diff --git a/pelican/readers.py b/pelican/readers.py
index de3df66f..60fabe82 100644
--- a/pelican/readers.py
+++ b/pelican/readers.py
@@ -257,8 +257,8 @@ class HTMLReader(Reader):
             return next((x[1] for x in attrs if x[0] == name), default)
 
     def read(self, filename):
-        """Parse content and metadata of markdown files"""
-        with pelican_open(filename) as content:
+        """Parse content and metadata of HTML files"""
+        with open(filename) as content:
             parser = self._HTMLParser(self.settings)
             parser.feed(content)
             parser.close()