diff --git a/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh b/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
index c2ad8448..b42fe195 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
@@ -485,6 +485,11 @@ namespace QUtil
     void read_file_into_memory(
         char const* filename, std::shared_ptr<char>& file_buf, size_t& size);
 
+    QPDF_DLL
+    std::string read_file_into_string(char const* filename);
+    QPDF_DLL
+    std::string read_file_into_string(FILE* f, std::string_view filename = "");
+
     // This used to be called strcasecmp, but that is a macro on some
     // platforms, so we have to give it a name that is not likely to
     // be a macro anywhere.
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
index 3a6bcdf4..a7f22443 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
@@ -760,11 +760,9 @@ QPDFJob::Config::showObject(std::string const& parameter)
 QPDFJob::Config*
 QPDFJob::Config::jobJsonFile(std::string const& parameter)
 {
-    std::shared_ptr<char> file_buf;
-    size_t size;
-    QUtil::read_file_into_memory(parameter.c_str(), file_buf, size);
     try {
-        o.initializeFromJson(std::string(file_buf.get(), size), true);
+        o.initializeFromJson(
+            QUtil::read_file_into_string(parameter.c_str()), true);
     } catch (std::exception& e) {
         throw std::runtime_error(
             "error with job-json file " + std::string(parameter) + ": " +
diff --git a/libqpdf/QUtil.cc b/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
index 7f23bd03..bae067b6 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
@@ -1243,6 +1243,37 @@ QUtil::read_file_into_memory(
     }
 }
 
+std::string
+QUtil::read_file_into_string(char const* filename)
+{
+    FILE* f = safe_fopen(filename, "rb");
+    FileCloser fc(f);
+    return read_file_into_string(f, filename);
+}
+
+std::string
+QUtil::read_file_into_string(FILE* f, std::string_view filename)
+{
+    fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);
+    auto size = QIntC::to_size(QUtil::tell(f));
+    fseek(f, 0, SEEK_SET);
+    std::string result(size, '\0');
+    if (auto read = fread(result.data(), 1, size, f); read != size) {
+        if (ferror(f)) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                std::string("failure reading file ") + std::string(filename) +
+                " into memory: read " + uint_to_string(read) + "; wanted " +
+                uint_to_string(size));
+        } else {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                std::string("premature eof reading file ") +
+                std::string(filename) + " into memory: read " +
+                uint_to_string(read) + "; wanted " + uint_to_string(size));
+        }
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 static bool
 read_char_from_FILE(char& ch, FILE* f)
 {
diff --git a/libtests/qtest/qutil/qutil.out b/libtests/qtest/qutil/qutil.out
index 8d3e6d8e..a5f7b108 100644
--- a/libtests/qtest/qutil/qutil.out
+++ b/libtests/qtest/qutil/qutil.out
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ This file is used for qutil testing.
 It has mixed newlines.
 Some lines are very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very 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 read 24652 bytes
+read 24652 bytes
 ---- hex encode/decode
 begin hex encode/decode
 end hex encode/decode
diff --git a/libtests/qutil.cc b/libtests/qutil.cc
index 972046b9..66264d19 100644
--- a/libtests/qutil.cc
+++ b/libtests/qutil.cc
@@ -576,6 +576,12 @@ read_from_file_test()
     auto buf2 = b2.getBufferSharedPointer();
     assert(buf2->getSize() == size);
     assert(memcmp(buf2->getBuffer(), p, size) == 0);
+
+    auto s = QUtil::read_file_into_string("other-file");
+    std::cout << "read " << s.size() << " bytes" << std::endl;
+    assert(s.size() == 24652);
+    assert(s.substr(0, 36) == "This file is used for qutil testing.");
+    assert(s.substr(24641, 10) == "very long.");
 }
 
 void