diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/observables/StringObservable.java b/src/main/java/rx/observables/StringObservable.java
index f474252..df7edcd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rx/observables/StringObservable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rx/observables/StringObservable.java
@@ -551,15 +551,26 @@ public void onNext(String t) {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Splits the {@link Observable} of Strings by lines and numbers them (zero based index)
+     * Splits the {@link Observable} of Strings by line ending characters in a platform independent way. It is equivalent to
+     * <pre>split(src, "(\\r\\n)|\\n|\\r|\\u0085|\\u2028|\\u2029")</pre>
      * <p>
      * <img width="640" src="https://raw.github.com/wiki/ReactiveX/RxJava/images/rx-operators/St.byLine.png" alt="">
      * 
      * @param source
      * @return the Observable conaining the split lines of the source
+     * @see StringObservable#split(Observable, Pattern)
      */
     public static Observable<String> byLine(Observable<String> source) {
-        return split(source, System.getProperty("line.separator"));
+        return split(source, ByLinePatternHolder.BY_LINE);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Lazy initialization of the pattern.
+     * 
+     * https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html#lt
+     */
+    private static final class ByLinePatternHolder {
+        private static final Pattern BY_LINE = Pattern.compile("(\\r\\n)|\\n|\\r|\\u0085|\\u2028|\\u2029");
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/observables/StringObservableTest.java b/src/test/java/rx/observables/StringObservableTest.java
index 9be8106..a0bd98a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rx/observables/StringObservableTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/observables/StringObservableTest.java
@@ -356,9 +356,42 @@ public synchronized int read(byte[] b, int off, int len) {
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testByLine() {
-        String newLine = System.getProperty("line.separator");
+    public void testByLine_Newline() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x0A });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testByLine_CarriageNewline() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x0D, 0x0A });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testByLine_Carriage() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x0D });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testByLine_NextLine() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x0085 });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testByLine_LineSeparator() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x2028 });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testByLine_ParagraphSeparator() {
+        String newLine = String.valueOf(new char[] { 0x2029 });
+        testByLineGeneric(newLine);
+    }
 
+    private void testByLineGeneric(String newLine) {
         List<String> lines = byLine(
                 Observable.from(Arrays.asList("qwer", newLine + "asdf" + newLine, "zx", "cv")))
                 .toList().toBlocking().single();