diff --git a/gyp/pylib/gyp/input.py b/gyp/pylib/gyp/input.py
index a046a15cc1..56cdece0aa 100644
--- a/gyp/pylib/gyp/input.py
+++ b/gyp/pylib/gyp/input.py
@@ -231,7 +231,10 @@ def LoadOneBuildFile(build_file_path, data, aux_data, includes,
     return data[build_file_path]
 
   if os.path.exists(build_file_path):
-    build_file_contents = open(build_file_path).read()
+    # Open the build file for read ('r') with universal-newlines mode ('U')
+    # to make sure platform specific newlines ('\r\n' or '\r') are converted to '\n'
+    # which otherwise will fail eval()
+    build_file_contents = open(build_file_path, 'rU').read()
   else:
     raise GypError("%s not found (cwd: %s)" % (build_file_path, os.getcwd()))