diff --git a/decode.c b/decode.c
index f3eaa9a50..f1e4aeaba 100644
--- a/decode.c
+++ b/decode.c
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ PyImaging_DecoderNew(int contextsize)
     /* Initialize the cleanup function pointer */
     decoder->cleanup = NULL;
 
+    /* Most decoders don't want to handle EOF themselves */
+    decoder->handles_eof = 0;
+
     return decoder;
 }