diff --git a/src/config_file.c b/src/config_file.c
index 216c07417..e468a0b88 100644
--- a/src/config_file.c
+++ b/src/config_file.c
@@ -483,15 +483,6 @@ static int cfg_peek(diskfile_backend *cfg, int flags)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static const char *LINEBREAK_UNIX = "\\\n";
-static const char *LINEBREAK_WIN32 = "\\\r\n";
-
-static int is_linebreak(const char *pos)
-{
-	return	memcmp(pos - 1, LINEBREAK_UNIX, sizeof(LINEBREAK_UNIX)) == 0 ||
-			memcmp(pos - 2, LINEBREAK_WIN32, sizeof(LINEBREAK_WIN32)) == 0;
-}
-
 /*
  * Read and consume a line, returning it in newly-allocated memory.
  */
@@ -502,38 +493,24 @@ static char *cfg_readline(diskfile_backend *cfg)
 	int line_len;
 
 	line_src = cfg->reader.read_ptr;
+
+	/* Skip empty empty lines */
+	while (isspace(*line_src))
+		++line_src;
+
     line_end = strchr(line_src, '\n');
 
     /* no newline at EOF */
 	if (line_end == NULL)
 		line_end = strchr(line_src, 0);
-	else
-		while (is_linebreak(line_end))
-			line_end = strchr(line_end + 1, '\n');
 
+	line_len = line_end - line_src;
 
-	while (line_src < line_end && isspace(*line_src))
-		line_src++;
-
-	line = (char *)git__malloc((size_t)(line_end - line_src) + 1);
+	line = git__malloc(line_len + 1);
 	if (line == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 
-	line_len = 0;
-	while (line_src < line_end) {
-
-		if (memcmp(line_src, LINEBREAK_UNIX, sizeof(LINEBREAK_UNIX)) == 0) {
-			line_src += sizeof(LINEBREAK_UNIX);
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (memcmp(line_src, LINEBREAK_WIN32, sizeof(LINEBREAK_WIN32)) == 0) {
-			line_src += sizeof(LINEBREAK_WIN32);
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		line[line_len++] = *line_src++;
-	}
+	memcpy(line, line_src, line_len);
 
 	line[line_len] = '\0';