diff --git a/lisp/ox.el b/lisp/ox.el
index f8ccd2a9f..5ff105d3b 100644
--- a/lisp/ox.el
+++ b/lisp/ox.el
@@ -6893,7 +6893,7 @@ (defun org-export-to-file
           (with-temp-buffer
             (insert output)
             (let ((coding-system-for-write encoding))
-	      (write-region nil nil file)))
+	      (write-file file)))
           (when (and (org-export--copy-to-kill-ring-p) (org-string-nw-p output))
             (org-kill-new output))
           ;; Get proper return value.