diff --git a/PRIMITIVES.md b/PRIMITIVES.md
index 06c18b2..fece281 100644
--- a/PRIMITIVES.md
+++ b/PRIMITIVES.md
@@ -118,11 +118,6 @@ added to them too.
     * Terminate execution.
   * `explode`
     * Convert the supplied string to a list of characters.
-  * `fclose`
-    * Close the given file-handle, and always return nil.
-    * To simplify usage `fclose` will accept a nil-filehandle.
-  * `fopen`
-    * Open the given filename, for read/write, and return a handle.
   * `fread`
     * Read ALL available data from the given handle.
     * To simplify usage `fread` will accept a nil-filehandle, and return nil.
@@ -242,6 +237,11 @@ The implementation of these primitives can be found in the file [stdlib.slisp](s
   * Return the offset of matching items inside the given list.
 * `flatten`
   * Flatten the given list of lists into a single list
+* `fclose`
+  * Close the given file-handle, and always return nil.
+  * To simplify usage `fclose` will accept a nil-filehandle.
+* `fopen`
+  * Open the given filename, for read/write, and return a handle.
 * `getc`
   * Read a single character from STDIN, return NIL on failure.
 * `getenv`
diff --git a/compiler/template.tmpl b/compiler/template.tmpl
index 9ca66ed..7c5cb8b 100644
--- a/compiler/template.tmpl
+++ b/compiler/template.tmpl
@@ -1578,84 +1578,6 @@ FUNC fn_sys_explode
 
 
 
-;; Close a file handle
-;;
-;; As a special case closing a nil-filehandle is valid.
-;;
-FUNC fn_sys_fclose
-    mov rbx, rdi             ; type-check arg1 (path)
-    GET_TAG_BITS rbx
-    cmp rbx, TAG_ID_NIL
-    je .fclose_return_nil
-    cmp rbx, TAG_ID_INTEGER
-    jne type_error
-
-    UNTAG_REG rdi
-    mov rax, SYS_close
-    syscall
-    xor rax, rax          ; return nil
-.fclose_return_nil:
-    STORE_NIL_REG rax
-    ret
-
-
-
-
-;; Open a file handle, modes are "r", "w", or "a"
-FUNC fn_sys_fopen
-    mov rbx, rdi             ; type-check arg1 (path)
-    GET_TAG_BITS rbx
-    cmp rbx, TAG_ID_STRING
-    jne type_error
-
-    mov rbx, rsi             ; type-check arg2 (mode)
-    GET_TAG_BITS rbx
-    cmp rbx, TAG_ID_STRING
-    jne type_error
-
-    UNTAG_REG rdi
-    UNTAG_REG rsi
-
-    mov al, [rsi]          ; We only look at the first character..
-    cmp al, 'a'
-    je .fopen_append
-    cmp al, 'r'
-    je .fopen_read
-    cmp al, 'w'
-    je .fopen_write
-
-    ; fall through to bad mode
-    STORE_NIL_REG rax
-    ret
-
-.fopen_append:
-    mov rax, SYS_open
-    mov rsi, 1089       ; O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_APPEND
-    mov rdx, 0o644
-    syscall
-    jmp .fopen_done
-.fopen_read:
-    mov rax, SYS_open
-    mov rsi, 0          ; O_RDONLY
-    xor rdx, rdx
-    syscall
-    jmp .fopen_done
-.fopen_write:
-    mov rax, SYS_open
-    mov rsi, 577        ; O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC
-    mov rdx, 0o644
-    syscall
-.fopen_done:
-    test rax, rax
-    js .fopen_syscall_fail
-    TAG_INTEGER_REG rax
-    ret
-.fopen_syscall_fail:
-    STORE_NIL_REG rax
-    ret
-
-
-
 ;; Read ALL data from the given file handle.
 ;;
 ;; As a special case reading from a nil-filehandle
diff --git a/inception.lisp b/inception.lisp
index a50ea81..2ee104f 100644
--- a/inception.lisp
+++ b/inception.lisp
@@ -309,8 +309,6 @@
   (register-builtin "sys_environment" (lambda (args) (sys_environment)))
   (register-builtin "sys_exit" (lambda (args) (sys_exit (car args))))
   (register-builtin "sys_explode" (lambda (args) (sys_explode (car args))))
-  (register-builtin "sys_fclose" (lambda (args) (sys_fclose (car args))))
-  (register-builtin "sys_fopen" (lambda (args) (sys_fopen (car args) (cadr args))))
   (register-builtin "sys_fread" (lambda (args) (sys_fread (car args))))
   (register-builtin "sys_fwrite" (lambda (args)  (sys_fwrite (car args) (cadr args) (caddr args))))
   (register-builtin "sys_implode" (lambda (args) (sys_implode (car args))))
diff --git a/stdlib.slisp b/stdlib.slisp
index a5aba16..fe9beac 100644
--- a/stdlib.slisp
+++ b/stdlib.slisp
@@ -98,18 +98,6 @@
   "Convert a string to a list of characters."
   (sys_explode str))
 
-(defun fclose (n)
-  "Close the given file-handle.
-
-It is assumed the filehandle came from fopen, but nil is also accepted."
-  (sys_fclose n))
-
-(defun fopen (str mode)
-  "Open a file with the given mode.
-
-Mode is \"r\" for read, \"w\" for write, and \"a\" for append."
-  (sys_fopen str mode))
-
 (defun fread (handle)
   "Read all available data from the given file-handle.
 
@@ -409,6 +397,40 @@ do the right thing for each entry in the given list."
   "Does the named path exist?"
   (cons? (stat path)))
 
+(defconst SYS_close 3)
+
+(defun fclose (handle)
+  "Close the given handle.
+
+As a special case closing a NIL file-handle is valid"
+  (cond
+    ((nil? handle) nil)
+    ((int? handle)
+      (let ((res 0))
+        (set! res (syscall SYS_close handle))
+        (if (> res 0)
+          res
+         nil)))
+    (t   (do (println "Calling fclose with an invalid handle-type") (exit 1)))))
+
+(defconst SYS_open 2)
+
+(defun fopen (str mode)
+  "Open a file with the given mode.
+
+Mode is \"r\" for read, \"w\" for write, and \"a\" for append."
+  (let ((flags 0)
+        (handle 0))
+    (cond
+      ((= 0 (strcmp mode "a")) (set! flags 1089)) ; O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_APPEND
+      ((= 0 (strcmp mode "r")) (set! flags    0)) ; O_RDONLY
+      ((= 0 (strcmp mode "w")) (set! flags  577)) ; O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC
+      (t (do (println "unknown mode for fopen:" mode ) (exit 1))))
+    (set! handle (syscall SYS_open str flags 420)) ; 420 == mode, 644 in octal
+    (if (> handle 0)
+      handle
+     nil)))
+
 (defun file? (path)
   "Is the given path a file?"
   (let ((res (stat path)))