diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/BufferedReaderFactory.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/BufferedReaderFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..194a6aec3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/BufferedReaderFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2007 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+
+/**
+ * A factory strategy for custom extensions of {@link BufferedReader} allowing
+ * customisation of the standard behaviour of the <code>java.io</code> variety.
+ * 
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ * @since 2.1
+ */
+public interface BufferedReaderFactory {
+
+	/**
+	 * Create a {@link BufferedReader} for reading String items from the
+	 * provided resource.
+	 * 
+	 * @param resource a {@link Resource} containing the data to be read
+	 * @param encoding the encoding required for converting binary data to
+	 * String
+	 * @return a {@link BufferedReader}
+	 * @throws UnsupportedEncodingException if the encoding is not supported by
+	 * the platform
+	 * @throws IOException if there is a problem creating the reader
+	 */
+	BufferedReader create(Resource resource, String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException, IOException;
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactory.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91d8f7fde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2007 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+
+/**
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ *
+ * @since 2.1
+ */
+public class DefaultBufferedReaderFactory implements BufferedReaderFactory {
+
+	public BufferedReader create(Resource resource, String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException, IOException {
+		return new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(resource.getInputStream(), encoding));
+	}
+	
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemReader.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemReader.java
index f8208d72b..3698ab95d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemReader.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemReader.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
 
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
@@ -71,6 +70,8 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 
 	private boolean strict = true;
 
+	private BufferedReaderFactory bufferedReaderFactory = new DefaultBufferedReaderFactory();
+
 	public FlatFileItemReader() {
 		setName(ClassUtils.getShortName(FlatFileItemReader.class));
 	}
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 	public void setStrict(boolean strict) {
 		this.strict = strict;
 	}
-	
+
 	/**
 	 * @param skippedLinesCallback will be called for each one of the initial
 	 * skipped lines before any items are read.
@@ -124,6 +125,18 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 		this.encoding = encoding;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Factory for the {@link BufferedReader} that will be used to extract lines
+	 * from the file. The default is fine for plain text files, but this is a
+	 * useful strategy for binary files where the standard BufferedReaader from
+	 * java.io is limiting.
+	 * 
+	 * @param bufferedReaderFactory the bufferedReaderFactory to set
+	 */
+	public void setBufferedReaderFactory(BufferedReaderFactory bufferedReaderFactory) {
+		this.bufferedReaderFactory = bufferedReaderFactory;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Setter for comment prefixes. Can be used to ignore header lines as well
 	 * by using e.g. the first couple of column names as a prefix.
@@ -175,12 +188,12 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 			return null;
 		}
 		else {
-			try{
+			try {
 				return lineMapper.mapLine(logicalLine, lineCount);
 			}
-			catch(Exception ex){
-				logger.error("Parsing error at line: " + lineCount + " in resource=" + 
-						resource.getDescription() + ", input=[" + line + "]", ex);
+			catch (Exception ex) {
+				logger.error("Parsing error at line: " + lineCount + " in resource=" + resource.getDescription()
+						+ ", input=[" + line + "]", ex);
 				throw ex;
 			}
 		}
@@ -229,7 +242,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 	@Override
 	protected void doClose() throws Exception {
 		lineCount = 0;
-		if (reader!=null) {
+		if (reader != null) {
 			reader.close();
 		}
 	}
@@ -242,14 +255,14 @@ public class FlatFileItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemRea
 		noInput = false;
 		if (!resource.exists()) {
 			if (strict) {
-				throw new IllegalStateException("Input resource must exist (reader is in 'strict' mode): "+resource);
+				throw new IllegalStateException("Input resource must exist (reader is in 'strict' mode): " + resource);
 			}
 			noInput = true;
 			logger.warn("Input resource does not exist " + resource.getDescription());
 			return;
 		}
 
-		reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(resource.getInputStream(), encoding));
+		reader = bufferedReaderFactory.create(resource, encoding);
 		for (int i = 0; i < linesToSkip; i++) {
 			String line = readLine();
 			if (skippedLinesCallback != null) {
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87d2af66e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2007 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.io.Reader;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+
+/**
+ * A {@link BufferedReaderFactory} useful for reading simple binary (or text)
+ * files with no line endings, such as those produced by mainframe copy books.
+ * The reader splits a stream up across fixed line endings (rather than the
+ * usual convention based on plain text). The line endings are discarded, just
+ * as with the default plain text implementation.
+ * 
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ * @since 2.1
+ */
+public class SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory implements BufferedReaderFactory {
+
+	/**
+	 * The default line ending value.
+	 */
+	private static final String DEFAULT_LINE_ENDING = "\n";
+
+	private String lineEnding = DEFAULT_LINE_ENDING;
+
+	/**
+	 * @param lineEnding
+	 */
+	public void setLineEnding(String lineEnding) {
+		this.lineEnding = lineEnding;
+	}
+
+	public BufferedReader create(Resource resource, String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException, IOException {
+		return new BinaryBufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(resource.getInputStream(), encoding), lineEnding);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * BufferedReader extension that splits lines based on a line ending, rather
+	 * than the usual plain text conventions.
+	 * 
+	 * @author Dave Syer
+	 * 
+	 */
+	private final class BinaryBufferedReader extends BufferedReader {
+
+		private final String ending;
+
+		/**
+		 * @param in
+		 */
+		private BinaryBufferedReader(Reader in, String ending) {
+			super(in);
+			this.ending = ending;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String readLine() throws IOException {
+
+			StringBuilder buffer = null;
+
+			synchronized (lock) {
+
+				int next = read();
+				if (next == -1) {
+					return null;
+				}
+
+				buffer = new StringBuilder();
+				StringBuilder candidateEnding = new StringBuilder();
+
+				while (!isEndOfLine(buffer, candidateEnding, next)) {
+					next = read();
+				}
+				buffer.append(candidateEnding);
+
+			}
+
+			if (buffer != null && buffer.length() > 0) {
+				return buffer.toString();
+			}
+			return null;
+
+		}
+
+		/**
+		 * Check for end of line and accumulate a buffer for next time.
+		 * 
+		 * @param buffer the current line excluding the candidate ending
+		 * @param candidate a buffer containing accumulated state
+		 * @param next the next character (or -1 for end of file)
+		 * @return true if the values together signify the end of a file
+		 */
+		private boolean isEndOfLine(StringBuilder buffer, StringBuilder candidate, int next) {
+
+			if (next == -1) {
+				return true;
+			}
+
+			char c = (char) next;
+			if (ending.charAt(0) == c || candidate.length() > 0) {
+				candidate.append(c);
+			}
+
+			if (candidate.length() == 0) {
+				buffer.append(c);
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			boolean end = ending.equals(candidate.toString());
+			if (end) {
+				candidate.delete(0, candidate.length());
+			}
+			else if (candidate.length() >= ending.length()) {
+				buffer.append(candidate);
+				candidate.delete(0, candidate.length());
+			}
+
+			return end;
+
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c24942147
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/DefaultBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2007 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ByteArrayResource;
+
+/**
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ */
+public class DefaultBufferedReaderFactoryTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreate() throws Exception {
+		DefaultBufferedReaderFactory factory = new DefaultBufferedReaderFactory();
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a\nb\nc".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4daecc05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactoryTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2007 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ByteArrayResource;
+
+/**
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ */
+public class SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactoryTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreate() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a\nb".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreateWithLineEnding() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		factory.setLineEnding("||");
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a||b".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testMarkResetWithLineEnding() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		factory.setLineEnding("||");
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a||b||c".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+		reader.mark(1024);
+		assertEquals("b", reader.readLine());
+		reader.reset();
+		assertEquals("b", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals("c", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreateWithLineEndingAtEnd() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		factory.setLineEnding("||");
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a||".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreateWithFalseLineEnding() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		factory.setLineEnding("||");
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a|b||".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a|b", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreateWithIncompleteLineEnding() throws Exception {
+		SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory factory = new SimpleBinaryBufferedReaderFactory();
+		factory.setLineEnding("||");
+		BufferedReader reader = factory.create(new ByteArrayResource("a||b|".getBytes()), "UTF-8");
+		assertEquals("a", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals("b|", reader.readLine());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.readLine());
+	}
+
+}