diff --git a/src/preprocessor.cpp b/src/preprocessor.cpp
index 2bbe19d0e..9a216c3db 100644
--- a/src/preprocessor.cpp
+++ b/src/preprocessor.cpp
@@ -327,6 +327,13 @@ std::string Preprocessor::read(std::istream &istr)
     return removeParantheses(removeComments(code.str()));
 }
 
+static bool hasbom(const std::string &str)
+{
+    return bool(str.size() > 3 &&
+                (char)str[0] == (char)0xef &&
+                (char)str[1] == (char)0xbb &&
+                (char)str[2] == (char)0xbf);
+}
 
 
 std::string Preprocessor::removeComments(const std::string &str)
@@ -340,17 +347,9 @@ std::string Preprocessor::removeComments(const std::string &str)
     unsigned int newlines = 0;
     std::ostringstream code;
     char previous = 0;
-    for (std::string::size_type i = 0; i < str.length(); ++i)
+    for (std::string::size_type i = hasbom(str) ? 3 : 0; i < str.length(); ++i)
     {
         char ch = str[i];
-        if (i == 0 && str.size() > 3 &&
-            (char)str[0] == (char)0xef &&
-            (char)str[1] == (char)0xbb &&
-            (char)str[2] == (char)0xbf)
-        {
-            i = 2;
-            continue;
-        }
         if (ch < 0)
             throw std::runtime_error("The code contains characters that are unhandled");