diff --git a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
index 07e5f93..a5ea26e 100644
--- a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
+++ b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ var File = exports.File = function (options) {
 
     this.secure.alg = this.secure.alg || 'aes-256-ctr';
     if (this.secure.secretPath) {
-      this.secret = fs.readFileSync(this.secure.secretPath, 'utf8');
+      this.secure.secret = fs.readFileSync(this.secure.secretPath, 'utf8').trim();
     }
 
     if (!this.secure.secret) {