diff --git a/bin/jsonpointer b/bin/jsonpointer
index a1954e5..9e0efb2 100755
--- a/bin/jsonpointer
+++ b/bin/jsonpointer
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
 # Accept pointer as option, as file or as first positional argument
 ptr_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
 
-ptr_group.add_argument('-f', '--pointer-file', type=argparse.FileType('r', encoding='utf-8'),
+ptr_group.add_argument('-f', '--pointer-file', type=str,
                        help='File containing a JSON pointer expression')
 
 ptr_group.add_argument('-p', '--pointer', type=str,
@@ -37,12 +37,26 @@ def main():
     try:
         ok = resolve_files()
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
-        sys.exit(1)
+        # Conventional status for termination by SIGINT (128 + 2)
+        sys.exit(130)
 
     if not ok:
         sys.exit(1)
 
 
+def open_input(name):
+    """ Open a UTF-8 input file, or return stdin for "-"
+
+    Exits with a usage error if the file cannot be opened. """
+    if name == '-':
+        return sys.stdin
+
+    try:
+        return open(name, encoding='utf-8')
+    except OSError as e:
+        parser.error("can't open '%s': %s" % (name, e))
+
+
 def parse_pointer(args):
     """ Return the parsed pointer and the list of files to resolve it on
 
@@ -59,13 +73,14 @@ def parse_pointer(args):
         else:
             # Strip only the trailing line ending; other whitespace may be
             # part of a member name.
+            pointer_file = open_input(args.pointer_file)
             try:
-                ptr = args.pointer_file.read().rstrip("\r\n")
+                ptr = pointer_file.read().rstrip("\r\n")
             except UnicodeDecodeError as e:
                 parser.error('could not decode pointer file: %s' % e)
             finally:
-                if args.pointer_file is not sys.stdin:
-                    args.pointer_file.close()
+                if pointer_file is not sys.stdin:
+                    pointer_file.close()
 
     elif args.POINTER is not None:
         ptr = args.POINTER
@@ -94,10 +109,7 @@ def resolve_files():
     ok = True
 
     for name in files:
-        try:
-            f = argparse.FileType('r', encoding='utf-8')(name)
-        except argparse.ArgumentTypeError as e:
-            parser.error(str(e))
+        f = open_input(name)
 
         try:
             doc = json.load(f)
diff --git a/doc/commandline.rst b/doc/commandline.rst
index 5c5da83..e170d02 100644
--- a/doc/commandline.rst
+++ b/doc/commandline.rst
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ JSON input files and pointer files are read as UTF-8.
 
 The exit status is 0 if the pointer could be resolved on all files, 1 if it
 could not be resolved on at least one file (the remaining files are still
-processed) and 2 on usage errors, such as an invalid pointer or a missing
-file.
+processed), 2 on usage errors, such as an invalid pointer or a missing
+file, and 130 if interrupted with Ctrl-C.
 
 By default, invalid JSON or a text decoding error stops processing. With
 ``--continue-on-error``, these errors are reported on standard error with
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index c1542d7..412cd21 100755
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -755,6 +755,15 @@ def test_keeps_stdin_open(self):
                     self.assertTrue(cli['resolve_files']())
                 self.assertFalse(stdin.closed)
 
+    def test_keyboard_interrupt_exit_status(self):
+        cli = runpy.run_path(self.SCRIPT)
+        args = [self.SCRIPT, '/a', os.path.join(self.dir, 'a.json')]
+        with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', args), \
+                mock.patch('json.load', side_effect=KeyboardInterrupt):
+            with self.assertRaises(SystemExit) as caught:
+                cli['main']()
+        self.assertEqual(caught.exception.code, 130)
+
     def test_utf8_json_file_without_utf8_mode(self):
         self._write('unicode.json', '{"value": "🚀"}')
         proc = self._run('/value', 'unicode.json', utf8=False)
@@ -971,6 +980,12 @@ def test_continue_on_error_does_not_skip_missing_files(self):
         self.assertEqual(proc.stdout, self.A_OUT)
         self.assertIn('missing.json', proc.stderr)
 
+    def test_missing_pointer_file(self):
+        proc = self._run('-f', 'missing.txt', 'a.json')
+        self.assertEqual(proc.returncode, 2)
+        self.assertEqual(proc.stdout, '')
+        self.assertIn("can't open 'missing.txt'", proc.stderr)
+
     def test_pointer_file_requires_value(self):
         proc = self._run('-f', '-p', '/a', 'a.json')
         self.assertEqual(proc.returncode, 2)