Index: Doc/library/fileinput.rst
===================================================================
--- Doc/library/fileinput.rst	(revision 76339)
+++ Doc/library/fileinput.rst	(working copy)
@@ -53,7 +53,14 @@
    as global state for the functions of this module, and is also returned to use
    during iteration.  The parameters to this function will be passed along to the
    constructor of the :class:`FileInput` class.
+   
+   The :func:`fileinput.input` function can be used as a context manager via
+   the :keyword:`with` statement. In this example, *input* is closed after the
+   :keyword:`with` statement is exited---even if an exception occurs::
 
+      with fileinput.input(files=('spam.txt', 'eggs.txt')) as input:
+          process(input)
+
    .. versionchanged:: 2.5
       Added the *mode* and *openhook* parameters.
 
@@ -135,7 +142,14 @@
    The *openhook*, when given, must be a function that takes two arguments,
    *filename* and *mode*, and returns an accordingly opened file-like object. You
    cannot use *inplace* and *openhook* together.
+   
+   FileInput is a context manager and supports the :keyword:`with` statement.
+   In this example, *input* is closed after the :keyword:`with` statement is
+   exited---even if an exception occurs::
 
+      with FileInput(files=('spam.txt', 'eggs.txt')) as input:
+          process(input)
+
    .. versionchanged:: 2.5
       Added the *mode* and *openhook* parameters.
 
Index: Lib/fileinput.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/fileinput.py	(revision 76339)
+++ Lib/fileinput.py	(working copy)
@@ -110,7 +110,13 @@
     _state = None
     if state:
         state.close()
+        
+def __enter__(self):
+    return _state
 
+def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
+    close()
+
 def nextfile():
     """
     Close the current file so that the next iteration will read the first
@@ -237,6 +243,12 @@
         self.nextfile()
         self._files = ()
 
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+    
+    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
+        self.close()
+
     def __iter__(self):
         return self
 
Index: Lib/test/test_fileinput.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_fileinput.py	(revision 76339)
+++ Lib/test/test_fileinput.py	(working copy)
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@
 from test.test_support import unlink as safe_unlink
 import sys, re
 from StringIO import StringIO
+import fileinput
 from fileinput import FileInput, hook_encoded
 
 # The fileinput module has 2 interfaces: the FileInput class which does
 # all the work, and a few functions (input, etc.) that use a global _state
-# variable.  We only test the FileInput class, since the other functions
+# variable.  We mostly test the FileInput class, since the other functions
 # only provide a thin facade over FileInput.
 
 # Write lines (a list of lines) to temp file number i, and return the
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@
             self.assertEqual(int(m.group(1)), fi.filelineno())
         fi.close()
 
-class FileInputTests(unittest.TestCase):
+class FileInputClassTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_zero_byte_files(self):
         try:
             t1 = writeTmp(1, [""])
@@ -217,9 +218,58 @@
             self.assertEqual(lines, ["N\n", "O"])
         finally:
             remove_tempfiles(t1)
+            
+    def test_context_manager(self):
+        try:
+            t1 = writeTmp(1, ["A\nB\nC"])
+            t2 = writeTmp(2, ["D\nE\nF"])
+            with FileInput(files=(t1, t2)) as fi:
+                lines = list(fi)
+            self.assertEqual(lines, ["A\n", "B\n", "C", "D\n", "E\n", "F"])
+            self.assertEqual(fi.filelineno(), 3)
+            self.assertEqual(fi.lineno(), 6)
+            self.assertEqual(fi._files, ())
+        finally:
+            remove_tempfiles(t1, t2)
+            
+    def test_close_on_exception(self):
+        try:
+            t1 = writeTmp(1, [""])
+            with FileInput(files=(t1)) as fi:
+                raise IOError
+        except IOError:
+            self.assertEqual(fi._files, ())
+        finally:
+            remove_tempfiles(t1)
 
+
+class FileInputFunctionTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_context_manager(self):
+        try:
+            t1 = writeTmp(1, ["A\nB\nC"])
+            t2 = writeTmp(2, ["D\nE\nF"])
+            with fileinput.input(files=(t1, t2)) as fi:
+                lines = list(fi)
+            self.assertEqual(lines, ["A\n", "B\n", "C", "D\n", "E\n", "F"])           
+            self.assertEqual(fi.filelineno(), 3)
+            self.assertEqual(fi.lineno(), 6)
+            self.assertEqual(fi._files, ())
+        finally:
+            remove_tempfiles(t1, t2)
+
+    def test_close_on_exception(self):
+        try:
+            t1 = writeTmp(1, [""])
+            with fileinput.input(files=(t1)) as fi:
+                raise IOError
+        except IOError:
+            self.assertEqual(fi._files, ())
+        finally:
+            remove_tempfiles(t1)
+
+
 def test_main():
-    run_unittest(BufferSizesTests, FileInputTests)
+    run_unittest(BufferSizesTests, FileInputClassTests, FileInputFunctionTests)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     test_main()