diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 7992a7f6..c9ec7718 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ CVS code -
 	  do_last_file(), do_help_void(), and do_browser_help(); changes
 	  to do_browser(), parse_browser_input(), shortcut_init(),
 	  do_help(), and help_init(). (DLR)
+	- Open all files in binary mode for consistency and robustness.
+	  Changes to load_history() and do_rcfile(). (DLR)
 - files.c:
   write_file()
 	- Don't free backupname before displaying it in a statusbar error
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 4c234d82..a147407d 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -2342,7 +2342,7 @@ void load_history(void)
 
     /* Assume do_rcfile() has reported a missing home directory. */
     if (nanohist != NULL) {
-	FILE *hist = fopen(nanohist, "r");
+	FILE *hist = fopen(nanohist, "rb");
 
 	if (hist == NULL) {
 	    if (errno != ENOENT) {
diff --git a/src/rcfile.c b/src/rcfile.c
index 120fee9e..50848535 100644
--- a/src/rcfile.c
+++ b/src/rcfile.c
@@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ void do_rcfile(void)
 #ifdef SYSCONFDIR
     nanorc = mallocstrcpy(nanorc, SYSCONFDIR "/nanorc");
     /* Try to open the system-wide nanorc. */
-    rcstream = fopen(nanorc, "r");
+    rcstream = fopen(nanorc, "rb");
     if (rcstream != NULL)
 	parse_rcfile(rcstream);
 #endif
@@ -780,7 +780,7 @@ void do_rcfile(void)
     else {
 	nanorc = charealloc(nanorc, strlen(homedir) + 9);
 	sprintf(nanorc, "%s/.nanorc", homedir);
-	rcstream = fopen(nanorc, "r");
+	rcstream = fopen(nanorc, "rb");
 
 	if (rcstream == NULL) {
 	    /* Don't complain about the file's not existing. */