diff --git a/swift/common/utils.py b/swift/common/utils.py
index 00cf119f07..c2499821f4 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils.py
@@ -233,25 +233,26 @@ def validate_hash_conf():
 
         if six.PY3:
             # Use Latin1 to accept arbitrary bytes in the hash prefix/suffix
-            confs_read = hash_conf.read(SWIFT_CONF_FILE, encoding='latin1')
+            with open(SWIFT_CONF_FILE, encoding='latin1') as swift_conf_file:
+                hash_conf.readfp(swift_conf_file)
         else:
-            confs_read = hash_conf.read(SWIFT_CONF_FILE)
+            with open(SWIFT_CONF_FILE) as swift_conf_file:
+                hash_conf.readfp(swift_conf_file)
 
-        if confs_read:
-            try:
-                HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = hash_conf.get('swift-hash',
-                                                 'swift_hash_path_suffix')
-                if six.PY3:
-                    HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = HASH_PATH_SUFFIX.encode('latin1')
-            except (NoSectionError, NoOptionError):
-                pass
-            try:
-                HASH_PATH_PREFIX = hash_conf.get('swift-hash',
-                                                 'swift_hash_path_prefix')
-                if six.PY3:
-                    HASH_PATH_PREFIX = HASH_PATH_PREFIX.encode('latin1')
-            except (NoSectionError, NoOptionError):
-                pass
+        try:
+            HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = hash_conf.get('swift-hash',
+                                             'swift_hash_path_suffix')
+            if six.PY3:
+                HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = HASH_PATH_SUFFIX.encode('latin1')
+        except (NoSectionError, NoOptionError):
+            pass
+        try:
+            HASH_PATH_PREFIX = hash_conf.get('swift-hash',
+                                             'swift_hash_path_prefix')
+            if six.PY3:
+                HASH_PATH_PREFIX = HASH_PATH_PREFIX.encode('latin1')
+        except (NoSectionError, NoOptionError):
+            pass
 
         if not HASH_PATH_SUFFIX and not HASH_PATH_PREFIX:
             raise InvalidHashPathConfigError()
@@ -259,7 +260,7 @@ def validate_hash_conf():
 
 try:
     validate_hash_conf()
-except InvalidHashPathConfigError:
+except (InvalidHashPathConfigError, IOError):
     # could get monkey patched or lazy loaded
     pass
 
diff --git a/test/unit/common/ring/test_ring.py b/test/unit/common/ring/test_ring.py
index 863c713280..3b4b1467a3 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/ring/test_ring.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/ring/test_ring.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ class TestRing(TestRingBase):
         with mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', b''), \
                 mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''), \
                 mock.patch.object(utils, 'SWIFT_CONF_FILE', ''):
-            self.assertRaises(SystemExit, ring.Ring, self.testdir, 'whatever')
+            self.assertRaises(IOError, ring.Ring, self.testdir, 'whatever')
 
     def test_replica_count(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.ring.replica_count, 3)
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
index 40afc6351e..06e54d5e3e 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
@@ -2085,11 +2085,21 @@ class TestUtils(unittest.TestCase):
             ['swift-hash-xxx'],
             ['swift_hash_path_suffix', 'swift_hash_path_prefix'], True)
 
+        # Unreadable/missing swift.conf causes IOError
+        # We mock in case the unit tests are run on a laptop with SAIO,
+        # which does have a natural /etc/swift/swift.conf.
+        with mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''), \
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', b''), \
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.SWIFT_CONF_FILE',
+                           '/nosuchfile'), \
+                self.assertRaises(IOError):
+            utils.validate_hash_conf()
+
     def _test_validate_hash_conf(self, sections, options, should_raise_error):
 
         class FakeConfigParser(object):
-            def read(self, conf_path, encoding=None):
-                return [conf_path]
+            def readfp(self, fp):
+                pass
 
             def get(self, section, option):
                 if section not in sections:
@@ -2101,6 +2111,8 @@ class TestUtils(unittest.TestCase):
 
         with mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''), \
                 mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', b''), \
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.SWIFT_CONF_FILE',
+                           '/dev/null'), \
                 mock.patch('swift.common.utils.ConfigParser',
                            FakeConfigParser):
             try: