diff --git a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/core_extensions/front_matter.rb b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/core_extensions/front_matter.rb
index 3b3e3935..7460dca9 100644
--- a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/core_extensions/front_matter.rb
+++ b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/core_extensions/front_matter.rb
@@ -130,23 +130,27 @@ module Middleman::CoreExtensions
       # @return [Array<Thor::CoreExt::HashWithIndifferentAccess, String>]
       def frontmatter_and_content(path)
         full_path = File.expand_path(File.join(@app.source_dir, path))
-        content = File.read(full_path)
         data = {}
+        content = nil
 
-        begin
-          if content =~ /\A.*coding:/
-            lines = content.split(/\n/)
-            lines.shift
-            content = lines.join("\n")
-          end
+        if !::Middleman::Util.binary?(full_path)
+          content = File.read(full_path)
+          
+          begin
+            if content =~ /\A.*coding:/
+              lines = content.split(/\n/)
+              lines.shift
+              content = lines.join("\n")
+            end
 
-          if result = parse_yaml_front_matter(content)
-            data, content = result
-          elsif result = parse_json_front_matter(content)
-            data, content = result
+            if result = parse_yaml_front_matter(content)
+              data, content = result
+            elsif result = parse_json_front_matter(content)
+              data, content = result
+            end
+          rescue => e
+            # Probably a binary file, move on
           end
-        rescue => e
-          # Probably a binary file, move on
         end
 
         [data, content]
diff --git a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/sitemap/resource.rb b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/sitemap/resource.rb
index 6c14fca5..87bb610e 100644
--- a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/sitemap/resource.rb
+++ b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/sitemap/resource.rb
@@ -151,8 +151,7 @@ module Middleman
       #
       # @retrun [Boolean]
       def binary?
-        s = (File.read(source_file, File.stat(source_file).blksize) || "").split(//)
-        ((s.size - s.grep(" ".."~").size) / s.size.to_f) > 0.30
+        ::Middleman::Util.binary?(source_file)
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/util.rb b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/util.rb
index 6702c73d..b4b543fe 100644
--- a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/util.rb
+++ b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/util.rb
@@ -10,10 +10,21 @@ require "thor"
 # Core Pathname library used for traversal
 require "pathname"
 
+require 'win32/file' if File::ALT_SEPARATOR
+
 module Middleman
 
   module Util
 
+    # Whether the source file is binary.
+    #
+    # @param [String] filename The file to check.
+    # @return [Boolean]
+    def self.binary?(filename)
+      s = (File.read(filename, File.stat(filename).blksize) || "").split(//)
+      ((s.size - s.grep(" ".."~").size) / s.size.to_f) > 0.30
+    end
+
     # The logger
     #
     # @return [Middleman::Logger] The logger