diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.cc b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.cc
index 8776f6827..3059105da 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.cc
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.cc
@@ -1082,9 +1082,12 @@ LEFDEFReaderState::lef_importer ()
 }
 
 void
-LEFDEFReaderState::read_lef (tl::InputStream &stream, db::Layout &layout)
+LEFDEFReaderState::read_lef (const std::string &fn, db::Layout &layout)
 {
+  tl::InputStream stream (fn);
   lef_importer ().read (stream, layout, *this);
+
+  m_lef_files_read.insert (fn);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.h b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.h
index fc75c5c63..ddb90415e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.h
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFImporter.h
@@ -1413,7 +1413,7 @@ public:
    *
    *  Multiple LEF files can be read.
    */
-  void read_lef (tl::InputStream &stream, db::Layout &layout);
+  void read_lef (const std::string &fn, db::Layout &layout);
 
   /**
    *  @brief Provided for test purposes
@@ -1428,15 +1428,6 @@ public:
     return m_lef_files_read.find (fn) != m_lef_files_read.end ();
   }
 
-  /**
-   *  @brief Registers a LEF file
-   *  After registration, the same file will report "already_read"
-   */
-  void register_lef_file (const std::string &fn)
-  {
-    m_lef_files_read.insert (fn);
-  }
-
   /**
    *  @brief Gets the stored macro layouts
    */
diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFPlugin.cc b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFPlugin.cc
index 7dad8a35e..e4e7dfb80 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFPlugin.cc
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbLEFDEFPlugin.cc
@@ -187,11 +187,8 @@ LEFDEFReader::read_lefdef (db::Layout &layout, const db::LoadLayoutOptions &opti
 
           tl::SelfTimer timer (tl::verbosity () >= 21, tl::to_string (tr ("Reading LEF file: ")) + *lp);
 
-          tl::InputStream lef_stream (norm_lp);
           tl::log << tl::to_string (tr ("Reading")) << " " << *lp;
-          state->read_lef (lef_stream, layout);
-
-          state->register_lef_file (norm_lp);
+          state->read_lef (norm_lp, layout);
 
         }
 
@@ -220,11 +217,8 @@ LEFDEFReader::read_lefdef (db::Layout &layout, const db::LoadLayoutOptions &opti
 
               tl::SelfTimer timer (tl::verbosity () >= 21, tl::to_string (tr ("Reading LEF file: ")) + lp);
 
-              tl::InputStream lef_stream (norm_lp);
               tl::log << tl::to_string (tr ("Reading")) << " " << lp;
-              state->read_lef (lef_stream, layout);
-
-              state->register_lef_file (norm_lp);
+              state->read_lef (norm_lp, layout);
 
             }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/unit_tests/dbLEFDEFImportTests.cc b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/unit_tests/dbLEFDEFImportTests.cc
index a7448f1e7..9ccb295a4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/unit_tests/dbLEFDEFImportTests.cc
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/unit_tests/dbLEFDEFImportTests.cc
@@ -95,8 +95,7 @@ static db::LayerMap read (db::Layout &layout, const char *lef_dir, const char *f
       ex.read_word_or_quoted (f);
       fn += f;
 
-      tl::InputStream stream (fn);
-      ld.read_lef (stream, layout);
+      ld.read_lef (fn, layout);
 
       any_lef = true;