diff --git a/src/lym/lym/lymMacro.cc b/src/lym/lym/lymMacro.cc
index 1fa6d5e54..ca7ced614 100644
--- a/src/lym/lym/lymMacro.cc
+++ b/src/lym/lym/lymMacro.cc
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ void Macro::save_to (const std::string &path)
     tl::log << "Saving macro to " << path;
   }
 
-  tl::OutputStream os (path, tl::OutputStream::OM_Plain);
+  tl::OutputStream os (path, tl::OutputStream::OM_Plain, true /*as text*/);
 
   if (m_format == MacroFormat) {
     xml_struct.write (os, *this);
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
index 303b07b4f..8428e8e40 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_windows () { s_mode = OS_Windows; }
 TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_linux () { s_mode = OS_Linux; }
 TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_reset () { s_mode = OS_Auto; }
 
+const char *line_separator ()
+{
+  return is_win () ? "\r\n" : "\n";
+}
 
 static bool is_drive (const std::string &part)
 {
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
index 766ffc819..32874126d 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
@@ -189,6 +189,11 @@ std::string TL_PUBLIC get_inst_path ();
  */
 std::string TL_PUBLIC get_module_path (void *addr);
 
+/**
+ *  @brief Gets the line separator (CRLF on windows, LF on linux)
+ */
+TL_PUBLIC const char *line_separator ();
+
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlStream.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlStream.cc
index 6b8be57b4..409c8cd29 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlStream.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlStream.cc
@@ -658,8 +658,8 @@ InputZLibFile::filename () const
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------
 //  OutputStream implementation
 
-OutputStream::OutputStream (OutputStreamBase &delegate)
-  : m_pos (0), mp_delegate (&delegate), m_owns_delegate (false)
+OutputStream::OutputStream (OutputStreamBase &delegate, bool as_text)
+  : m_pos (0), mp_delegate (&delegate), m_owns_delegate (false), m_as_text (as_text)
 { 
   m_buffer_capacity = 16384;
   m_buffer_pos = 0;
@@ -690,8 +690,8 @@ OutputStreamBase *create_file_stream (const std::string &path, OutputStream::Out
   }
 }
 
-OutputStream::OutputStream (const std::string &abstract_path, OutputStreamMode om)
-  : m_pos (0), mp_delegate (0), m_owns_delegate (false)
+OutputStream::OutputStream (const std::string &abstract_path, OutputStreamMode om, bool as_text)
+  : m_pos (0), mp_delegate (0), m_owns_delegate (false), m_as_text (as_text)
 {
   //  Determine output mode
   om = output_mode_from_filename (abstract_path, om);
@@ -761,6 +761,36 @@ OutputStream::flush ()
 
 void
 OutputStream::put (const char *b, size_t n)
+{
+  if (m_as_text) {
+    //  skip CR, but replace LF by CRLF -> this will normalize the line terminators to CRLF
+    while (n > 0) {
+      if (*b == '\r') {
+        ++b;
+        --n;
+      } else if (*b == '\n') {
+        const char *ls = line_separator ();
+        while (*ls) {
+          put_raw (ls++, 1);
+        }
+        ++b;
+        --n;
+      } else {
+        const char *b0 = b;
+        while (n > 0 && *b != '\r' && *b != '\n') {
+          ++b;
+          --n;
+        }
+        put_raw (b0, b - b0);
+      }
+    }
+  } else {
+    put_raw (b, n);
+  }
+}
+
+void
+OutputStream::put_raw (const char *b, size_t n)
 {
   m_pos += n;
 
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlStream.h b/src/tl/tl/tlStream.h
index d9429a35d..75127728b 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlStream.h
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlStream.h
@@ -1016,14 +1016,15 @@ public:
    *
    *  This constructor takes a delegate object. 
    */
-  OutputStream (OutputStreamBase &delegate);
+  OutputStream (OutputStreamBase &delegate, bool as_text = false);
 
   /**
    *  @brief Open an output stream with the given path and stream mode
    *
    *  This will automatically create a delegate object and delete it later.
+   *  If "as_text" is true, the output will be formatted with the system's line separator.
    */
-  OutputStream (const std::string &abstract_path, OutputStreamMode om = OM_Auto);
+  OutputStream (const std::string &abstract_path, OutputStreamMode om = OM_Auto, bool as_text = false);
 
   /**
    *  @brief Destructor
@@ -1141,9 +1142,12 @@ private:
   size_t m_pos;
   OutputStreamBase *mp_delegate;
   bool m_owns_delegate;
+  bool m_as_text;
   char *mp_buffer;
   size_t m_buffer_capacity, m_buffer_pos;
 
+  void put_raw (const char *b, size_t n);
+
   //  No copying currently
   OutputStream (const OutputStream &);
   OutputStream &operator= (const OutputStream &);
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlXMLParser.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlXMLParser.cc
index 935c3a997..a9f973f9d 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlXMLParser.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlXMLParser.cc
@@ -639,8 +639,12 @@ public:
       }
 
       qint64 n0 = n;
-      for (const char *rd = 0; n > 0 && (rd = mp_stream->get (1)) != 0; --n) {
-        *data++ = *rd;
+      for (const char *rd = 0; n > 0 && (rd = mp_stream->get (1)) != 0; ) {
+        //  NOTE: we skip CR to compensate for Windows CRLF line terminators (issue #419).
+        if (*rd != '\r') {
+          *data++ = *rd;
+          --n;
+        }
       }
 
       if (n0 == n) {
diff --git a/src/tl/unit_tests/tlStreamTests.cc b/src/tl/unit_tests/tlStreamTests.cc
index e8d3dca15..4c398e206 100644
--- a/src/tl/unit_tests/tlStreamTests.cc
+++ b/src/tl/unit_tests/tlStreamTests.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,15 @@
 
 #include "tlStream.h"
 #include "tlUnitTest.h"
+#include "tlFileUtils.h"
+
+//  Secret mode switchers for testing
+namespace tl
+{
+TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_windows ();
+TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_linux ();
+TL_PUBLIC void file_utils_force_reset ();
+}
 
 TEST(InputPipe1)
 {
@@ -42,3 +51,59 @@ TEST(InputPipe2)
   tl::info << "Process exit code: " << ret;
   EXPECT_NE (ret, 0);
 }
+
+TEST(TextOutputStream)
+{
+  std::string fn = tmp_file ("test.txt");
+
+  {
+    tl::OutputStream os (fn, tl::OutputStream::OM_Auto, false);
+    os << "Hello, world!\nWith another line\n\r\r\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.";
+  }
+
+  {
+    tl::InputStream is (fn);
+    std::string s = is.read_all ();
+    EXPECT_EQ (s, "Hello, world!\nWith another line\n\r\r\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.");
+  }
+
+  try {
+
+    tl::file_utils_force_linux ();
+
+    {
+      tl::OutputStream os (fn, tl::OutputStream::OM_Auto, true);
+      os << "Hello, world!\nWith another line\n\r\r\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.";
+    }
+
+    tl::InputStream is (fn);
+    std::string s = is.read_all ();
+
+    EXPECT_EQ (s, "Hello, world!\nWith another line\n\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.");
+    tl::file_utils_force_reset ();
+
+  } catch (...) {
+    tl::file_utils_force_reset ();
+    throw;
+  }
+
+  try {
+
+    tl::file_utils_force_windows ();
+
+    {
+      tl::OutputStream os (fn, tl::OutputStream::OM_Auto, true);
+      os << "Hello, world!\nWith another line\n\r\r\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.";
+    }
+
+    tl::InputStream is (fn);
+    std::string s = is.read_all ();
+
+    EXPECT_EQ (s, "Hello, world!\r\nWith another line\r\n\r\nseparated by a LFCR and CRLF.");
+    tl::file_utils_force_reset ();
+
+  } catch (...) {
+    tl::file_utils_force_reset ();
+    throw;
+  }
+}