diff --git a/cmd/age/age.go b/cmd/age/age.go
index a604bb6..8159e2e 100644
--- a/cmd/age/age.go
+++ b/cmd/age/age.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"filippo.io/age/internal/age"
+	"filippo.io/age/internal/format"
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/terminal"
 )
 
@@ -208,7 +210,13 @@ func encryptPass(pass string, in io.Reader, out io.Writer, armor bool) {
 func encrypt(recipients []age.Recipient, in io.Reader, out io.Writer, armor bool) {
 	ageEncrypt := age.Encrypt
 	if armor {
-		ageEncrypt = age.EncryptWithArmor
+		a := format.ArmoredWriter(out)
+		defer func() {
+			if err := a.Close(); err != nil {
+				logFatalf("Error: %v", err)
+			}
+		}()
+		out = a
 	}
 	w, err := ageEncrypt(out, recipients...)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -239,6 +247,14 @@ func decrypt(keys []string, in io.Reader, out io.Writer) {
 		identities = append(identities, ids...)
 	}
 
+	rr := bufio.NewReader(in)
+	armorHeader := "-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----"
+	if start, _ := rr.Peek(len(armorHeader)); string(start) == armorHeader {
+		in = format.ArmoredReader(rr)
+	} else {
+		in = rr
+	}
+
 	r, err := age.Decrypt(in, identities...)
 	if err != nil {
 		logFatalf("Error: %v", err)
diff --git a/internal/age/age.go b/internal/age/age.go
index 11e1167..6ce04ec 100644
--- a/internal/age/age.go
+++ b/internal/age/age.go
@@ -36,19 +36,6 @@ type Recipient interface {
 }
 
 func Encrypt(dst io.Writer, recipients ...Recipient) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
-	// stream.Writer takes a WriteCloser, and will propagate Close calls (so
-	// that the ArmoredWriter will get closed), but we don't want to expose
-	// that behavior to our caller.
-	dstCloser := format.NopCloser(dst)
-	return encrypt(dstCloser, recipients...)
-}
-
-func EncryptWithArmor(dst io.Writer, recipients ...Recipient) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
-	dstCloser := format.ArmoredWriter(dst)
-	return encrypt(dstCloser, recipients...)
-}
-
-func encrypt(dst io.WriteCloser, recipients ...Recipient) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
 	if len(recipients) == 0 {
 		return nil, errors.New("no recipients specified")
 	}
diff --git a/internal/format/format.go b/internal/format/format.go
index d20bfbf..7c717c6 100644
--- a/internal/format/format.go
+++ b/internal/format/format.go
@@ -112,13 +112,6 @@ func Parse(input io.Reader) (*Header, io.Reader, error) {
 	h := &Header{}
 	rr := bufio.NewReader(input)
 
-	// TODO: find a way to communicate to the caller that the file was armored,
-	// as they might not appreciate the malleability.
-	if start, _ := rr.Peek(len(armorPreamble)); string(start) == armorPreamble {
-		input = ArmoredReader(rr)
-		rr = bufio.NewReader(input)
-	}
-
 	line, err := rr.ReadString('\n')
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, errorf("failed to read intro: %v", err)
diff --git a/internal/stream/stream.go b/internal/stream/stream.go
index f3db36c..96a0660 100644
--- a/internal/stream/stream.go
+++ b/internal/stream/stream.go
@@ -132,14 +132,14 @@ func setLastChunkFlag(nonce *[chacha20poly1305.NonceSize]byte) {
 
 type Writer struct {
 	a         cipher.AEAD
-	dst       io.WriteCloser
+	dst       io.Writer
 	unwritten []byte // backed by buf
 	buf       [encChunkSize]byte
 	nonce     [chacha20poly1305.NonceSize]byte
 	err       error
 }
 
-func NewWriter(key []byte, dst io.WriteCloser) (*Writer, error) {
+func NewWriter(key []byte, dst io.Writer) (*Writer, error) {
 	aead, err := chacha20poly1305.New(key)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -178,21 +178,19 @@ func (w *Writer) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	return total, nil
 }
 
-// Close will flush the last chunk and call the underlying
-// WriteCloser's Close method.
+// Close flushes the last chunk. It does not close the underlying Writer.
 func (w *Writer) Close() error {
 	if w.err != nil {
 		return w.err
 	}
 
-	err := w.flushChunk(lastChunk)
-	if err != nil {
-		w.err = err
-		return err
+	w.err = w.flushChunk(lastChunk)
+	if w.err != nil {
+		return w.err
 	}
-	w.err = errors.New("stream.Writer is already closed")
 
-	return w.dst.Close()
+	w.err = errors.New("stream.Writer is already closed")
+	return nil
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/internal/stream/stream_test.go b/internal/stream/stream_test.go
index 9ca2d47..57c99eb 100644
--- a/internal/stream/stream_test.go
+++ b/internal/stream/stream_test.go
@@ -10,10 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"testing"
 
-	"filippo.io/age/internal/format"
 	"filippo.io/age/internal/stream"
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/chacha20poly1305"
 )
@@ -40,19 +38,7 @@ func testRoundTrip(t *testing.T, stepSize, length int) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	var closed bool
-	bufCloser := struct {
-		io.Writer
-		format.CloserFunc
-	}{
-		Writer: buf,
-		CloserFunc: func() error {
-			closed = true
-			return nil
-		},
-	}
-
-	w, err := stream.NewWriter(key, bufCloser)
+	w, err := stream.NewWriter(key, buf)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -84,9 +70,6 @@ func testRoundTrip(t *testing.T, stepSize, length int) {
 	if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
 		t.Error("Close returned an error:", err)
 	}
-	if !closed {
-		t.Error("(*stream.Writer).Close didn't close the underlying WriteCloser")
-	}
 
 	t.Logf("buffer size: %d", buf.Len())