diff --git a/Cakefile b/Cakefile
index 39e115b7..1d88edd2 100644
--- a/Cakefile
+++ b/Cakefile
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ task 'build:parser', 'rebuild the Jison parser', ->
   parser: require('grammar').parser
   js: parser.generate()
   parser_path: 'lib/parser.js'
-  fs.open(parser_path, process.O_CREAT | process.O_WRONLY | process.O_TRUNC, parseInt('0755', 8)).addCallback (fd) ->
+  fs.open(parser_path, 'w+', 0755).addCallback (fd) ->
     fs.write(fd, js)
 
 
@@ -54,6 +54,6 @@ task 'test', 'run the CoffeeScript language test suite', ->
     puts '\033[0;32mpassed ' + test_count + ' tests in ' + time + ' seconds\033[0m'
   fs.readdir('test').addCallback (files) ->
     for file in files
-      fs.cat('test/' + file).addCallback (source) ->
+      fs.readFile('test/' + file).addCallback (source) ->
         js: coffee.compile source
         process.compile js, file
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/cake.js b/lib/cake.js
index 0370a592..17a10f09 100755
--- a/lib/cake.js
+++ b/lib/cake.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
         throw new Error('Cakefile not found in ' + process.cwd());
       }
       args = process.ARGV.slice(2, process.ARGV.length);
-      return fs.cat('Cakefile').addCallback(function(source) {
+      return fs.readFile('Cakefile').addCallback(function(source) {
         var _a, _b, _c, arg;
         eval(coffee.compile(source));
         if (!(args.length)) {
diff --git a/lib/command_line.js b/lib/command_line.js
index 9210fbbc..c3314cf2 100644
--- a/lib/command_line.js
+++ b/lib/command_line.js
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
     if (!((source = sources.shift()))) {
       return null;
     }
-    return fs.cat(source).addCallback(function(code) {
+    return fs.readFile(source).addCallback(function(code) {
       compile_script(source, code);
       return compile_scripts();
     });
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
         if (curr.mtime.getTime() === prev.mtime.getTime()) {
           return null;
         }
-        return fs.cat(source).addCallback(function(code) {
+        return fs.readFile(source).addCallback(function(code) {
           return compile_script(source, code);
         });
       }));
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@
     filename = path.basename(source, path.extname(source)) + '.js';
     dir = options.output || path.dirname(source);
     js_path = path.join(dir, filename);
-    return fs.open(js_path, process.O_CREAT | process.O_WRONLY | process.O_TRUNC, parseInt('0755', 8)).addCallback(function(fd) {
+    return fs.open(js_path, 'w+', 0755).addCallback(function(fd) {
       return fs.write(fd, js);
     });
   };
diff --git a/src/cake.coffee b/src/cake.coffee
index af49ed6b..b18a8e35 100644
--- a/src/cake.coffee
+++ b/src/cake.coffee
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ exports.run: ->
   path.exists 'Cakefile', (exists) ->
     throw new Error('Cakefile not found in ' + process.cwd()) unless exists
     args: process.ARGV[2...process.ARGV.length]
-    fs.cat('Cakefile').addCallback (source) ->
+    fs.readFile('Cakefile').addCallback (source) ->
       eval coffee.compile source
       return print_tasks() unless args.length
       for arg in args
diff --git a/src/command_line.coffee b/src/command_line.coffee
index b630f8de..d95cdce3 100644
--- a/src/command_line.coffee
+++ b/src/command_line.coffee
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ compile: (script, source) ->
 # or JSLint results.
 compile_scripts: ->
   return unless source: sources.shift()
-  fs.cat(source).addCallback (code) ->
+  fs.readFile(source).addCallback (code) ->
     compile_script(source, code)
     compile_scripts()
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ watch_scripts: ->
   for source in sources
     process.watchFile source, {persistent: true, interval: 500}, (curr, prev) ->
       return if curr.mtime.getTime() is prev.mtime.getTime()
-      fs.cat(source).addCallback (code) -> compile_script(source, code)
+      fs.readFile(source).addCallback (code) -> compile_script(source, code)
 
 
 # Write out a JavaScript source file with the compiled code.
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ write_js: (source, js) ->
   filename: path.basename(source, path.extname(source)) + '.js'
   dir:      options.output or path.dirname(source)
   js_path:  path.join dir, filename
-  fs.open(js_path, process.O_CREAT | process.O_WRONLY | process.O_TRUNC, parseInt('0755', 8)).addCallback (fd) ->
+  fs.open(js_path, 'w+', 0755).addCallback (fd) ->
     fs.write(fd, js)
 
 # Pipe compiled JS through JSLint (requires a working 'jsl' command).