diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 65561683..6357cce1 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2018-01-21  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
+
+	patch #8444: Proposal for modifications in -B and -U command options managment
+	* update.c (parse_op): Default -U filename to RBIN for output
+	files
+
 2018-01-18  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
 
 	Submitted by Simone:
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 73125fc1..8a56c321 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ Current:
     patch #8311: Add IPv6 support to the -Pnet:host:port option
     patch #9542: Correct "usersig" on avr8x devices
     patch #8128: Added new option to configure.ac script
+    patch #8444: Proposal for modifications in -B and -U command options managment
+    (partially)
 
   * Internals:
     - New avrdude.conf keyword "family_id", used to verify SIB attributes
diff --git a/update.c b/update.c
index 7bf5539a..1e35b571 100644
--- a/update.c
+++ b/update.c
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@ UPDATE * parse_op(char * s)
   cp = p;
   p = strrchr(cp, ':');
   if (p == NULL) {
-    upd->format = FMT_AUTO;
+    // missing format, default to "AUTO" for write and verify,
+    // and to binary for read operations:
+    upd->format = upd->op == DEVICE_READ? FMT_RBIN: FMT_AUTO;
     fnlen = strlen(cp);
     upd->filename = (char *)malloc(fnlen + 1);
   } else {