diff --git a/src/common/libflux/msg_handler.c b/src/common/libflux/msg_handler.c
index 431d77e5c232..147a58aeece3 100644
--- a/src/common/libflux/msg_handler.c
+++ b/src/common/libflux/msg_handler.c
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ static void call_handler (flux_msg_handler_t *mh, const flux_msg_t *msg)
 
     if (flux_msg_get_rolemask (msg, &rolemask) < 0)
         return;
-    if (!(rolemask & mh->rolemask)) {
+    if (!(rolemask & FLUX_ROLE_OWNER) && !(rolemask & mh->rolemask)) {
         if (flux_msg_cmp (msg, FLUX_MATCH_REQUEST)
                         && flux_msg_get_matchtag (msg, &matchtag) == 0
                         && matchtag != FLUX_MATCHTAG_NONE) {
@@ -483,7 +483,6 @@ void flux_msg_handler_deny_rolemask (flux_msg_handler_t *mh, uint32_t rolemask)
 {
     if (mh) {
         mh->rolemask &= ~rolemask;
-        mh->rolemask |= FLUX_ROLE_OWNER;
     }
 }
 
@@ -532,7 +531,7 @@ flux_msg_handler_t *flux_msg_handler_create (flux_t *h,
     mh->magic = HANDLER_MAGIC;
     if (copy_match (&mh->match, match) < 0)
         goto nomem;
-    mh->rolemask = FLUX_ROLE_OWNER;
+    mh->rolemask = 0;
     mh->fn = cb;
     mh->arg = arg;
     mh->d = d;