diff --git a/Mac/Lib/dbmac.py b/Mac/Lib/dbmac.py
index 1f15ebe4120..0588dbd90ee 100644
--- a/Mac/Lib/dbmac.py
+++ b/Mac/Lib/dbmac.py
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 
 - support efficient access to large databases (currently, the whole index
 is read when the database is opened, and some updates rewrite the whole index)
+
+- support opening for read-only (flag = 'm')
+
 """
 
 _os = __import__('os')
@@ -132,5 +135,6 @@ def close(self):
 		self._index = self._datfile = self._dirfile = self._bakfile = None
 
 
-def open(file, mode = None):
+def open(file, flag = None, mode = None):
+	# flag, mode arguments are currently ignored
 	return _Database(file)