NFSv4 takes O_EXCL as a sign that a setattr command should be sent,
probably to reset the timestamps.
When it was an O_RDONLY open, the SETATTR command does not
identify any actual attributes to change.
If no delegation was provided to the open, the SETATTR uses the
all-zeros stateid and the request is accepted (at least by the
Linux NFS server - no harm, no foul).
If a read-delegation was provided, this is used in the SETATTR
request, and a Netapp filer will justifiably claim
NFS4ERR_BAD_STATEID, which the Linux client takes as a sign
to retry - indefinitely.
So only treat O_EXCL specially if O_CREAT was also given.