfo.
 
diff --git a/Python/fileutils.c b/Python/fileutils.c
index e3bfb0c502a..6a32c42c80a 100644
--- a/Python/fileutils.c
+++ b/Python/fileutils.c
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ set_inheritable(int fd, int inheritable, int raise, int *atomic_flag_works)
         return 0;
     }
 
-    res = fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, flags);
+    res = fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, new_flags);
     if (res < 0) {
         if (raise)
             PyErr_SetFromErrno(PyExc_OSError);