diff --git a/plugins/CMakeLists.txt b/plugins/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/plugins/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/plugins/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -130,13 +130,7 @@
 add_subdirectory(standardoutputview)
 add_subdirectory(switchtobuddy)
 add_subdirectory(testview)
-# uses QIODevice::NewOnly which was added only for 5.11
-# TODO: add code variant for older Qt
-if(NOT Qt5_VERSION VERSION_LESS "5.11.0")
-    add_subdirectory(scratchpad)
-else()
-    message(WARNING "Will not build scratchpad plugin, needs Qt >= 5.11.0")
-endif()
+add_subdirectory(scratchpad)
 ecm_optional_add_subdirectory(classbrowser)
 ecm_optional_add_subdirectory(executeplasmoid)
 ecm_optional_add_subdirectory(ghprovider)
diff --git a/plugins/scratchpad/scratchpad.cpp b/plugins/scratchpad/scratchpad.cpp
--- a/plugins/scratchpad/scratchpad.cpp
+++ b/plugins/scratchpad/scratchpad.cpp
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
     }
 
     QFile file(dataDirectory() + name);
-    if (file.open(QIODevice::NewOnly)) { // create a new file
+    if (!file.exists() && file.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly)) { // create a new file if it doesn't exist
         file.close();
     }