diff --git a/testssl.sh b/testssl.sh
index c5345b4..4252657 100755
--- a/testssl.sh
+++ b/testssl.sh
@@ -1226,7 +1226,7 @@ strip_trailing_space() {
 # retrieve cipher from ServerHello (via openssl)
 get_cipher() {
      local cipher=""
-     local server_hello="$(cat "$1")"
+     local server_hello="$(< "$1")"
 
      if [[ "$server_hello" =~ Cipher\ *:\ ([A-Z0-9]+-[A-Z0-9\-]+|TLS_[A-Z0-9_]+) ]]; then
           cipher="${BASH_REMATCH##* }"
@@ -1239,7 +1239,7 @@ get_cipher() {
 # retrieve protocol from ServerHello (via openssl)
 get_protocol() {
      local protocol=""
-     local server_hello="$(cat "$1")"
+     local server_hello="$(< "$1")"
 
      if [[ "$server_hello" =~ Protocol\ *:\ (SSLv[23]|TLSv1(\.[0-3])?) ]]; then
           protocol="${BASH_REMATCH##* }"