diff --git a/System/Console/Haskeline.hs b/System/Console/Haskeline.hs
--- a/System/Console/Haskeline.hs
+++ b/System/Console/Haskeline.hs
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@
 import Control.Monad
 import Data.Char(isPrint)
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as B
-
-
+import System.IO.Error (isEOFError)
 
 
 -- | A useful default.  In particular:
@@ -254,7 +253,12 @@
                 f
 ----------
 
-{- | Reads one character of input, without waiting for a newline.
+{- | Reads one character of input.  Ignores non-printable characters.
+
+If stdin is a terminal, the character will be read without waiting for a newline.
+
+If stdin is not a terminal, a newline will be read if it is immediately
+available after the input character.
 -}
 getInputChar :: MonadException m => String -- ^ The input prompt
                     -> InputT m (Maybe Char)
@@ -269,10 +273,37 @@
 simpleFileChar :: MonadIO m => String -> RunTerm -> m (Maybe Char)
 simpleFileChar prefix rterm = liftIO $ do
     putStrOut rterm prefix
-    atEOF <- hIsEOF stdin
-    if atEOF
-        then return Nothing
-        else liftM Just $ getLocaleChar rterm
+    c <- getPrintableChar
+    maybeReadNewline
+    return c
+  where
+    getPrintableChar = returnOnEOF Nothing $ do
+                c <- getLocaleChar rterm
+                if isPrint c
+                    then return (Just c)
+                    else getPrintableChar
+
+-- If another character is immediately available, and it is a newline, consume it.
+--
+-- Note that in ghc-6.8.3 and earlier, hReady returns False at an EOF,
+-- whereas in ghc-6.10.1 and later it throws an exception.  (GHC trac #1063).
+-- This code handles both of those cases.
+--
+-- Also note that on Windows with ghc<6.10, hReady may not behave correctly (#1198)
+-- The net result is that this might cause
+-- But this function will generally only be used when reading buffered input
+-- (since stdin isn't a terminal), so it should probably be OK.
+maybeReadNewline :: IO ()
+maybeReadNewline = returnOnEOF () $ do
+    ready <- hReady stdin
+    when ready $ do
+        c <- hLookAhead stdin
+        when (c == '\n') $ getChar >> return ()
+
+returnOnEOF :: a -> IO a -> IO a
+returnOnEOF x = handle $ \e -> if isEOFError e
+                                then return x
+                                else throwIO e
 
 -- TODO: it might be possible to unify this function with getInputCmdLine,
 -- maybe by calling repeatTillFinish here...
diff --git a/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/IConv.hsc b/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/IConv.hsc
--- a/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/IConv.hsc
+++ b/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/IConv.hsc
@@ -10,13 +10,18 @@
 import Foreign.C
 import Foreign
 import Data.ByteString (ByteString, useAsCStringLen, append)
+-- TODO: Base or Internal, depending on whether base>=3.
+#ifdef OLD_BASE
+import Data.ByteString.Base (createAndTrim')
+#else
 import Data.ByteString.Internal (createAndTrim')
+#endif
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.UTF8 as UTF8
 
 #include <locale.h>
 #include <langinfo.h>
-#include <iconv.h>
+#include "h_iconv.h"
 
 openEncoder :: String -> IO (String -> IO ByteString)
 openEncoder codeset = do
@@ -68,7 +73,8 @@
 type IConvT = ForeignPtr ()
 type IConvTPtr = Ptr ()
 
-foreign import ccall iconv_open :: CString -> CString -> IO IConvTPtr
+foreign import ccall "h_iconv_open" iconv_open
+    :: CString -> CString -> IO IConvTPtr
 
 iconvOpen :: String -> String -> IO IConvT
 iconvOpen destName srcName = withCString destName $ \dest ->
@@ -79,9 +85,9 @@
                                     else newForeignPtr iconv_close res
 
 -- really this returns a CInt, but it's easiest to just ignore that, I think.
-foreign import ccall "&" iconv_close :: FunPtr (IConvTPtr -> IO ())
+foreign import ccall "& h_iconv_close" iconv_close :: FunPtr (IConvTPtr -> IO ())
 
-foreign import ccall "iconv" c_iconv :: IConvTPtr -> Ptr CString -> Ptr CSize
+foreign import ccall "h_iconv" c_iconv :: IConvTPtr -> Ptr CString -> Ptr CSize
                             -> Ptr CString -> Ptr CSize -> IO CSize
 
 data Result = Successful
diff --git a/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/Posix.hsc b/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/Posix.hsc
--- a/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/Posix.hsc
+++ b/System/Console/Haskeline/Backend/Posix.hsc
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 -------------------
 -- Window size
 
-foreign import ccall ioctl :: CInt -> CULong -> Ptr a -> IO CInt
+foreign import ccall ioctl :: FD -> CULong -> Ptr a -> IO CInt
 
 posixLayouts :: Handle -> [IO (Maybe Layout)]
 posixLayouts h = [ioctlLayout h, envLayout]
diff --git a/cbits/h_iconv.c b/cbits/h_iconv.c
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cbits/h_iconv.c
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#include "h_iconv.h"
+
+// Wrapper functions, since iconv_open et al are macros in libiconv.
+iconv_t h_iconv_open(const char *tocode, const char *fromcode) {
+    return iconv_open(tocode, fromcode);
+}
+
+void h_iconv_close(iconv_t cd) {
+    iconv_close(cd);
+}
+
+size_t h_iconv(iconv_t cd, char **inbuf, size_t *inbytesleft,
+                char **outbuf, size_t *outbytesleft) {
+    return iconv(cd, inbuf, inbytesleft, outbuf, outbytesleft);
+}
diff --git a/haskeline.cabal b/haskeline.cabal
--- a/haskeline.cabal
+++ b/haskeline.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Name:           haskeline
 Cabal-Version:  >=1.6
-Version:        0.6.0.1
+Version:        0.6.1
 Category:       User Interfaces
 License:        BSD3
 License-File:   LICENSE
@@ -29,13 +29,18 @@
     Description: Use the terminfo package for POSIX consoles.
     Default: True
 
+flag libiconv
+    Description: Explicitly link against the libiconv library.
+    Default: False
+
 Library
     if flag(old-base)
-        Build-depends: base < 3
+        Build-depends: base == 2.*
+        cpp-options:    -DOLD_BASE
     else
-        Build-depends: base>=3 && <5 , containers>=0.1, directory>=1.0
+        Build-depends: base>=3 && <5 , containers>=0.1, directory>=1.0,
+                        bytestring==0.9.*
     Build-depends:  filepath==1.1.*, mtl==1.1.*,
-                    bytestring==0.9.*,
                     utf8-string==0.3.* && >=0.3.1.1,
                     extensible-exceptions==0.1.* && >=0.1.1.0
     Extensions:     ForeignFunctionInterface, RankNTypes, FlexibleInstances,
@@ -44,7 +49,7 @@
                 ScopedTypeVariables, GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving
                 MultiParamTypeClasses, OverlappingInstances
                 PatternSignatures, CPP, DeriveDataTypeable,
-                PatternGuards, StandaloneDeriving
+                PatternGuards
     Exposed-Modules:
                 System.Console.Haskeline
                 System.Console.Haskeline.Completion
@@ -76,14 +81,16 @@
         install-includes: win_console.h
         cpp-options: -DMINGW
     } else {
-        Build-depends: unix>=2.2 && < 2.4
-                        -- unix-2.3 doesn't build on ghc-6.8.1
+        Build-depends: unix>=2.1 && < 2.4
+                        -- unix-2.3 doesn't build on ghc-6.8.1 or earlier
         -- temporary hack: some OSes provide iconv in (g)libc, and
         -- some provide it as a separate libiconv.  It would be
         -- better if we could detect this automatically, though.
-        if os(darwin) || os(freebsd) {
+        if os(darwin) || os(freebsd) || flag(libiconv){
             Extra-libraries: iconv
         }
+        c-sources: cbits/h_iconv.c
+        includes: h_iconv.h
         Other-modules: 
                 System.Console.Haskeline.Backend.Posix
                 System.Console.Haskeline.Backend.IConv