diff --git a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
index 65ccfa3..b4c31f1 100644
--- a/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
+++ b/lib/nconf/stores/file.js
@@ -97,7 +97,12 @@ File.prototype.load = function (callback) {
       }
 
       try {
-        self.store = self.format.parse(data.toString());
+          //deals with string that include BOM
+          stringData = data.toString();
+
+          if (stringData.charAt(0) === '\uFEFF') stringData = stringData.substr(1);
+          self.store = self.format.parse(stringData);
+
       }
       catch (ex) {
         return callback(new Error("Error parsing your JSON configuration file: [" + self.file + '].'));
@@ -125,8 +130,12 @@ File.prototype.loadSync = function () {
     // Else, the path exists, read it from disk
     //
     try {
-      data = this.format.parse(fs.readFileSync(this.file, 'utf8'));
-      this.store = data;
+        //deals with file that include BOM
+        fileData = fs.readFileSync(this.file, 'utf8');
+        if (fileData.charAt(0) === '\uFEFF') fileData = fileData.substr(1);
+
+        data = this.format.parse(fileData);
+        this.store = data;
     }
     catch (ex) {
       throw new Error("Error parsing your JSON configuration file: [" + self.file + '].');
diff --git a/test/stores/file-store-test.js b/test/stores/file-store-test.js
index bf43d7f..57fac59 100644
--- a/test/stores/file-store-test.js
+++ b/test/stores/file-store-test.js
@@ -47,6 +47,54 @@ vows.describe('nconf/stores/file').addBatch({
           assert.match(err, /malformed\.json/);
         }
       }
+    },
+    "with a valid UTF8 JSON file that contains a BOM": {
+        topic: function () {
+            var filePath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'fixtures', 'bom.json');
+            this.store = store = new nconf.File({ file: filePath });
+            return null;
+        },
+        "the load() method": {
+            topic: function () {
+                this.store.load(this.callback);
+            },
+            "should load the data correctly": function (err, data) {
+                assert.isNull(err);
+            }
+        },
+        "the loadSync() method": {
+            topic: function () {
+                this.store.loadSync();
+                return null;
+            },
+            "should load the data correctly": function (result) {
+                assert.isNull(result);
+            }
+        }
+    },
+    "with a valid UTF8 JSON file that contains no BOM": {
+        topic: function () {
+            var filePath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'fixtures', 'no-bom.json');
+            this.store = store = new nconf.File({ file: filePath });
+            return null;
+        },
+        "the load() method": {
+            topic: function () {
+                this.store.load(this.callback);
+            },
+            "should load the data correctly": function (err, data) {
+                assert.isNull(err);
+            }
+        },
+        "the loadSync() method": {
+            topic: function () {
+                this.store.loadSync();
+                return null;
+            },
+            "should load the data correctly": function (result) {
+                assert.isNull(result);
+            }
+        }
     }
   }
 }).addBatch({