This is a patch that can be applied to the magic file used by file(1) to recognize mono assemblies. Apply it to the magic file (usually in /usr/share/file/magic or /usr/share/misc/magic) and recompile it with file -C. --- magic.old 2006-03-24 21:12:25.000000000 +0100 +++ magic 2006-03-24 21:12:17.000000000 +0100 @@ -7205,6 +7205,7 @@ >>>>(0x3c.l+4) leshort 0x290 PA-RISC >>>>(0x3c.l+22) leshort&0x0100 >0 32-bit >>>>(0x3c.l+22) leshort&0x1000 >0 system file +>>>>(0x3c.l+232) lelong >0 Mono/.Net assembly >>>>(0x3c.l+0xf8) string UPX0 \b, UPX compressed >>>>(0x3c.l+0xf8) search/0x140 PEC2 \b, PECompact2 compressed