diff --git a/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.cpp b/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.cpp
index 426f3adc70..801ccfaaf2 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.cpp
@@ -28,41 +28,34 @@
 
 int64 juce_fileSetPosition (void* handle, int64 pos);
 
+
 //==============================================================================
 FileInputStream::FileInputStream (const File& f)
     : file (f),
       fileHandle (nullptr),
       currentPosition (0),
-      status (Result::ok()),
-      needToSeek (true)
+      status (Result::ok())
 {
     openHandle();
 }
 
-FileInputStream::~FileInputStream()
-{
-    closeHandle();
-}
-
-//==============================================================================
 int64 FileInputStream::getTotalLength()
 {
+    // You should always check that a stream opened successfully before using it!
+    jassert (openedOk());
+
     return file.getSize();
 }
 
 int FileInputStream::read (void* buffer, int bytesToRead)
 {
+    // You should always check that a stream opened successfully before using it!
     jassert (openedOk());
+
+    // The buffer should never be null, and a negative size is probably a
+    // sign that something is broken!
     jassert (buffer != nullptr && bytesToRead >= 0);
 
-    if (needToSeek)
-    {
-        if (juce_fileSetPosition (fileHandle, currentPosition) < 0)
-            return 0;
-
-        needToSeek = false;
-    }
-
     const size_t num = readInternal (buffer, (size_t) bytesToRead);
     currentPosition += num;
 
@@ -81,15 +74,11 @@ int64 FileInputStream::getPosition()
 
 bool FileInputStream::setPosition (int64 pos)
 {
+    // You should always check that a stream opened successfully before using it!
     jassert (openedOk());
 
     if (pos != currentPosition)
-    {
-        pos = jlimit ((int64) 0, getTotalLength(), pos);
+        currentPosition = juce_fileSetPosition (fileHandle, pos);
 
-        needToSeek |= (currentPosition != pos);
-        currentPosition = pos;
-    }
-
-    return true;
+    return currentPosition == pos;
 }
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.h b/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.h
index fd5a5c6131..35963baaee 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileInputStream.h
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ class JUCE_API  FileInputStream  : public InputStream
 {
 public:
     //==============================================================================
-    /** Creates a FileInputStream.
+    /** Creates a FileInputStream to read from the given file.
 
-        @param fileToRead   the file to read from - if the file can't be accessed for some
-                            reason, then the stream will just contain no data
+        After creating a FileInputStream, you should use openedOk() or failedToOpen()
+        to make sure that it's OK before trying to read from it! If it failed, you
+        can call getStatus() to get more error information.
     */
     explicit FileInputStream (const File& fileToRead);
 
@@ -73,24 +74,23 @@ public:
 
     //==============================================================================
     int64 getTotalLength() override;
-    int read (void* destBuffer, int maxBytesToRead) override;
+    int read (void*, int) override;
     bool isExhausted() override;
     int64 getPosition() override;
-    bool setPosition (int64 pos) override;
+    bool setPosition (int64) override;
 
 private:
     //==============================================================================
-    File file;
+    const File file;
     void* fileHandle;
     int64 currentPosition;
     Result status;
-    bool needToSeek;
 
     void openHandle();
-    void closeHandle();
-    size_t readInternal (void* buffer, size_t numBytes);
+    size_t readInternal (void*, size_t);
 
     JUCE_DECLARE_NON_COPYABLE_WITH_LEAK_DETECTOR (FileInputStream)
 };
 
+
 #endif   // JUCE_FILEINPUTSTREAM_H_INCLUDED
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
index 88def315a5..1be83e5804 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
@@ -397,13 +397,10 @@ void FileInputStream::openHandle()
         status = getResultForErrno();
 }
 
-void FileInputStream::closeHandle()
+FileInputStream::~FileInputStream()
 {
     if (fileHandle != 0)
-    {
         close (getFD (fileHandle));
-        fileHandle = 0;
-    }
 }
 
 size_t FileInputStream::readInternal (void* const buffer, const size_t numBytes)
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_win32_Files.cpp b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_win32_Files.cpp
index 2ef738331e..80ad084ee3 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_win32_Files.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_win32_Files.cpp
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ void FileInputStream::openHandle()
         status = WindowsFileHelpers::getResultForLastError();
 }
 
-void FileInputStream::closeHandle()
+FileInputStream::~FileInputStream()
 {
     CloseHandle ((HANDLE) fileHandle);
 }