diff --git a/src/IO.f90 b/src/IO.f90
index 608d70fba..362f4a8d5 100644
--- a/src/IO.f90
+++ b/src/IO.f90
@@ -85,7 +85,6 @@ function IO_readlines(fileName) result(fileContent)
   do l=1, len(rawData)
     if (rawData(l:l) == IO_EOL) N_lines = N_lines+1
   enddo
-  if (l>1) then; if(rawData(l-1:l-1) /= IO_EOL) N_lines = N_lines+1; endif                          ! no EOL@EOF, need exception for empty file
   allocate(fileContent(N_lines))
 
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -94,7 +93,7 @@ function IO_readlines(fileName) result(fileContent)
   startPos = 1
   l = 1
   do while (l <= N_lines)
-    endPos = merge(startPos + scan(rawData(startPos:),IO_EOL) - 2,len(rawData)-1,l /= N_lines)
+    endPos = startPos + scan(rawData(startPos:),IO_EOL) - 2
     if (endPos - startPos > pStringLen-1) then
       line = rawData(startPos:startPos+pStringLen-1)
       if (.not. warned) then
@@ -114,7 +113,8 @@ end function IO_readlines
 
 
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-!> @brief reads an entire ASCII file into a string
+!> @brief read ASCII file into a string
+!> @details ensures that the string ends with a new line (expected UNIX behavior)
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 function IO_read(fileName) result(fileContent)
 
@@ -130,10 +130,14 @@ function IO_read(fileName) result(fileContent)
        status='old', position='rewind', action='read',iostat=myStat)
   if(myStat /= 0) call IO_error(100,ext_msg=trim(fileName))
   allocate(character(len=fileLength)::fileContent)
+  if(fileLength==0) return
+
   read(fileUnit,iostat=myStat) fileContent
-  if(myStat > 0)  call IO_error(102,ext_msg=trim(fileName))                                         ! <0 for ifort (https://software.intel.com/en-us/comment/1960081)
+  if(myStat /= 0) call IO_error(102,ext_msg=trim(fileName))
   close(fileUnit)
 
+  if(fileContent(fileLength:fileLength) /= IO_EOL) fileContent = fileContent//IO_EOL                ! ensure EOL@EOF
+
 end function IO_read