diff --git a/worker/lib/parse.go b/worker/lib/parse.go
index 87f94bd..6d73a1f 100644
--- a/worker/lib/parse.go
+++ b/worker/lib/parse.go
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ func parseAddressList(h *mail.Header, key string) ([]*mail.Address, error) {
 
 // RawMessage is an interface that describes a raw message
 type RawMessage interface {
-	NewReader() (io.Reader, error)
+	NewReader() (io.ReadCloser, error)
 	ModelFlags() ([]models.Flag, error)
 	Labels() ([]string, error)
 	UID() uint32
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ func MessageInfo(raw RawMessage) (*models.MessageInfo, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	defer r.Close()
 	msg, err := message.Read(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read message: %v", err)
diff --git a/worker/lib/parse_test.go b/worker/lib/parse_test.go
index 5c0a1b1..1219098 100644
--- a/worker/lib/parse_test.go
+++ b/worker/lib/parse_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 package lib
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -36,23 +36,17 @@ func TestMessageInfoHandledError(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 type mockRawMessage struct {
-	body []byte
-}
-
-func newMockRawMessage(body []byte) *mockRawMessage {
-	return &mockRawMessage{
-		body: body,
-	}
+	path string
 }
 
 func newMockRawMessageFromPath(p string) *mockRawMessage {
-	b, err := ioutil.ReadFile(p)
-	die(err)
-	return newMockRawMessage(b)
+	return &mockRawMessage{
+		path: p,
+	}
 }
 
-func (m *mockRawMessage) NewReader() (io.Reader, error) {
-	return bytes.NewReader(m.body), nil
+func (m *mockRawMessage) NewReader() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+	return os.Open(m.path)
 }
 func (m *mockRawMessage) ModelFlags() ([]models.Flag, error) { return nil, nil }
 func (m *mockRawMessage) Labels() ([]string, error)          { return nil, nil }
diff --git a/worker/maildir/message.go b/worker/maildir/message.go
index dbc9ade..b73e083 100644
--- a/worker/maildir/message.go
+++ b/worker/maildir/message.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package maildir
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
@@ -20,12 +19,8 @@ type Message struct {
 }
 
 // NewReader reads a message into memory and returns an io.Reader for it.
-func (m Message) NewReader() (io.Reader, error) {
-	f, err := m.dir.Open(m.key)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return bufio.NewReader(f), nil
+func (m Message) NewReader() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+	return m.dir.Open(m.key)
 }
 
 // Flags fetches the set of flags currently applied to the message.
diff --git a/worker/maildir/search.go b/worker/maildir/search.go
index edfb8d8..7f97fb1 100644
--- a/worker/maildir/search.go
+++ b/worker/maildir/search.go
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ func (w *Worker) searchKey(key uint32, criteria *searchCriteria,
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
+		defer reader.Close()
 		bytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(reader)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
diff --git a/worker/maildir/worker.go b/worker/maildir/worker.go
index 621b19e..a671d73 100644
--- a/worker/maildir/worker.go
+++ b/worker/maildir/worker.go
@@ -432,6 +432,7 @@ func (w *Worker) handleFetchFullMessages(msg *types.FetchFullMessages) error {
 			w.worker.Logger.Printf("could not get message reader: %v", err)
 			return err
 		}
+		defer r.Close()
 		w.worker.PostMessage(&types.FullMessage{
 			Message: types.RespondTo(msg),
 			Content: &models.FullMessage{
diff --git a/worker/notmuch/message.go b/worker/notmuch/message.go
index c95c9ba..e39fb17 100644
--- a/worker/notmuch/message.go
+++ b/worker/notmuch/message.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 package notmuch
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -23,16 +22,12 @@ type Message struct {
 }
 
 // NewReader returns a reader for a message
-func (m *Message) NewReader() (io.Reader, error) {
+func (m *Message) NewReader() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	name, err := m.Filename()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	f, err := os.Open(name)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return bufio.NewReader(f), nil
+	return os.Open(name)
 }
 
 // MessageInfo populates a models.MessageInfo struct for the message.
diff --git a/worker/notmuch/worker.go b/worker/notmuch/worker.go
index 575cd56..d95d6ba 100644
--- a/worker/notmuch/worker.go
+++ b/worker/notmuch/worker.go
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@ func (w *worker) handleFetchFullMessages(msg *types.FetchFullMessages) error {
 			w.w.Logger.Printf("could not get message reader: %v", err)
 			return err
 		}
+		defer r.Close()
 		w.w.PostMessage(&types.FullMessage{
 			Message: types.RespondTo(msg),
 			Content: &models.FullMessage{