diff --git a/src/libextra/term.rs b/src/libextra/term.rs
index 05e9b65d19cb..1f119ca9db4a 100644
--- a/src/libextra/term.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/term.rs
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ impl<T: Writer> Terminal<T> {
             return Err(entry.unwrap_err());
         }
 
-        let ti = parse(entry.unwrap(), false);
+        let mut file = entry.unwrap();
+        let ti = parse(&mut file, false);
         if ti.is_err() {
             return Err(ti.unwrap_err());
         }
diff --git a/src/libextra/terminfo/searcher.rs b/src/libextra/terminfo/searcher.rs
index 09f8cc0efef4..8cbb09026978 100644
--- a/src/libextra/terminfo/searcher.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/terminfo/searcher.rs
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@
 /// Implement ncurses-compatible database discovery
 /// Does not support hashed database, only filesystem!
 
-use std::{os, str};
-use std::os::getenv;
-use std::io;
 use std::io::File;
+use std::os::getenv;
+use std::{os, str};
 
 /// Return path to database entry for `term`
 pub fn get_dbpath_for_term(term: &str) -> Option<~Path> {
@@ -74,9 +73,14 @@ pub fn get_dbpath_for_term(term: &str) -> Option<~Path> {
 }
 
 /// Return open file for `term`
-pub fn open(term: &str) -> Result<@mut io::Reader, ~str> {
+pub fn open(term: &str) -> Result<File, ~str> {
     match get_dbpath_for_term(term) {
-        Some(x) => Ok(@mut File::open(x) as @mut io::Reader),
+        Some(x) => {
+            match File::open(x) {
+                Some(file) => Ok(file),
+                None => Err(~"error opening file"),
+            }
+        }
         None => Err(format!("could not find terminfo entry for {}", term))
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/libextra/test.rs b/src/libextra/test.rs
index 63e19df9519e..79fb9e3935a9 100644
--- a/src/libextra/test.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/test.rs
@@ -949,7 +949,8 @@ impl MetricMap {
 
     /// Write MetricDiff to a file.
     pub fn save(&self, p: &Path) {
-        self.to_json().to_pretty_writer(@mut File::create(p) as @mut io::Writer);
+        let mut file = File::create(p);
+        self.to_json().to_pretty_writer(&mut file)
     }
 
     /// Compare against another MetricMap. Optionally compare all
diff --git a/src/libextra/uuid.rs b/src/libextra/uuid.rs
index cf40a59a8c50..ef6c9e7f9cd5 100644
--- a/src/libextra/uuid.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/uuid.rs
@@ -796,8 +796,8 @@ mod test {
         use serialize::{Encodable, Decodable};
 
         let u = Uuid::new_v4();
-        let wr = @mut MemWriter::new();
-        u.encode(&mut ebml::writer::Encoder(wr));
+        let mut wr = MemWriter::new();
+        u.encode(&mut ebml::writer::Encoder(&mut wr));
         let doc = ebml::reader::Doc(wr.inner_ref().as_slice());
         let u2 = Decodable::decode(&mut ebml::reader::Decoder(doc));
         assert_eq!(u, u2);
diff --git a/src/libextra/workcache.rs b/src/libextra/workcache.rs
index 8713dbde9205..874e3c70af04 100644
--- a/src/libextra/workcache.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/workcache.rs
@@ -173,8 +173,8 @@ impl Database {
 
     // FIXME #4330: This should have &mut self and should set self.db_dirty to false.
     fn save(&self) {
-        let f = @mut File::create(&self.db_filename);
-        self.db_cache.to_json().to_pretty_writer(f as @mut io::Writer);
+        let mut f = File::create(&self.db_filename);
+        self.db_cache.to_json().to_pretty_writer(&mut f);
     }
 
     fn load(&mut self) {
@@ -184,14 +184,16 @@ impl Database {
             Err(e) => fail!("Couldn't load workcache database {}: {}",
                             self.db_filename.display(),
                             e.desc),
-            Ok(r) =>
-                match json::from_reader(@mut r.unwrap() as @mut io::Reader) {
+            Ok(r) => {
+                let mut stream = r.unwrap();
+                match json::from_reader(&mut stream) {
                     Err(e) => fail!("Couldn't parse workcache database (from file {}): {}",
                                     self.db_filename.display(), e.to_str()),
                     Ok(r) => {
                         let mut decoder = json::Decoder::new(r);
                         self.db_cache = Decodable::decode(&mut decoder);
                     }
+                }
             }
         }
     }