diff --git a/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.cpp b/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.cpp
index 8d8308e..e581c28 100644
--- a/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.cpp
+++ b/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.cpp
@@ -80,9 +80,8 @@ void writeNESTLine( std::fstream& file,
 SpikeReportFile::SpikeReportFile( const std::string& filename,
                                   const SpikeReportType rt,
                                   const int accessMode )
-    : _filename( filename ),
-      _reportType( rt ),
-      _file( 0 )
+    : _filename( filename )
+    , _reportType( rt )
 {
     if( filename.empty( ))
     {
@@ -130,13 +129,11 @@ SpikeReportFile::SpikeReportFile( const std::string& filename,
         }
     }
 
-    _file = new std::fstream( _filename.c_str(), fileMode );
+    _file.reset( new std::fstream( _filename.c_str(), fileMode ));
 }
 
 SpikeReportFile::~SpikeReportFile()
 {
-    if( _file )
-        delete _file;
 }
 
 bool SpikeReportFile::fillReportMap( Spikes& spikes, const size_t maxLines )
@@ -232,7 +229,7 @@ bool SpikeReportFile::fillReportMap( Spikes& spikes, const size_t maxLines )
     return _file->eof();
 }
 
-void SpikeReportFile::writeReportMap( const Spikes &spikes )
+void SpikeReportFile::writeReportMap( const Spikes& spikes )
 {
     if( !_spikeWriteFunction )
         LBTHROW( std::runtime_error( "File is not opened for writing " +
@@ -244,7 +241,8 @@ void SpikeReportFile::writeReportMap( const Spikes &spikes )
 
 void SpikeReportFile::close()
 {
-    _file->close();
+    if( _file )
+        _file->close();
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.h b/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.h
index 127ef48..42b6c68 100644
--- a/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.h
+++ b/brion/plugin/spikeReportFile.h
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #include <brion/types.h>
 #include "spikeReportTypes.h"
 
+#include <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp>
+
 namespace brion
 {
 namespace plugin
@@ -110,7 +112,7 @@ class SpikeReportFile : public boost::noncopyable
 
     std::string _filename;
     SpikeReportType _reportType;
-    std::fstream *_file;
+    boost::scoped_ptr< std::fstream > _file;
     SpikeParseFunc _spikeParseFunction;
     SpikeWriteFunc _spikeWriteFunction;
 };
diff --git a/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.cpp b/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.cpp
index 59819f5..2129ea1 100644
--- a/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.cpp
+++ b/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.cpp
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ boost::regex convertToRegex( const std::string& stringWithShellLikeWildcard )
     return boost::regex( "^" + wildcard + "$" );
 }
 
-lunchbox::Strings expandShellWildcard( const std::string& filename )
+Strings expandShellWildcard( const std::string& filename )
 {
-    lunchbox::Strings expandedFilenames;
+    Strings expandedFilenames;
 
     namespace fs = boost::filesystem;
 
@@ -75,39 +75,29 @@ lunchbox::Strings expandShellWildcard( const std::string& filename )
 
 SpikeReportNEST::SpikeReportNEST( const SpikeReportInitData& initData )
     : _uri( initData.getURI( ))
+    , _spikeReportFile( _uri.getPath(), NEST_SPIKE_REPORT,
+                        initData.getAccessMode( ))
 {
     const int accessMode = initData.getAccessMode();
 
     if( accessMode == MODE_READ )
-        _reportFiles = expandShellWildcard( _uri.getPath( ));
-
-    if( accessMode & MODE_WRITE  )
-        _reportFiles.push_back( _uri.getPath( ));
-
-    _spikeReportFiles.resize( _reportFiles.size( ));
-
-    bool emptyReport = true;
-    size_t reportIndex = 0;
-    BOOST_FOREACH( const std::string& reportFile, _reportFiles )
     {
-        _spikeReportFiles[ reportIndex ] =
-                    new SpikeReportFile( reportFile,
-                                         NEST_SPIKE_REPORT,
-                                         accessMode );
-        if( accessMode == MODE_READ )
-            _spikeReportFiles[ reportIndex ]->fillReportMap( _spikes );
-        emptyReport = false;
-        ++reportIndex;
+        const Strings& reportFiles = expandShellWildcard( _uri.getPath( ));
+        if( reportFiles.empty( ))
+            LBTHROW( std::runtime_error( "No file(s) to read found in " +
+                                         _uri.getPath( )));
+
+        BOOST_FOREACH( const std::string& reportFile, reportFiles )
+        {
+            SpikeReportFile reader( reportFile, NEST_SPIKE_REPORT, MODE_READ );
+            reader.fillReportMap( _spikes );
+        }
+        return;
     }
-
-    if( emptyReport )
-        LBTHROW( std::runtime_error( "Empty source" ));
 }
 
 SpikeReportNEST::~SpikeReportNEST()
 {
-    BOOST_FOREACH( SpikeReportFile* writer, _spikeReportFiles )
-       delete writer;
 }
 
 const URI& SpikeReportNEST::getURI() const
@@ -117,7 +107,7 @@ const URI& SpikeReportNEST::getURI() const
 
 bool SpikeReportNEST::handles( const SpikeReportInitData& initData )
 {
-    const lunchbox::URI& uri = initData.getURI();
+    const URI& uri = initData.getURI();
 
     if( !uri.getScheme().empty() && uri.getScheme() != "file" )
         return false;
@@ -129,7 +119,7 @@ bool SpikeReportNEST::handles( const SpikeReportInitData& initData )
 
 float SpikeReportNEST::getStartTime() const
 {
-    if ( _spikes.empty( ))
+    if( _spikes.empty( ))
         return std::numeric_limits< float >::max();
 
     return _spikes.begin()->first;
@@ -137,7 +127,7 @@ float SpikeReportNEST::getStartTime() const
 
 float SpikeReportNEST::getEndTime() const
 {
-    if ( _spikes.empty( ))
+    if( _spikes.empty( ))
         return std::numeric_limits< float >::max();
 
     return _spikes.rbegin()->first;
@@ -148,18 +138,14 @@ const Spikes& SpikeReportNEST::getSpikes() const
     return _spikes;
 }
 
-void SpikeReportNEST::writeSpikes( const Spikes &spikes )
+void SpikeReportNEST::writeSpikes( const Spikes& spikes )
 {
-    BOOST_FOREACH( SpikeReportFile* writer,
-                   _spikeReportFiles )
-        writer->writeReportMap( spikes );
+    _spikeReportFile.writeReportMap( spikes );
 }
 
 void SpikeReportNEST::close()
 {
-    BOOST_FOREACH( SpikeReportFile* writer,
-                   _spikeReportFiles )
-       writer->close();
+    _spikeReportFile.close();
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.h b/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.h
index 60e9039..0afe74a 100644
--- a/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.h
+++ b/brion/plugin/spikeReportNEST.h
@@ -61,9 +61,7 @@ class SpikeReportNEST : public SpikeReportPlugin
 private:
     const URI _uri;
     Spikes _spikes;
-    Strings _reportFiles;
-    typedef std::vector< SpikeReportFile* > SpikeReportFiles;
-    SpikeReportFiles _spikeReportFiles;
+    SpikeReportFile _spikeReportFile;
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/doc/Changelog.md b/doc/Changelog.md
index d0106bf..a28e92e 100644
--- a/doc/Changelog.md
+++ b/doc/Changelog.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ Changelog {#Changelog}
 
 # git master {#master)
 
+* [31](https://github.com/BlueBrain/Brion/pull/31):
+  Fix crash while reading more than `ulimit -Sn` (1024 default) NEST gdf files
 * [29](https://github.com/BlueBrain/Brion/pull/29):
   New member functions in brion::BlueConfig to provide a semantic API.
 * [28](https://github.com/BlueBrain/Brion/pull/28):