diff --git a/System/IO/SaferFileHandles.hs b/System/IO/SaferFileHandles.hs
--- a/System/IO/SaferFileHandles.hs
+++ b/System/IO/SaferFileHandles.hs
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@
 
       -- ** IO Modes
       -- | Types that represent the IOMode an opened file can be in.
-    , IOMode(..)
-
     , ReadMode
     , WriteMode
     , AppendMode
@@ -64,6 +62,9 @@
     , ReadModes
     , WriteModes
 
+    , IOMode(..)
+    , MkIOMode(mkIOMode)
+
       -- ** Standard handles
       {-| These standard handles have concrete IOModes by default which work
       for the majority of cases. In the rare occasion that you know these
@@ -76,6 +77,9 @@
     , FilePath
     , openFile, withFile
 
+    -- *** Opening files by inferring the IOMode
+    , openFile', withFile'
+
       -- ** Regions
       {-| Note that this module re-exports the @Control.Monad.Trans.Region@
       module from the @regions@ package which allows you to:
@@ -169,6 +173,10 @@
     -- * Binary input and output
     , openBinaryFile, withBinaryFile
 
+    -- ** Opening binary files by inferring the IOMode
+    , openBinaryFile', withBinaryFile'
+
+    -- ** Operations on binary handles
     , hSetBinaryMode
     , hPutBuf
     , hGetBuf
@@ -254,6 +262,7 @@
 import System.IO.ExplicitIOModes ( IO
                                  , hClose
                                  , IOMode(..)
+                                 , MkIOMode(mkIOMode)
 
                                  , ReadMode
                                  , WriteMode
@@ -393,7 +402,26 @@
          → pr α
 withFile filePath ioMode f = runRegionT $ openFile filePath ioMode >>= f
 
+-- *** Opening files by inferring the IOMode
 
+-- | Open a file without explicitly specifying the IOMode. The IOMode is
+-- inferred from the type of the resulting 'RegionalFileHandle'.
+--
+-- Note that: @openFile' fp = 'openFile' fp 'mkIOMode'@.
+openFile' ∷ (MonadCatchIO pr, MkIOMode ioMode)
+          ⇒ FilePath
+          → RegionT s pr
+              (RegionalFileHandle ioMode (RegionT s pr))
+openFile' filePath = openFile filePath mkIOMode
+
+-- | Note that: @withFile' filePath = 'withFile' filePath 'mkIOMode'@.
+withFile' ∷ (MonadCatchIO pr, MkIOMode ioMode)
+          ⇒ FilePath
+          → (∀ s. RegionalFileHandle ioMode (RegionT s pr) → RegionT s pr α)
+          → pr α
+withFile' filePath = withFile filePath mkIOMode
+
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- * Operations on regional file handles
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -864,6 +892,24 @@
                →  (∀ s. RegionalFileHandle ioMode (RegionT s pr) → RegionT s pr α)
                → pr α
 withBinaryFile filePath ioMode f = runRegionT $ openBinaryFile filePath ioMode >>= f
+
+-- ** Opening binary files by inferring the IOMode
+
+-- | Note that: @openBinaryFile' filePath = 'openBinaryFile' filePath 'mkIOMode'@.
+openBinaryFile' ∷ (MonadCatchIO pr, MkIOMode ioMode)
+                ⇒ FilePath
+                → RegionT s pr
+                    (RegionalFileHandle ioMode (RegionT s pr))
+openBinaryFile' filePath = openBinaryFile filePath mkIOMode
+
+-- | Note that: @withBinaryFile' filePath = 'withBinaryFile' filePath 'mkIOMode'@.
+withBinaryFile' ∷ (MonadCatchIO pr, MkIOMode ioMode)
+                ⇒ FilePath
+                →  (∀ s. RegionalFileHandle ioMode (RegionT s pr) → RegionT s pr α)
+                → pr α
+withBinaryFile' filePath = withBinaryFile filePath mkIOMode
+
+-- ** Operations on binary handles
 
 -- | Select binary mode ('True') or text mode ('False') on a open handle.
 -- (See also 'openBinaryFile'.)
diff --git a/safer-file-handles.cabal b/safer-file-handles.cabal
--- a/safer-file-handles.cabal
+++ b/safer-file-handles.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:          safer-file-handles
-version:       0.6
+version:       0.6.1
 cabal-version: >=1.6
 build-type:    Custom
 license:       BSD3
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@
                .
                @darcs get <http://code.haskell.org/~basvandijk/code/safer-file-handles-examples>@
 	       .
-	       See the @safer-file-handles-bytestring@ package for @ByteString@
-	       operations on regional file handles.
+	       See the @safer-file-handles-bytestring/text@ package for
+	       @ByteString/Text@ operations on regional file handles.
 
 source-repository head
   Type:     darcs
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
                , regions                   >= 0.6   && < 0.7
                , transformers              >= 0.2   && < 0.3
                , MonadCatchIO-transformers >= 0.2   && < 0.3
-               , explicit-iomodes          >= 0.3   && < 0.5
+               , explicit-iomodes          >= 0.4.1 && < 0.5
   exposed-modules: System.IO.SaferFileHandles
                    System.IO.SaferFileHandles.Unsafe
   other-modules:   System.IO.SaferFileHandles.Internal