diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
index 9ccae1d1d..7c87dbfdb 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import System.Directory (doesFileExist, getHomeDirectory)
 import System.Environment (getEnv)
 import System.Exit (exitFailure)
 import System.FilePath ((</>))
-import System.IO (IOMode(..), withFile, stderr)
+import System.IO (IOMode(..), withFile, stdin, stderr, hSetNewlineMode, universalNewlineMode)
 import Test.HUnit
 import Text.Printf
 
@@ -158,10 +158,14 @@ readersForPathAndData (f,s) = filter (\r -> (rDetector r) f s) readers
 -- formats. A CSV conversion rules file may be specified for better
 -- conversion of that format.
 readJournalFile :: Maybe Format -> Maybe FilePath -> FilePath -> IO (Either String Journal)
-readJournalFile format rulesfile "-" = getContents >>= readJournal format rulesfile (Just "(stdin)")
+readJournalFile format rulesfile "-" = do
+  hSetNewlineMode stdin universalNewlineMode
+  getContents >>= readJournal format rulesfile (Just "(stdin)")
 readJournalFile format rulesfile f = do
   requireJournalFileExists f
-  withFile f ReadMode $ \h -> hGetContents h >>= readJournal format rulesfile (Just f)
+  withFile f ReadMode $ \h -> do
+    hSetNewlineMode h universalNewlineMode
+    hGetContents h >>= readJournal format rulesfile (Just f)
 
 -- | If the specified journal file does not exist, give a helpful error and quit.
 requireJournalFileExists :: FilePath -> IO ()
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/UTF8IOCompat.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/UTF8IOCompat.hs
index f4571d48b..4d353ea0b 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/UTF8IOCompat.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/UTF8IOCompat.hs
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ Example usage:
  import UTF8IOCompat   (readFile,writeFile,appendFile,getContents,putStr,putStrLn)
  import UTF8IOCompat   (SystemString,fromSystemString,toSystemString,error',userError')
 
+2013/4/10 update: we now trust that current GHC versions & platforms
+do the right thing, so this file is a no-op and on its way to being removed.
+Not carefully tested.
+
 -}
 
 module Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat (
@@ -37,51 +41,51 @@ import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 as B8
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8 as U8 (toString, fromString)
 import Prelude hiding (readFile, writeFile, appendFile, getContents, putStr, putStrLn)
-import System.IO (Handle)
-#if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
-import Codec.Binary.UTF8.String as UTF8 (decodeString, encodeString, isUTF8Encoded)
-import System.Info (os)
-#endif
+import System.IO -- (Handle)
+-- #if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
+-- import Codec.Binary.UTF8.String as UTF8 (decodeString, encodeString, isUTF8Encoded)
+-- import System.Info (os)
+-- #endif
 
-bom :: B.ByteString
-bom = B.pack [0xEF, 0xBB, 0xBF]
+-- bom :: B.ByteString
+-- bom = B.pack [0xEF, 0xBB, 0xBF]
 
-stripBOM :: B.ByteString -> B.ByteString
-stripBOM s | bom `B.isPrefixOf` s = B.drop 3 s
-stripBOM s = s
+-- stripBOM :: B.ByteString -> B.ByteString
+-- stripBOM s | bom `B.isPrefixOf` s = B.drop 3 s
+-- stripBOM s = s
 
-readFile :: FilePath -> IO String
-readFile = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) . B.readFile
+-- readFile :: FilePath -> IO String
+-- readFile = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) . B.readFile
 
-writeFile :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
-writeFile f = B.writeFile f . U8.fromString
+-- writeFile :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
+-- writeFile f = B.writeFile f . U8.fromString
 
-appendFile :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
-appendFile f = B.appendFile f . U8.fromString
+-- appendFile :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
+-- appendFile f = B.appendFile f . U8.fromString
 
-getContents :: IO String
-getContents = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) B.getContents
+-- getContents :: IO String
+-- getContents = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) B.getContents
 
-hGetContents :: Handle -> IO String
-hGetContents h = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) (B.hGetContents h)
+-- hGetContents :: Handle -> IO String
+-- hGetContents h = liftM (U8.toString . stripBOM) (B.hGetContents h)
 
-putStr :: String -> IO ()
-putStr = bs_putStr . U8.fromString
+-- putStr :: String -> IO ()
+-- putStr = bs_putStr . U8.fromString
 
-putStrLn :: String -> IO ()
-putStrLn = bs_putStrLn . U8.fromString
+-- putStrLn :: String -> IO ()
+-- putStrLn = bs_putStrLn . U8.fromString
 
-hPutStr :: Handle -> String -> IO ()
-hPutStr h = bs_hPutStr h . U8.fromString
+-- hPutStr :: Handle -> String -> IO ()
+-- hPutStr h = bs_hPutStr h . U8.fromString
 
-hPutStrLn :: Handle -> String -> IO ()
-hPutStrLn h = bs_hPutStrLn h . U8.fromString
+-- hPutStrLn :: Handle -> String -> IO ()
+-- hPutStrLn h = bs_hPutStrLn h . U8.fromString
 
--- span GHC versions including 6.12.3 - 7.4.1:
-bs_putStr         = B8.putStr
-bs_putStrLn       = B8.putStrLn
-bs_hPutStr        = B8.hPut
-bs_hPutStrLn h bs = B8.hPut h bs >> B8.hPut h (B.singleton 0x0a)
+-- -- span GHC versions including 6.12.3 - 7.4.1:
+-- bs_putStr         = B8.putStr
+-- bs_putStrLn       = B8.putStrLn
+-- bs_hPutStr        = B8.hPut
+-- bs_hPutStrLn h bs = B8.hPut h bs >> B8.hPut h (B.singleton 0x0a)
 
 
 -- | A string received from or being passed to the operating system, such
@@ -94,24 +98,24 @@ type SystemString = String
 -- | Convert a system string to an ordinary string, decoding from UTF-8 if
 -- it appears to be UTF8-encoded and GHC version is less than 7.2.
 fromSystemString :: SystemString -> String
-#if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
-fromSystemString s = if UTF8.isUTF8Encoded s then UTF8.decodeString s else s
-#else
+-- #if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
+-- fromSystemString s = if UTF8.isUTF8Encoded s then UTF8.decodeString s else s
+-- #else
 fromSystemString = id
-#endif
+-- #endif
 
 -- | Convert a unicode string to a system string, encoding with UTF-8 if
 -- we are on a posix platform with GHC < 7.2.
 toSystemString :: String -> SystemString
-#if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
-toSystemString = case os of
-                     "unix" -> UTF8.encodeString
-                     "linux" -> UTF8.encodeString
-                     "darwin" -> UTF8.encodeString
-                     _ -> id
-#else
+-- #if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ < 702
+-- toSystemString = case os of
+--                      "unix" -> UTF8.encodeString
+--                      "linux" -> UTF8.encodeString
+--                      "darwin" -> UTF8.encodeString
+--                      _ -> id
+-- #else
 toSystemString = id
-#endif
+-- #endif
 
 -- | A SystemString-aware version of error.
 error' :: String -> a