diff --git a/docs/syntax.md b/docs/syntax.md
index 2cb8a8a95..1dd73cb2c 100644
--- a/docs/syntax.md
+++ b/docs/syntax.md
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ probed for the BOM when opened for reading. If a BOM is found, the
 encoding is set accordingly and the property `bom(true)` is
 available through stream_property/2. When opening a file for
 writing, writing a BOM can be requested using the option
-`bom(true)` with `open/4`. Do notice that YAP will write a BOM by default on UTF-16 (including UCS-2) and
+`bom(true)` with `open/4`. YAP will parse an UTF-8 file for a BOM only if explicitly required to do so. Do notice that YAP will write a BOM by default on UTF-16 (including UCS-2) and
 UTF-32; otherwise the default is not to write a BOM. BOMs are not avaliable for ASCII and
 ISO-LATIN-1.
  
diff --git a/os/streams.c b/os/streams.c
index 24b4df0b7..0eae5ec9d 100644
--- a/os/streams.c
+++ b/os/streams.c
@@ -219,9 +219,10 @@ is_output(int sno USES_REGS) { /* '$set_output'(+Stream,-ErrorMessage) */
 
 static Int
 has_bom(int sno, Term t2 USES_REGS) { /* '$set_output'(+Stream,-ErrorMessage) */
-  bool rc = GLOBAL_Stream[sno].status & Seekable_Stream_f;
+  bool rc = GLOBAL_Stream[sno].status & HAS_BOM_f;
   if (!IsVarTerm(t2) && !booleanFlag(t2)) {
-    return FALSE;
+   //   Yap_Error( DOMAIN_ERROR_BOOLEAN, t2, " stream_property/2");
+    return false;
   }
   if (rc) {
     return Yap_unify_constant(t2, TermTrue);
@@ -235,6 +236,7 @@ has_reposition(int sno,
                Term t2 USES_REGS) { /* '$set_output'(+Stream,-ErrorMessage)  */
   bool rc = GLOBAL_Stream[sno].status & Seekable_Stream_f;
   if (!IsVarTerm(t2) && !booleanFlag(t2)) {
+    //  Yap_Error( DOMAIN_ERROR_BOOLEAN, t2, " stream_property/2");
     return false;
   }
   if (rc) {