diff --git a/pkg/serverinit/serverinit.go b/pkg/serverinit/serverinit.go
index c88722874..0cd472bc4 100644
--- a/pkg/serverinit/serverinit.go
+++ b/pkg/serverinit/serverinit.go
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import (
 	"expvar"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/pprof"
@@ -44,6 +43,7 @@ import (
 	"camlistore.org/pkg/jsonconfig"
 	"camlistore.org/pkg/server/app"
 	"camlistore.org/pkg/types/serverconfig"
+	"camlistore.org/pkg/wkfs"
 )
 
 const camliPrefix = "/camli/"
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ func load(filename string, rootConfig []byte, opener func(filename string) (json
 	}
 
 	if rootConfig == nil {
-		rootConfig, err = ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
+		rootConfig, err = wkfs.ReadFile(filename)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not read %s: %v", filename, err)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/wkfs/wkfs.go b/pkg/wkfs/wkfs.go
index d670dc7f8..65235fbac 100644
--- a/pkg/wkfs/wkfs.go
+++ b/pkg/wkfs/wkfs.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ package wkfs
 
 import (
 	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -118,3 +119,12 @@ func WriteFile(filename string, data []byte, perm os.FileMode) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+func ReadFile(filename string) ([]byte, error) {
+	f, err := Open(filename)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+	return ioutil.ReadAll(f)
+}