diff --git a/functions.php b/functions.php
index be3937642..256a6402e 100644
--- a/functions.php
+++ b/functions.php
@@ -2263,26 +2263,6 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	function read_stampfile($filename) {
-
-		error_reporting(0);
-		$fp = fopen(LOCK_DIRECTORY . "/$filename", "r");
-		error_reporting (DEFAULT_ERROR_LEVEL);
-
-		if ($fp) {
-			if (flock($fp, LOCK_EX)) {
-				$stamp = fgets($fp);
-				flock($fp, LOCK_UN);
-				fclose($fp);
-				return $stamp;
-			} else {
-				return false;
-			}
-		} else {
-			return false;
-		}
-	}
-
 	function sql_random_function() {
 		if (DB_TYPE == "mysql") {
 			return "RAND()";
@@ -3223,9 +3203,7 @@
 
 			if (time() - $_SESSION["daemon_stamp_check"] > 30) {
 
-				$stamp = (int)read_stampfile("update_daemon.stamp");
-
-//				print "<param key=\"daemon_stamp_delta\" value=\"$stamp_delta\"/>";
+				$stamp = (int) file_get_contents(LOCK_DIRECTORY . "/update_daemon.stamp");
 
 				if ($stamp) {
 					$stamp_delta = time() - $stamp;
diff --git a/modules/popup-dialog.php b/modules/popup-dialog.php
index d998c3d96..4d68fb971 100644
--- a/modules/popup-dialog.php
+++ b/modules/popup-dialog.php
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@
 			if ($param == 1) {
 				print __("Update daemon is enabled in configuration, but daemon process is not running, which prevents all feeds from updating. Please start the daemon process or contact instance owner.");
 
-				$stamp = (int)read_stampfile("update_daemon.stamp");
+				$stamp = (int) file_get_contents(LOCK_DIRECTORY . "/update_daemon.stamp");
 
 				print "<p>" . __("Last update:") . " " . date("Y.m.d, G:i", $stamp); 
 
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@
 			if ($param == 3) {
 				print __("Update daemon is taking too long to perform a feed update. This could indicate a problem like crash or a hang. Please check the daemon process or contact instance owner.");
 
-				$stamp = (int)read_stampfile("update_daemon.stamp");
+				$stamp = (int) file_get_contents(LOCK_DIRECTORY . "/update_daemon.stamp");
 
 				print "<p>" . __("Last update:") . " " . date("Y.m.d, G:i", $stamp);