diff --git a/src/jv_file.c b/src/jv_file.c
index 7706b0e0..fbc1e4d6 100644
--- a/src/jv_file.c
+++ b/src/jv_file.c
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ jv jv_load_file(const char* filename, int raw) {
 
     if (raw) {
       data = jv_string_append_buf(data, buf, n);
+      if (!jv_is_valid(data))
+        break;
     } else {
       jv_parser_set_buf(parser, buf, n, !feof(file));
       jv value;