diff --git a/libsolutil/CommonIO.cpp b/libsolutil/CommonIO.cpp
index c933c552e..719ade34f 100644
--- a/libsolutil/CommonIO.cpp
+++ b/libsolutil/CommonIO.cpp
@@ -68,14 +68,14 @@ string solidity::util::readFileAsString(string const& _file)
 	return readFile<string>(_file);
 }
 
-string solidity::util::readStandardInput()
+string solidity::util::readStream(istream& _stream)
 {
 	string ret;
-	while (!cin.eof())
+	while (!_stream.eof())
 	{
 		string tmp;
 		// NOTE: this will read until EOF or NL
-		getline(cin, tmp);
+		getline(_stream, tmp);
 		ret.append(tmp);
 		ret.append("\n");
 	}
diff --git a/libsolutil/CommonIO.h b/libsolutil/CommonIO.h
index 88f7f9b5c..cbf2bd180 100644
--- a/libsolutil/CommonIO.h
+++ b/libsolutil/CommonIO.h
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@ namespace solidity::util
 /// If the file is empty, returns an empty string.
 std::string readFileAsString(std::string const& _file);
 
+/// Returns the contents of the stream (until EOF).
+std::string readStream(std::istream& _stream);
+
 /// Retrieve and returns the contents of standard input (until EOF).
-std::string readStandardInput();
+inline std::string readStandardInput() { return readStream(std::cin); }
 
 /// Retrieve and returns a character from standard input (without waiting for EOL).
 int readStandardInputChar();