diff --git a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.cc b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.cc
index 612ae21cc3..c3999527f7 100644
--- a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.cc
+++ b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.cc
@@ -85,9 +85,9 @@ void UpdateConfig(const std::vector<std::string>& block, std::string* config) {
 
 }  // namespace
 
-WebVttParser::WebVttParser(std::unique_ptr<FileReader> source,
+WebVttParser::WebVttParser(const std::string& input_path,
                            const std::string& language)
-    : reader_(std::move(source)), language_(language) {}
+    : input_path_(input_path), language_(language) {}
 
 Status WebVttParser::InitializeInternal() {
   return Status::OK;
@@ -99,7 +99,11 @@ bool WebVttParser::ValidateOutputStreamIndex(size_t stream_index) const {
 }
 
 Status WebVttParser::Run() {
-  return Parse()
+  std::unique_ptr<FileReader> reader;
+  RETURN_IF_ERROR(FileReader::Open(input_path_, &reader));
+  BlockReader block_reader(std::move(reader));
+
+  return Parse(&block_reader)
              ? FlushDownstream(kStreamIndex)
              : Status(error::INTERNAL_ERROR,
                       "Failed to parse WebVTT source. See log for details.");
@@ -109,9 +113,9 @@ void WebVttParser::Cancel() {
   keep_reading_ = false;
 }
 
-bool WebVttParser::Parse() {
+bool WebVttParser::Parse(BlockReader* block_reader) {
   std::vector<std::string> block;
-  if (!reader_.Next(&block)) {
+  if (!block_reader->Next(&block)) {
     LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to read WEBVTT HEADER - No blocks in source.";
     return false;
   }
@@ -131,7 +135,7 @@ bool WebVttParser::Parse() {
 
   bool saw_cue = false;
 
-  while (reader_.Next(&block) && keep_reading_) {
+  while (block_reader->Next(&block) && keep_reading_) {
     // NOTE
     if (IsLikelyNote(block[0])) {
       // We can safely ignore the whole block.
diff --git a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.h b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.h
index 3b33095d57..b5c156feed 100644
--- a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.h
+++ b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser.h
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ namespace media {
 // Used to parse a WebVTT source into Cues that will be sent downstream.
 class WebVttParser : public OriginHandler {
  public:
-  WebVttParser(std::unique_ptr<FileReader> source, const std::string& language);
+  WebVttParser(const std::string& input_path, const std::string& language);
 
   Status Run() override;
   void Cancel() override;
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class WebVttParser : public OriginHandler {
   Status InitializeInternal() override;
   bool ValidateOutputStreamIndex(size_t stream_index) const override;
 
-  bool Parse();
+  bool Parse(BlockReader* block_reader);
   bool ParseCueWithNoId(const std::vector<std::string>& block);
   bool ParseCueWithId(const std::vector<std::string>& block);
   Status ParseCue(const std::string& id,
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ class WebVttParser : public OriginHandler {
 
   Status DispatchTextStreamInfo();
 
-  BlockReader reader_;
+  std::string input_path_;
   std::string language_;
+
   std::string style_region_config_;
   bool stream_info_dispatched_ = false;
   bool keep_reading_ = true;
diff --git a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser_unittest.cc b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser_unittest.cc
index 6840d011f4..00567f5b33 100644
--- a/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser_unittest.cc
+++ b/packager/media/formats/webvtt/webvtt_parser_unittest.cc
@@ -44,10 +44,7 @@ class WebVttParserTest : public MediaHandlerTestBase {
     ASSERT_TRUE(File::WriteStringToFile(kFilename, text));
 
     // Read from the file we just wrote.
-    std::unique_ptr<FileReader> reader;
-    ASSERT_OK(FileReader::Open(kFilename, &reader));
-
-    parser_ = std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(std::move(reader), kLanguage);
+    parser_ = std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(kFilename, kLanguage);
 
     ASSERT_OK(MediaHandlerTestBase::SetUpAndInitializeGraph(
         parser_, kInputCount, kOutputCount));
diff --git a/packager/packager.cc b/packager/packager.cc
index e8a395134f..c8c5f90198 100644
--- a/packager/packager.cc
+++ b/packager/packager.cc
@@ -504,11 +504,7 @@ Status CreateHlsTextJob(const StreamDescriptor& stream,
   auto output = std::make_shared<WebVttTextOutputHandler>(
       muxer_options, std::move(muxer_listener));
 
-  std::unique_ptr<FileReader> reader;
-  RETURN_IF_ERROR(FileReader::Open(stream.input, &reader));
-
-  auto parser =
-      std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(std::move(reader), stream.language);
+  auto parser = std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(stream.input, stream.language);
   auto padder = std::make_shared<TextPadder>(kDefaultTextZeroBiasMs);
   auto cue_aligner = sync_points
                          ? std::make_shared<CueAlignmentHandler>(sync_points)
@@ -528,11 +524,7 @@ Status CreateWebVttToMp4TextJob(const StreamDescriptor& stream,
                                 SyncPointQueue* sync_points,
                                 MuxerFactory* muxer_factory,
                                 std::shared_ptr<OriginHandler>* root) {
-  std::unique_ptr<FileReader> reader;
-  RETURN_IF_ERROR(FileReader::Open(stream.input, &reader));
-
-  auto parser =
-      std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(std::move(reader), stream.language);
+  auto parser = std::make_shared<WebVttParser>(stream.input, stream.language);
   auto padder = std::make_shared<TextPadder>(kDefaultTextZeroBiasMs);
 
   auto text_to_mp4 = std::make_shared<WebVttToMp4Handler>();