diff --git a/util/options.cc b/util/options.cc
index 4815770f5..5661cd059 100644
--- a/util/options.cc
+++ b/util/options.cc
@@ -758,10 +758,7 @@ text_options_t::get_line (unsigned int *len)
       fail (true, "At least one of text or text-file must be set");
 
     if (0 != strcmp (text_file, "-"))
-    {
       fp = fopen (text_file, "r");
-      close_fp = true;
-    }
     else
       fp = stdin;
 
@@ -798,10 +795,7 @@ output_options_t::get_file_handle (void)
     return fp;
 
   if (output_file)
-  {
     fp = fopen (output_file, "wb");
-    close_fp = true;
-  }
   else {
 #if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
     setmode (fileno (stdout), O_BINARY);
diff --git a/util/options.hh b/util/options.hh
index 36f680f0a..6d57d7d61 100644
--- a/util/options.hh
+++ b/util/options.hh
@@ -510,7 +510,6 @@ struct text_options_t : option_group_t
     text_file = nullptr;
 
     fp = nullptr;
-    close_fp = false;
     gs = nullptr;
     line = nullptr;
     line_len = (unsigned int) -1;
@@ -525,7 +524,7 @@ struct text_options_t : option_group_t
     g_free (text_file);
     if (gs)
       g_string_free (gs, true);
-    if (close_fp)
+    if (fp && fp != stdin)
       fclose (fp);
   }
 
@@ -548,7 +547,6 @@ struct text_options_t : option_group_t
 
   private:
   FILE *fp;
-  bool close_fp;
   GString *gs;
   char *line;
   unsigned int line_len;
@@ -565,7 +563,6 @@ struct output_options_t : option_group_t
     explicit_output_format = false;
 
     fp = nullptr;
-    close_fp = false;
 
     add_options (parser);
   }
@@ -573,7 +570,7 @@ struct output_options_t : option_group_t
   {
     g_free (output_file);
     g_free (output_format);
-    if (close_fp)
+    if (fp && fp != stdout)
       fclose (fp);
   }
 
@@ -605,7 +602,6 @@ struct output_options_t : option_group_t
   bool explicit_output_format;
 
   mutable FILE *fp;
-  bool close_fp;
 };
 
 struct format_options_t : option_group_t