diff --git a/irc/config.go b/irc/config.go
index 59bab09d..246a1043 100644
--- a/irc/config.go
+++ b/irc/config.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package irc
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"code.cloudfoundry.org/bytefmt"
+	"github.com/goshuirc/irc-go/ircfmt"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
+
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/caps"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/cloaks"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/connection_limits"
@@ -34,7 +38,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/mysql"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/passwd"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/utils"
-	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
 // here's how this works: exported (capitalized) members of the config structs
@@ -1305,3 +1308,34 @@ func compileGuestRegexp(guestFormat string, casemapping Casemapping) (standard,
 	folded, err = utils.CompileGlob(fmt.Sprintf("%s*%s", initialFolded, finalFolded), false)
 	return
 }
+
+func (config *Config) loadMOTD() error {
+	if config.Server.MOTD != "" {
+		file, err := os.Open(config.Server.MOTD)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer file.Close()
+		contents, err := ioutil.ReadAll(file)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		lines := bytes.Split(contents, []byte{'\n'})
+		for i, line := range lines {
+			lineToSend := string(bytes.TrimRight(line, "\r\n"))
+			if len(lineToSend) == 0 && i == len(lines)-1 {
+				// if the last line of the MOTD was properly terminated with \n,
+				// there's no need to send a blank line to clients
+				continue
+			}
+			if config.Server.MOTDFormatting {
+				lineToSend = ircfmt.Unescape(lineToSend)
+			}
+			// "- " is the required prefix for MOTD
+			lineToSend = fmt.Sprintf("- %s", lineToSend)
+			config.Server.motdLines = append(config.Server.motdLines, lineToSend)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/irc/server.go b/irc/server.go
index 951eeeab..0f0975df 100644
--- a/irc/server.go
+++ b/irc/server.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 package irc
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"unsafe"
 
 	"github.com/goshuirc/irc-go/ircfmt"
+
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/caps"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/connection_limits"
 	"github.com/oragono/oragono/irc/history"
@@ -667,35 +667,6 @@ func (server *Server) setupPprofListener(config *Config) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (config *Config) loadMOTD() (err error) {
-	if config.Server.MOTD != "" {
-		file, err := os.Open(config.Server.MOTD)
-		if err == nil {
-			defer file.Close()
-
-			reader := bufio.NewReader(file)
-			for {
-				line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
-				if err != nil {
-					break
-				}
-				line = strings.TrimRight(line, "\r\n")
-
-				if config.Server.MOTDFormatting {
-					line = ircfmt.Unescape(line)
-				}
-
-				// "- " is the required prefix for MOTD, we just add it here to make
-				// bursting it out to clients easier
-				line = fmt.Sprintf("- %s", line)
-
-				config.Server.motdLines = append(config.Server.motdLines, line)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return
-}
-
 func (server *Server) loadDatastore(config *Config) error {
 	// open the datastore and load server state for which it (rather than config)
 	// is the source of truth