diff --git a/src/freedombone-addsipuser b/src/freedombone-addsipuser
index eaa95803..f05338b7 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-addsipuser
+++ b/src/freedombone-addsipuser
@@ -43,13 +43,13 @@ function show_help {
 }
 
 function sip_user_exists {
-    for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-    do
+    IFS=''
+    while read line; do
         if [[ "$line" == "<user id=\"$MY_USERNAME\">" ]]; then
             USER_EXISTS="yes"
             return
         fi
-    done
+    done < $CONFIG_FILE
 }
 
 function update_sip_user {
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ function update_sip_user {
         rm -f $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
     fi
     touch $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
-    for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-    do
+    IFS=''
+    while read line; do
         if [ ! $USER_FOUND ]; then
             if [[ "$line" == "<user id=\"$MY_USERNAME\">" ]]; then
                 USER_FOUND="yes"
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ function update_sip_user {
             fi              
         fi
         echo $line >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
-    done
+    done < $CONFIG_FILE
     mv $NEW_CONFIG_FILE $CONFIG_FILE
 }
 
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ function add_sip_user {
         rm -f $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
     fi
     touch $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
-    for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-    do
+    IFS=''
+    while read line; do
         if [[ "$line" == '</provision>' ]]; then
             echo "<user id=\"$MY_USERNAME\">" >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
             echo "<extension>$EXTENSION</extension>" >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ function add_sip_user {
             echo '</user>' >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
         fi
         echo $line >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
-    done
+    done < $CONFIG_FILE
     mv $NEW_CONFIG_FILE $CONFIG_FILE
     usermod -aG sipwitch $MY_USERNAME
 }
diff --git a/src/freedombone-rmsipuser b/src/freedombone-rmsipuser
index 6e02c272..b2951cb8 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-rmsipuser
+++ b/src/freedombone-rmsipuser
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ function show_help {
 }
 
 function sip_user_exists {
-    for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-    do
+    IFS=''
+    while read line; do
         if [[ "$line" == "<user id=\"$MY_USERNAME\">" ]]; then
             USER_EXISTS="yes"
             return
         fi
-    done
+    done < $CONFIG_FILE
 }
 
 function remove_sip_user {
@@ -57,21 +57,21 @@ function remove_sip_user {
         rm -f $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
     fi
     touch $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
-    for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-    do
+    IFS=''
+    while read line; do
         if [ ! $USER_FOUND ]; then
             if [[ "$line" == "<user id=\"$MY_USERNAME\">" ]]; then
                 USER_FOUND="yes"
             fi
         fi
         if [ ! $USER_FOUND ]; then
-            echo $line >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
+            echo "$line" >> $NEW_CONFIG_FILE
         else
             if [[ "$line" == '</user>' ]]; then
                 USER_FOUND=
             fi
         fi
-    done
+    done < $CONFIG_FILE
     mv $NEW_CONFIG_FILE $CONFIG_FILE
 }
 
diff --git a/src/freedombone-sipfreeext b/src/freedombone-sipfreeext
index 7a61dab0..fa0060eb 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-sipfreeext
+++ b/src/freedombone-sipfreeext
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ CONFIG_FILE=/etc/sipwitch.conf
 extensions=()
 
 # get the used extensions
-for line in $(cat $CONFIG_FILE)
-do
+IFS=''
+while read line; do
     if [[ "$line" == "<extension>"* ]]; then
         ext=$(echo "$line" | awk -F '>' '{print $2}' | awk -F '<' '{print $1}')
         extensions+=($ext)
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ do
     if [[ "$line" == '</provision>' ]]; then
         break
     fi
-done
+done < $CONFIG_FILE
 
 #echo "used extensions:"
 #echo $extensions