diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 41205fa88..2b8f984ba 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ GNU coreutils NEWS                                    -*- outline -*-
   'pr --length=1 --double-space' no longer enters an infinite loop.
   [This bug was present in "the beginning".]
 
+  tac now handles short reads on its input.  Previously it may have exited
+  erroneously, especially with large input files with no separators.
+  [This bug was present in "the beginning".]
+
   'uptime' no longer incorrectly prints "0 users" on OpenBSD.
   [bug introduced in coreutils-9.2]
 
diff --git a/src/tac.c b/src/tac.c
index 285f99a74..4c3655895 100644
--- a/src/tac.c
+++ b/src/tac.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ tac -r -s '.\|
 #include <regex.h>
 
 #include "filenamecat.h"
+#include "full-read.h"
 #include "safe-read.h"
 #include "temp-stream.h"
 #include "xbinary-io.h"
@@ -336,7 +337,7 @@ tac_seekable (int input_fd, char const *file, off_t file_pos)
           else
             match_start = past_end;
 
-          if (safe_read (input_fd, G_buffer, read_size) != read_size)
+          if (full_read (input_fd, G_buffer, read_size) != read_size)
             {
               error (0, errno, _("%s: read error"), quotef (file));
               return false;