diff --git a/tildetown/mustache.py b/tildetown/mustache.py
index 0c3f322..75eed52 100644
--- a/tildetown/mustache.py
+++ b/tildetown/mustache.py
@@ -4,21 +4,13 @@ import sys
 
 from pystache import render
 
-def slurp(file_path):
-    contents = None
-    try:
-        with open(file_path, 'r', encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            contents = f.read()
-    except FileNotFoundError:
-        pass
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        pass
-    return contents
-
 # when you install scripts with entry_points in a setup.py, the resulting
-# executable just calls main() and you have to look up sys.argv yourself. I like to explicitly take an argv in my actual main, hence the weird indirection. could probably be better.
+# executable just calls main() and you have to look up sys.argv yourself. I
+# like to explicitly take an argv in my actual main, hence the weird
+# indirection. could probably be better.
 def _main(argv):
-    template = slurp(argv[1])
+    with open(argv[1], 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        template = f.read()
     data = json.loads(sys.stdin.read())
     sys.stdout.write(render(template, data))