diff --git a/patches/patchinstall.sh b/patches/patchinstall.sh
index 6e2a065d..3f49ddd5 100755
--- a/patches/patchinstall.sh
+++ b/patches/patchinstall.sh
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ upstream_commit()
 # Show version information
 version()
 {
-	echo "Wine Staging 1.9.7"
+	echo "Wine Staging 1.9.8 (unreleased)"
 	echo "Copyright (C) 2014-2016 the Wine Staging project authors."
 	echo ""
 	echo "Patchset to be applied on upstream Wine:"
diff --git a/staging/VERSION b/staging/VERSION
index 3512c585..80e275a2 100644
--- a/staging/VERSION
+++ b/staging/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Wine Staging 1.9.7
+Wine Staging 1.9.8 (unreleased)
diff --git a/staging/patchutils.py b/staging/patchutils.py
index 56ea6b48..00d4bfab 100644
--- a/staging/patchutils.py
+++ b/staging/patchutils.py
@@ -92,15 +92,11 @@ class PatchObject(object):
         return "".join(chunk for chunk in self.read_chunks())
 
 class _FileReader(object):
-    def __init__(self, filename, content=None):
+    def __init__(self, filename, fp=None):
         self.filename = filename
+        self.fp       = fp if fp is not None else open(filename)
         self.peeked   = None
 
-        if content is not None:
-            self.fp = StringIO(content)
-        else:
-            self.fp = open(filename)
-
     def close(self):
         self.fp.close()
 
@@ -320,11 +316,11 @@ def _parse_subject(subject):
     if r is not None: return r.group(1).strip(), 1
     return subject, 1
 
-def read_patch(filename, content=None):
+def read_patch(filename, fp=None):
     """Iterates over all patches contained in a file, and returns PatchObject objects."""
 
     header = {}
-    with _FileReader(filename, content) as fp:
+    with _FileReader(filename, fp) as fp:
         while True:
             line = fp.peek()
             if line is None:
@@ -834,7 +830,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
             self.assertEqual(lines, expected)
 
             # Test with StringIO buffer
-            patches = list(read_patch("unknown.patch", "\n".join(source + [""])))
+            fp = StringIO("\n".join(source + [""]))
+            patches = list(read_patch("unknown.patch", fp))
             self.assertEqual(len(patches), 1)
             self.assertEqual(patches[0].patch_author,   None)
             self.assertEqual(patches[0].patch_email,    None)