diff --git a/libexec/rbenv-version-file-read b/libexec/rbenv-version-file-read
index 69ec78b9..5a1d7a3f 100755
--- a/libexec/rbenv-version-file-read
+++ b/libexec/rbenv-version-file-read
@@ -8,13 +8,8 @@ VERSION_FILE="$1"
 if [ -e "$VERSION_FILE" ]; then
   # Read the first non-whitespace word from the specified version file.
   # Be careful not to load it whole in case there's something crazy in it.
-  version=""
-  while read -a words; do
-    word="${words[0]}"
-    if [ -z "$version" ] && [ -n "$word" ]; then
-      version="$word"
-    fi
-  done < <( cat "$VERSION_FILE" && echo )
+  words=( $(head -c 1024 "$VERSION_FILE") )
+  version="${words[0]}"
 
   if [ -n "$version" ]; then
     echo "$version"
diff --git a/test/version-file-read.bats b/test/version-file-read.bats
index 8002388d..66bd46fa 100644
--- a/test/version-file-read.bats
+++ b/test/version-file-read.bats
@@ -17,12 +17,24 @@ setup() {
   assert_failure ""
 }
 
+@test "fails for blank file" {
+  echo > my-version
+  run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
+  assert_failure ""
+}
+
 @test "reads simple version file" {
   cat > my-version <<<"1.9.3"
   run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
   assert_success "1.9.3"
 }
 
+@test "ignores leading spaces" {
+  cat > my-version <<<"  1.9.3"
+  run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
+  assert_success "1.9.3"
+}
+
 @test "reads only the first word from file" {
   cat > my-version <<<"1.9.3-p194@tag 1.8.7 hi"
   run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
@@ -37,3 +49,18 @@ IN
   run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
   assert_success "1.8.7"
 }
+
+@test "ignores leading blank lines" {
+  cat > my-version <<IN
+
+1.9.3
+IN
+  run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
+  assert_success "1.9.3"
+}
+
+@test "handles the file with no trailing newline" {
+  echo -n "1.8.7" > my-version
+  run rbenv-version-file-read my-version
+  assert_success "1.8.7"
+}