diff --git a/libjava/ChangeLog b/libjava/ChangeLog
index a746b4aa860..d7989f67dbf 100644
--- a/libjava/ChangeLog
+++ b/libjava/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2003-01-31  Julian Dolby  <dolby@us.ibm.com>
+
+	* java/util/Properties.java (load): Ignore backslash before EOF.
+
 2003-01-30  Jeff Sturm  <jsturm@one-point.com>
 
 	* java/lang/natClass.cc (initializeClass): Check tables when
diff --git a/libjava/java/util/Properties.java b/libjava/java/util/Properties.java
index cb77661a397..907ec2c4d7a 100644
--- a/libjava/java/util/Properties.java
+++ b/libjava/java/util/Properties.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Properties.java -- a set of persistent properties
-   Copyright (C) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+   Copyright (C) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
 This file is part of GNU Classpath.
 
@@ -271,6 +271,13 @@ label   = Name:\\u0020</pre>
                   {
                     // The line continues on the next line.
                     line = reader.readLine();
+
+		    // We might have seen a backslash at the end of
+		    // the file.  The JDK ignores the backslash in
+		    // this case, so we follow for compatibility.
+		    if (line == null)
+		      break;
+
                     pos = 0;
                     while (pos < line.length()
                            && Character.isWhitespace(c = line.charAt(pos)))