diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cdccd81..b4804c8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ An example of an exclude file is:
     io/ioutil.ReadFile
     io.Copy(*bytes.Buffer)
     io.Copy(os.Stdout)
+
+    // Sometimes we don't care if a HTTP request fails.
     (*net/http.Client).Do
 
 The exclude list is combined with an internal list for functions in the Go standard library that
@@ -70,6 +72,7 @@ In this case, add this line to your exclude file:
 example.com/yourpkg/vendor/example.net/fmt2.Println
 ```
 
+Empty lines and lines starting with `//` are ignored.
 
 ### The deprecated method
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 7481c9e..da37140 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
@@ -152,26 +154,17 @@ func parseFlags(checker *errcheck.Checker, args []string) ([]string, int) {
 	}
 
 	if excludeFile != "" {
-		exclude := make(map[string]bool)
-		fh, err := os.Open(excludeFile)
+		excludes, err := readExcludes(excludeFile)
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not read exclude file: %s\n", err)
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not read exclude file: %v\n", err)
 			return nil, exitFatalError
 		}
-		scanner := bufio.NewScanner(fh)
-		for scanner.Scan() {
-			name := scanner.Text()
-			exclude[name] = true
-
-			if checker.Verbose {
-				fmt.Printf("Excluding %s\n", name)
+		if checker.Verbose {
+			for _, exclude := range excludes {
+				fmt.Printf("Excluding %v\n", exclude)
 			}
 		}
-		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not read exclude file: %s\n", err)
-			return nil, exitFatalError
-		}
-		checker.SetExclude(exclude)
+		checker.SetExclude(excludes)
 	}
 
 	checker.Tags = tags
@@ -189,6 +182,32 @@ func parseFlags(checker *errcheck.Checker, args []string) ([]string, int) {
 	return paths, exitCodeOk
 }
 
+// readExcludes reads an excludes file, a newline delimited file that lists
+// patterns for which to allow unchecked errors.
+func readExcludes(path string) (map[string]bool, error) {
+	excludes := map[string]bool{}
+
+	buf, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(bytes.NewReader(buf))
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		name := scanner.Text()
+		// Skip comments and empty lines.
+		if strings.HasPrefix(name, "//") || name == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		excludes[name] = true
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return excludes, nil
+}
+
 func main() {
 	os.Exit(mainCmd(os.Args))
 }
diff --git a/main_test.go b/main_test.go
index 9f22933..99a0b85 100644
--- a/main_test.go
+++ b/main_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -222,3 +223,36 @@ func TestParseFlags(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestReadExcludes(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedExcludes := map[string]bool{
+		"hello()": true,
+		"world()": true,
+	}
+	t.Logf("expectedExcludes: %#v", expectedExcludes)
+	excludes, err := readExcludes("testdata/excludes.txt")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Logf("excludes: %#v", excludes)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(expectedExcludes, excludes) {
+		t.Fatal("excludes did not match expectedExcludes")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadEmptyExcludes(t *testing.T) {
+	excludes, err := readExcludes("testdata/empty_excludes.txt")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(excludes) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected empty excludes, got %#v", excludes)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadExcludesMissingFile(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := readExcludes("testdata/missing_file")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil err, got nil")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/testdata/empty_excludes.txt b/testdata/empty_excludes.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/testdata/excludes.txt b/testdata/excludes.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a0b2dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/excludes.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// comment
+hello()
+
+//trickycomment()
+world()