diff --git a/src/fpm_filesystem.F90 b/src/fpm_filesystem.F90
index 0c96efcf70..c7b72c965d 100644
--- a/src/fpm_filesystem.F90
+++ b/src/fpm_filesystem.F90
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ end function c_is_dir
     end interface
 #endif
 
+    character(*), parameter :: eol = new_line('a')    !! End of line
+
 contains
 
 !> Extract filename from path with/without suffix
@@ -303,24 +305,21 @@ integer function number_of_rows(s) result(nrows)
 end function number_of_rows
 
 !> read lines into an array of TYPE(STRING_T) variables expanding tabs
-function read_lines_expanded(fh) result(lines)
-    integer, intent(in) :: fh
+function read_lines_expanded(filename) result(lines)
+    character(len=*), intent(in) :: filename
     type(string_t), allocatable :: lines(:)
 
-    integer :: i, length
+    integer :: i
     character(len=:), allocatable :: content
     integer, allocatable :: first(:), last(:)
 
-    inquire (fh, size=length)
-    allocate (character(len=length) :: content)
-    if (length == 0) then
+    content = read_text_file(filename)
+    if (len(content) == 0) then
         allocate (lines(0))
         return
     end if
 
-    ! read file into a single string
-    read (fh) content
-    call split_first_last(content, c_new_line, first, last)  ! TODO: \r (< macOS X), \n (>=macOS X/Linux/Unix), \r\n (Windows)
+    call split_first_last(content, eol, first, last)  ! TODO: \r (< macOS X), \n (>=macOS X/Linux/Unix), \r\n (Windows)
 
     ! allocate lines from file content string
     allocate (lines(size(first)))
@@ -331,24 +330,21 @@ function read_lines_expanded(fh) result(lines)
 end function read_lines_expanded
 
 !> read lines into an array of TYPE(STRING_T) variables
-function read_lines(fh) result(lines)
-    integer, intent(in) :: fh
+function read_lines(filename) result(lines)
+    character(len=*), intent(in) :: filename
     type(string_t), allocatable :: lines(:)
 
-    integer :: i, length
+    integer :: i
     character(len=:), allocatable :: content
     integer, allocatable :: first(:), last(:)
 
-    inquire (fh, size=length)
-    allocate (character(len=length) :: content)
-    if (length == 0) then
+    content = read_text_file(filename)
+    if (len(content) == 0) then
         allocate (lines(0))
         return
     end if
 
-    ! read file into a single string
-    read (fh) content
-    call split_first_last(content, c_new_line, first, last)  ! TODO: \r (< macOS X), \n (>=macOS X/Linux/Unix), \r\n (Windows)
+    call split_first_last(content, eol, first, last)  ! TODO: \r (< macOS X), \n (>=macOS X/Linux/Unix), \r\n (Windows)
 
     ! allocate lines from file content string
     allocate (lines(size(first)))
@@ -358,6 +354,22 @@ function read_lines(fh) result(lines)
 
 end function read_lines
 
+!> read text file into a string
+function read_text_file(filename) result(string)
+    character(len=*), intent(in) :: filename
+    character(len=:), allocatable :: string
+    integer :: fh, length
+
+    open (newunit=fh, file=filename, status='old', action='read', &
+            access='stream', form='unformatted')
+    inquire (fh, size=length)
+    allocate (character(len=length) :: string)
+    if (length == 0) return
+    read (fh) string
+    close (fh)
+
+end function read_text_file
+
 !> Create a directory. Create subdirectories as needed
 subroutine mkdir(dir, echo)
     character(len=*), intent(in) :: dir
@@ -505,9 +517,8 @@ recursive subroutine list_files(dir, files, recurse)
         call fpm_stop(2,'*list_files*:directory listing failed')
     end if
 
-    open (newunit=fh, file=temp_file, status='old',access='stream',form='unformatted')
-    files = read_lines(fh)
-    close(fh,status="delete")
+    files = read_lines(temp_file)
+    call delete_file(temp_file)
 
     do i=1,size(files)
         files(i)%s = join_path(dir,files(i)%s)
diff --git a/src/fpm_source_parsing.f90 b/src/fpm_source_parsing.f90
index 3f83327386..59f8fd4d33 100644
--- a/src/fpm_source_parsing.f90
+++ b/src/fpm_source_parsing.f90
@@ -82,9 +82,7 @@ function parse_f_source(f_filename,error) result(f_source)
 
     f_source%file_name = f_filename
 
-    open(newunit=fh,file=f_filename,status='old',access='stream',form='unformatted')
-    file_lines = read_lines_expanded(fh)
-    close(fh)
+    file_lines = read_lines_expanded(f_filename)
 
     ! for efficiency in parsing make a lowercase left-adjusted copy of the file
     ! Need a copy because INCLUDE (and #include) file arguments are case-sensitive
@@ -427,9 +425,7 @@ function parse_c_source(c_filename,error) result(c_source)
     allocate(c_source%modules_provided(0))
     allocate(c_source%parent_modules(0))
 
-    open(newunit=fh,file=c_filename,status='old',access='stream',form='unformatted')
-    file_lines = read_lines(fh)
-    close(fh)
+    file_lines = read_lines(c_filename)
 
     ! Ignore empty files, returned as FPM_UNIT_UNKNOWN
     if (len_trim(file_lines) < 1) then