diff --git a/include/mqt-core/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.hpp b/include/mqt-core/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.hpp
index 66445fbbe7..5b0411700b 100644
--- a/include/mqt-core/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.hpp
+++ b/include/mqt-core/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.hpp
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 #include "llvm/Support/Error.h"
 
 #include <cstdint>
-#include <istream>
 #include <optional>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -75,8 +74,7 @@ struct Device {
 /// Parse and validate a device description and report errors with @p source.
 [[nodiscard]] llvm::Expected<Device> readJSON(std::string_view json,
                                               std::string_view source);
-[[nodiscard]] llvm::Expected<Device>
-readJSON(std::istream& stream, std::string_view source = "input");
+/// Read a JSON file and return validation or file-access errors.
 [[nodiscard]] llvm::Expected<Device> readJSON(const std::string& path);
 
 } // namespace sc
diff --git a/src/qdmi/common/DeviceConfiguration.cpp b/src/qdmi/common/DeviceConfiguration.cpp
index 31e619e678..3b04ed7308 100644
--- a/src/qdmi/common/DeviceConfiguration.cpp
+++ b/src/qdmi/common/DeviceConfiguration.cpp
@@ -10,27 +10,24 @@
 
 #include "qdmi/common/DeviceConfiguration.hpp"
 
+#include "qdmi/common/Common.hpp"
 #include "qdmi/common/Diagnostics.hpp"
 
 #include "qdmi/device.h"
 
 #include "llvm/ADT/StringRef.h"
+#include "llvm/Support/MemoryBuffer.h"
 #include "llvm/Support/Process.h"
 
-#include <cerrno>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <format>
-#include <fstream>
-#include <ios>
-#include <iterator>
 #include <optional>
 #include <span>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
 #include <system_error>
-#include <utility>
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <memory>
@@ -103,77 +100,27 @@ namespace qdmi::detail {
 }
 
 namespace {
-template <class Reporter>
-void reportPath(const std::filesystem::path& path,
-                const std::format_string<> fallback,
-                Reporter&& reporter) noexcept {
-  try {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    const auto pathText = path.string();
-    std::forward<Reporter>(reporter)(std::string_view(pathText));
-#else
-    std::forward<Reporter>(reporter)(std::string_view(path.native()));
-#endif
-  } catch (...) {
-    qdmi::diagnostics::error(fallback);
-  }
-}
-
 [[nodiscard]] std::optional<LoadedDeviceConfiguration>
 readFile(const std::filesystem::path& path, const bool bundled, int& status) {
-  std::error_code error;
-  const auto exists = std::filesystem::exists(path, error);
-  if (error) {
-    status = bundled ? QDMI_ERROR_FATAL : QDMI_ERROR_PERMISSIONDENIED;
-    reportPath(path,
-               "Cannot inspect QDMI device configuration (details unavailable)",
-               [&error](const std::string_view pathText) {
-                 const auto message = error.message();
-                 qdmi::diagnostics::error(
-                     "Cannot inspect QDMI device configuration '{}': {}",
-                     pathText, message);
-               });
-    return std::nullopt;
-  }
-  if (!exists) {
-    status = bundled ? QDMI_ERROR_FATAL : QDMI_ERROR_NOTFOUND;
-    reportPath(path, "QDMI device configuration does not exist",
-               [](const std::string_view pathText) {
-                 qdmi::diagnostics::error(
-                     "QDMI device configuration '{}' does not exist", pathText);
-               });
-    return std::nullopt;
-  }
-  errno = 0;
-  std::ifstream input(path, std::ios::binary);
-  if (!input) {
-    status = bundled ? QDMI_ERROR_FATAL : QDMI_ERROR_PERMISSIONDENIED;
-    const auto errorNumber = errno;
-    reportPath(path, "Cannot read QDMI device configuration",
-               [errorNumber](const std::string_view pathText) {
-                 const auto* const message = std::strerror(errorNumber);
-                 qdmi::diagnostics::error(
-                     "Cannot read QDMI device configuration '{}': {}", pathText,
-                     message == nullptr ? "unknown error" : message);
-               });
-    return std::nullopt;
-  }
-  std::string json{std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(input),
-                   std::istreambuf_iterator<char>()};
-  if (!input.eof() && input.fail()) {
-    status = bundled ? QDMI_ERROR_FATAL : QDMI_ERROR_PERMISSIONDENIED;
-    reportPath(path, "Failed while reading QDMI device configuration",
-               [](const std::string_view pathText) {
-                 qdmi::diagnostics::error(
-                     "Failed while reading QDMI device configuration '{}'",
-                     pathText);
-               });
+  const auto source = qdmi::detail::pathToString(path);
+  auto buffer = llvm::MemoryBuffer::getFile(source);
+  if (!buffer) {
+    if (bundled) {
+      status = QDMI_ERROR_FATAL;
+    } else if (buffer.getError() == std::errc::no_such_file_or_directory ||
+               buffer.getError() == std::errc::not_a_directory) {
+      status = QDMI_ERROR_NOTFOUND;
+    } else {
+      status = QDMI_ERROR_PERMISSIONDENIED;
+    }
+    qdmi::diagnostics::error("Cannot read QDMI device configuration '{}': {}",
+                             source, buffer.getError().message());
     return std::nullopt;
   }
   status = QDMI_SUCCESS;
   return LoadedDeviceConfiguration{
-      .json = std::move(json),
-      .source = path.string(),
+      .json = (*buffer)->getBuffer().str(),
+      .source = source,
   };
 }
 } // namespace
diff --git a/src/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.cpp b/src/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.cpp
index 5b9d54060d..a5e9c86357 100644
--- a/src/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.cpp
+++ b/src/qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.cpp
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <initializer_list>
-#include <ios>
-#include <istream>
-#include <iterator>
 #include <limits>
 #include <optional>
 #include <set>
@@ -314,18 +311,4 @@ llvm::Expected<Device> readJSON(const std::string& path) {
   }
   return readJSON((*buffer)->getBuffer(), path);
 }
-llvm::Expected<Device> readJSON(std::istream& stream, std::string_view source) {
-  try {
-    const std::string json{std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(stream),
-                           std::istreambuf_iterator<char>()};
-    if (stream.bad()) {
-      return llvm::createStringError(llvm::StringRef(source) +
-                                     ": failed to read JSON stream");
-    }
-    return readJSON(json, source);
-  } catch (const std::ios_base::failure& error) {
-    return llvm::createStringError(llvm::StringRef(source) + ": " +
-                                   error.what());
-  }
-}
 } // namespace sc
diff --git a/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_configuration.cpp b/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_configuration.cpp
index 5d2859ce54..221d027588 100644
--- a/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_configuration.cpp
+++ b/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_configuration.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  * Licensed under the MIT License
  */
 
+#include "qdmi/TestUtils.hpp"
 #include "qdmi/devices/sc/Configuration.hpp"
 
 #include "gmock/gmock-matchers.h"
@@ -21,12 +22,11 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <filesystem>
 #include <functional>
-#include <ios>
-#include <istream>
 #include <limits>
-#include <streambuf>
 #include <string>
+#include <system_error>
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -363,19 +363,16 @@ TEST(ScConfigurationTest, AcceptsExplicitHigherAritySites) {
             (std::vector<uint64_t>{2, 0, 1}));
 }
 
-TEST(ScConfigurationTest, ReportsStreamReadFailures) {
-  class FailingBuffer final : public std::streambuf {
-  protected:
-    int_type underflow() override {
-      throw std::ios_base::failure("injected read failure");
-    }
-  } buffer;
-  std::istream stream(&buffer);
-  auto parsed = readJSON(stream, "failing-stream");
+TEST(ScConfigurationTest, ReportsFileReadFailures) {
+  const mqt::test::TemporaryDirectory directory;
+  const auto path = (directory.path() / "missing.json").string();
+  auto parsed = readJSON(path);
   ASSERT_FALSE(static_cast<bool>(parsed));
-  const auto message = llvm::toString(parsed.takeError());
-  EXPECT_THAT(message, testing::HasSubstr("failing-stream"));
-  EXPECT_THAT(message, testing::HasSubstr("injected read failure"));
+  auto error = parsed.takeError();
+  llvm::visitErrors(error, [](const llvm::ErrorInfoBase& info) {
+    EXPECT_EQ(info.convertToErrorCode(), std::errc::no_such_file_or_directory);
+  });
+  EXPECT_THAT(llvm::toString(std::move(error)), testing::HasSubstr(path));
 }
 
 } // namespace sc
diff --git a/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_device.cpp b/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_device.cpp
index 06be930252..84967361d4 100644
--- a/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_device.cpp
+++ b/test/qdmi/devices/sc/test_device.cpp
@@ -455,26 +455,29 @@ TEST(ScRuntimeConfiguration, SelectsEnvironmentAndExplicitFileSources) {
 }
 
 TEST(ScRuntimeConfiguration, MapsMissingExplicitFileToNotFound) {
-  MQT_SC_QDMI_Device_Session session = nullptr;
-  ASSERT_EQ(MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_alloc(&session), QDMI_SUCCESS);
-  constexpr auto missing =
-      std::to_array("missing-sc-device-configuration.json");
-  ASSERT_EQ(MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_set_parameter(
-                session, QDMI_DEVICE_SESSION_PARAMETER_CUSTOM2, missing.size(),
-                missing.data()),
-            QDMI_SUCCESS);
-  testing::internal::CaptureStderr();
-  const auto status = MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_init(session);
-  const auto diagnostic = testing::internal::GetCapturedStderr();
-  EXPECT_EQ(status, QDMI_ERROR_NOTFOUND);
-  EXPECT_THAT(
-      diagnostic,
-      testing::AllOf(
-          testing::HasSubstr("[mqt-core] [error]"),
-          testing::HasSubstr("QDMI device configuration "
-                             "'missing-sc-device-configuration.json' does not "
-                             "exist")));
-  MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_free(session);
+  const mqt::test::TemporaryDirectory directory;
+  const auto regularFile = directory.write("regular-file", "");
+  for (const auto& path : {
+           directory.path() / "missing.json",
+           regularFile / "configuration.json",
+       }) {
+    const auto missing = path.string();
+    SCOPED_TRACE(missing);
+    MQT_SC_QDMI_Device_Session session = nullptr;
+    ASSERT_EQ(MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_alloc(&session), QDMI_SUCCESS);
+    ASSERT_EQ(MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_set_parameter(
+                  session, QDMI_DEVICE_SESSION_PARAMETER_CUSTOM2,
+                  missing.size() + 1, missing.c_str()),
+              QDMI_SUCCESS);
+    testing::internal::CaptureStderr();
+    const auto status = MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_init(session);
+    const auto diagnostic = testing::internal::GetCapturedStderr();
+    EXPECT_EQ(status, QDMI_ERROR_NOTFOUND);
+    EXPECT_THAT(diagnostic,
+                testing::AllOf(testing::HasSubstr("[mqt-core] [error]"),
+                               testing::HasSubstr(missing)));
+    MQT_SC_QDMI_device_session_free(session);
+  }
 }
 
 TEST(ScRuntimeConfiguration, MissingCalibrationReturnsNotSupported) {