diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 239edca83..b319404d7 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ the compiler reports it as "possibly unused".
    (<https://bugs.gnu.org/64666>)
 ** Avoid module resolution in 'call-with-new-thread', which could deadlock
    (<https://bugs.gnu.org/62691>)
+** 'read-u8' in (scheme base) now defaults to (current-input-port)
+   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/62690>)
 ** Hashing of UTF-8 symbols with non-ASCII characters avoids corruption
    (<https://bugs.gnu.org/56413>)
 
diff --git a/module/scheme/base.scm b/module/scheme/base.scm
index c6a73c092..b3d37a6ef 100644
--- a/module/scheme/base.scm
+++ b/module/scheme/base.scm
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; R7RS compatibility libraries
-;;; Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+;;; Copyright (C) 2019-2021, 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 ;;;
 ;;; This library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ;;; it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@
 (define* (peek-u8 #:optional (port (current-input-port)))
   (lookahead-u8 port))
 
-(define* (read-u8 #:optional (port (current-output-port)))
+(define* (read-u8 #:optional (port (current-input-port)))
   (get-u8 port))
 
 (define* (read-bytevector len #:optional (port (current-input-port)))