diff --git a/osu.Game.Tests/Beatmaps/IO/LineBufferedReaderTest.cs b/osu.Game.Tests/Beatmaps/IO/LineBufferedReaderTest.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b582ca0a6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game.Tests/Beatmaps/IO/LineBufferedReaderTest.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using System.IO;
+using System.Text;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using osu.Game.IO;
+
+namespace osu.Game.Tests.Beatmaps.IO
+{
+    [TestFixture]
+    public class LineBufferedReaderTest
+    {
+        [Test]
+        public void TestReadLineByLine()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"line 1
+line 2
+line 3";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 1", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 2", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 3", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestPeekLineOnce()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"line 1
+peek this
+line 3";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 1", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 3", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestPeekLineMultipleTimes()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"peek this once
+line 2
+peek this a lot";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this once", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this once", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("line 2", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this a lot", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this a lot", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this a lot", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("peek this a lot", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestPeekLineAtEndOfStream()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"first line
+second line";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual("first line", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("second line", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestPeekReadLineOnEmptyStream()
+        {
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.IsNull(bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestReadToEndNoPeeks()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"first line
+second line";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual(contents, bufferedReader.ReadToEnd());
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void TestReadToEndAfterReadsAndPeeks()
+        {
+            const string contents = @"this line is gone
+this one shouldn't be
+these ones
+definitely not";
+
+            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(contents)))
+            using (var bufferedReader = new LineBufferedReader(stream))
+            {
+                Assert.AreEqual("this line is gone", bufferedReader.ReadLine());
+                Assert.AreEqual("this one shouldn't be", bufferedReader.PeekLine());
+                const string ending = @"this one shouldn't be
+these ones
+definitely not";
+                Assert.AreEqual(ending, bufferedReader.ReadToEnd());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/IO/LineBufferedReader.cs b/osu.Game/IO/LineBufferedReader.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66dee1181f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/IO/LineBufferedReader.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace osu.Game.IO
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A <see cref="StreamReader"/>-like decorator (with more limited API) for <see cref="Stream"/>s
+    /// that allows lines to be peeked without consuming.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class LineBufferedReader : IDisposable
+    {
+        private readonly StreamReader streamReader;
+        private readonly Queue<string> lineBuffer;
+
+        public LineBufferedReader(Stream stream)
+        {
+            streamReader = new StreamReader(stream);
+            lineBuffer = new Queue<string>();
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads the next line from the stream without consuming it.
+        /// </summary>
+        public string PeekLine()
+        {
+            if (lineBuffer.Count > 0)
+                return lineBuffer.Peek();
+
+            var line = streamReader.ReadLine();
+            if (line != null)
+                lineBuffer.Enqueue(line);
+            return line;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads the next line from the stream and consumes it.
+        /// </summary>
+        public string ReadLine() => lineBuffer.Count > 0 ? lineBuffer.Dequeue() : streamReader.ReadLine();
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads the stream to its end and returns the text read.
+        /// This includes any peeked but unconsumed lines.
+        /// </summary>
+        public string ReadToEnd()
+        {
+            var remainingText = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
+            if (lineBuffer.Count == 0)
+                return remainingText;
+
+            var builder = new StringBuilder();
+
+            // this might not be completely correct due to varying platform line endings
+            while (lineBuffer.Count > 0)
+                builder.AppendLine(lineBuffer.Dequeue());
+            builder.Append(remainingText);
+
+            return builder.ToString();
+        }
+
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            streamReader?.Dispose();
+        }
+    }
+}