diff --git a/lib/pry/code.rb b/lib/pry/code.rb
index b5066f6f..7488d6fc 100644
--- a/lib/pry/code.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/code.rb
@@ -33,17 +33,18 @@ class Pry
       # @param [String] fn The name of a file, or "(pry)".
       # @param [Symbol] code_type (:ruby) The type of code the file contains.
       # @return [Code]
-      def from_file(fn, code_type=:ruby)
+      def from_file(fn, code_type=nil)
         if fn == Pry.eval_path
           f = Pry.line_buffer.drop(1)
         else
           if File.readable?(fn)
             f = File.open(fn, 'r')
+            code_type = type_from_filename(fn)
           else
             raise CommandError, "Cannot open #{fn.inspect} for reading."
           end
         end
-        new(f, 1, code_type)
+        new(f, 1, code_type || :ruby)
       ensure
         f.close if f.respond_to?(:close)
       end
@@ -61,6 +62,37 @@ class Pry
         start_line ||= meth.source_line || 1
         new(meth.source, start_line, meth.source_type)
       end
+
+      protected
+        # Guess the CodeRay type of a file from its extension, or nil if
+        # unknown.
+        #
+        # @param [String] filename
+        # @return [Symbol, nil]
+        def type_from_filename(filename)
+          map = {
+            %w(.c .h) => :c,
+            %w(.cpp .hpp .cc .h cxx) => :cpp,
+            %w(.rb .ru .irbrc .gemspec .pryrc) => :ruby,
+            %w(.py) => :python,
+            %w(.diff) => :diff,
+            %w(.css) => :css,
+            %w(.html) => :html,
+            %w(.yaml .yml) => :yaml,
+            %w(.xml) => :xml,
+            %w(.php) => :php,
+            %w(.js) => :javascript,
+            %w(.java) => :java,
+            %w(.rhtml) => :rhtml,
+            %w(.json) => :json
+          }
+
+          _, type = map.find do |k, _|
+            k.any? { |ext| ext == File.extname(filename) }
+          end
+
+          type
+        end
     end
 
     attr_accessor :code_type
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
index 9c26ee3c..3aa9ff13 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ class Pry
 
       # Open a temp file and yield it to the block, closing it after
       # @return [String] The path of the temp file
-      def temp_file
-        file = Tempfile.new(['pry', '.rb'])
+      def temp_file(ext='.rb')
+        file = Tempfile.new(['pry', ext])
         yield file
       ensure
-        file.close(true)
+        file.close(true) if file
       end
 
       def render_output(str, opts={})
@@ -61,63 +61,6 @@ class Pry
         header << "#{Pry::Helpers::Text.bold("Number of lines:")} #{content.each_line.count.to_s}\n"
       end
 
-      def file_map
-        {
-          [".c", ".h"] => :c,
-          [".cpp", ".hpp", ".cc", ".h", "cxx"] => :cpp,
-          [".rb", "Rakefile", ".irbrc", ".gemspec", ".pryrc"] => :ruby,
-          ".py" => :python,
-          ".diff" => :diff,
-          ".css" => :css,
-          ".html" => :html,
-          [".yaml", ".yml"] => :yaml,
-          ".xml" => :xml,
-          ".php" => :php,
-          ".js" => :javascript,
-          ".java" => :java,
-          ".rhtml" => :rhtml,
-          ".json" => :json
-        }
-      end
-
-      def syntax_highlight_by_file_type_or_specified(contents, file_name, file_type)
-        if file_type
-          language_detected = file_type
-        else
-          _, language_detected = file_map.find do |k, v|
-            Array(k).any? do |matcher|
-              matcher == File.extname(file_name) || matcher == File.basename(file_name)
-            end
-          end
-        end
-
-        if Pry.color
-          CodeRay.scan(contents, language_detected).term
-        else
-          contents
-        end
-      end
-
-      # convert negative line numbers to positive by wrapping around
-      # last line (as per array indexing with negative numbers)
-      def normalized_line_number(line_number, total_lines)
-        line_number < 0 ? line_number + total_lines : line_number
-      end
-
-      # returns the file content between the lines and the normalized
-      # start and end line numbers.
-      def read_between_the_lines(file_name, start_line, end_line)
-        if file_name == Pry.eval_path
-          content = Pry.line_buffer.drop(1).join
-        else
-          content = File.read(File.expand_path(file_name))
-        end
-        lines_array = content.each_line.to_a
-
-        [lines_array[start_line..end_line].join, normalized_line_number(start_line, lines_array.size),
-         normalized_line_number(end_line, lines_array.size)]
-      end
-
       def process_rdoc(comment, code_type)
         comment = comment.dup
         comment.gsub(/<code>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/code>/m) { Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan($1, code_type).term : $1 }.
diff --git a/test/helper.rb b/test/helper.rb
index 4f1d8cd0..7c8ff126 100644
--- a/test/helper.rb
+++ b/test/helper.rb
@@ -148,11 +148,11 @@ end
 
 # Open a temp file and yield it to the block, closing it after
 # @return [String] The path of the temp file
-def temp_file
-  file = Tempfile.new('pry')
+def temp_file(ext='.rb')
+  file = Tempfile.new(['pry', ext])
   yield file
 ensure
-  file.close(true)
+  file.close(true) if file
 end
 
 
diff --git a/test/test_code.rb b/test/test_code.rb
index 14796dee..fb0f7133 100644
--- a/test/test_code.rb
+++ b/test/test_code.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@ describe Pry::Code do
       Pry::Code.from_file('(pry)').grep(/:hay_guys/).length.should == 1
     end
 
+    it 'should default to Ruby' do
+      temp_file('') do |f|
+        Pry::Code.from_file(f.path).code_type.should == :ruby
+      end
+    end
+
+    it 'should check the extension' do
+      temp_file('.c') do |f|
+        Pry::Code.from_file(f.path).code_type.should == :c
+      end
+    end
+
     it 'should raise an error if the file doesn\'t exist' do
       proc do
         Pry::Code.from_file('/knalkjsdnalsd/alkjdlkq')