diff --git a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.cpp b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.cpp
index b7642da19c..63f575bb5b 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.cpp
@@ -306,7 +306,9 @@ void AP_Filesystem::unmount(void)
 }
 
 /*
-  load a file to memory as a single chunk. Use only for small files
+  Load a file's contents into memory. Returned object must be `delete`d to free
+  the data. The data is guaranteed to be null-terminated such that it can be
+  treated as a string.
  */
 FileData *AP_Filesystem::load_file(const char *filename)
 {
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h
index a6ebc358dc..c2bd20e765 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h
+++ b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h
@@ -132,7 +132,9 @@ public:
     AP_Filesystem_Backend::FormatStatus get_format_status() const;
 
     /*
-      load a full file. Use delete to free the data
+      Load a file's contents into memory. Returned object must be `delete`d to
+      free the data. The data is guaranteed to be null-terminated such that it
+      can be treated as a string.
      */
     FileData *load_file(const char *filename);
 
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_ROMFS.cpp b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_ROMFS.cpp
index 930b4f6268..f1aa5d69d9 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_ROMFS.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_ROMFS.cpp
@@ -239,8 +239,9 @@ bool AP_Filesystem_ROMFS::set_mtime(const char *filename, const uint32_t mtime_s
 }
 
 /*
-  load a full file. Use delete to free the data
-  we override this in ROMFS to avoid taking twice the memory
+  Load a file's contents into memory. Returned object must be `delete`d to free
+  the data. The data is guaranteed to be null-terminated such that it can be
+  treated as a string. Overridden in ROMFS to avoid taking twice the memory.
 */
 FileData *AP_Filesystem_ROMFS::load_file(const char *filename)
 {
@@ -248,6 +249,7 @@ FileData *AP_Filesystem_ROMFS::load_file(const char *filename)
     if (!fd) {
         return nullptr;
     }
+    // AP_ROMFS adds the guaranteed termination so we don't have to.
     fd->data = AP_ROMFS::find_decompress(filename, fd->length);
     if (fd->data == nullptr) {
         delete fd;
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.cpp b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.cpp
index 87fe694d9e..342eac4dbd 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 extern const AP_HAL::HAL& hal;
 
 /*
-  load a full file. Use delete to free the data
+  Load a file's contents into memory. Returned object must be `delete`d to free
+  the data. The data is guaranteed to be null-terminated such that it can be
+  treated as a string.
 */
 FileData *AP_Filesystem_Backend::load_file(const char *filename)
 {
@@ -31,7 +33,8 @@ FileData *AP_Filesystem_Backend::load_file(const char *filename)
     if (fd == nullptr) {
         return nullptr;
     }
-    void *data = malloc(st.st_size);
+    // add one byte for null termination; ArduPilot's malloc will zero it.
+    void *data = malloc(st.st_size+1);
     if (data == nullptr) {
         delete fd;
         return nullptr;
@@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ FileData *AP_Filesystem_Backend::load_file(const char *filename)
         return nullptr;
     }
     close(d);
-    fd->length = st.st_size;
+    fd->length = st.st_size; // length does not include our added termination
     fd->data = (const uint8_t *)data;
     return fd;
 }
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.h b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.h
index 187f9c48c3..8cf0fa655a 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.h
+++ b/libraries/AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem_backend.h
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ public:
     virtual AP_Filesystem_Backend::FormatStatus get_format_status() const { return FormatStatus::NOT_STARTED; }
 
     /*
-      load a full file. Use delete to free the data
+      Load a file's contents into memory. Returned object must be `delete`d to
+      free the data. The data is guaranteed to be null-terminated such that it
+      can be treated as a string.
      */
     virtual FileData *load_file(const char *filename);