diff --git a/text-utils/more.1.adoc b/text-utils/more.1.adoc
index 13679b16c..ea1b669c4 100644
--- a/text-utils/more.1.adoc
+++ b/text-utils/more.1.adoc
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Prompt with "[Press space to continue, 'q' to quit.]", and display "[Press 'h' f
 Do not pause after any line containing a *^L* (form feed).
 
 *-e*, *--exit-on-eof*::
-Exit on End-Of-File.
+Exit on End-Of-File, enabled by default if not executed on terminal.
 
 *-f*, *--no-pause*::
 Count logical lines, rather than screen lines (i.e., long lines are not folded).
diff --git a/text-utils/more.c b/text-utils/more.c
index d08b5b1b2..2f97569cd 100644
--- a/text-utils/more.c
+++ b/text-utils/more.c
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ struct more_control {
 		no_scroll:1,		/* do not scroll, clear the screen and then display text */
 		no_tty_in:1,		/* is input in interactive mode */
 		no_tty_out:1,		/* is output in interactive mode */
+		no_tty_err:1,           /* is stderr terminal */
 		print_banner:1,		/* print file name banner */
 		reading_num:1,		/* are we reading leading_number */
 		report_errors:1,	/* is an error reported */
@@ -1958,8 +1959,9 @@ static void initterm(struct more_control *ctl)
 	ctl->no_tty_out = tcgetattr(STDOUT_FILENO, &ctl->output_tty);
 #endif
 	ctl->no_tty_in = tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &ctl->output_tty);
-	tcgetattr(STDERR_FILENO, &ctl->output_tty);
+	ctl->no_tty_err = tcgetattr(STDERR_FILENO, &ctl->output_tty);
 	ctl->original_tty = ctl->output_tty;
+
 	ctl->hard_tabs = (ctl->output_tty.c_oflag & TABDLY) != TAB3;
 	if (ctl->no_tty_out)
 		return;
@@ -2058,6 +2060,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	initterm(&ctl);
 
+	if (ctl.no_tty_err)
+		/* exit when we cannot read user's input */
+		ctl.exit_on_eof = 1;
+
 #ifdef HAVE_MAGIC
 	ctl.magic = magic_open(MAGIC_MIME_ENCODING | MAGIC_SYMLINK);
 	magic_load(ctl.magic, NULL);