Dave Kitson's penalty earned Reading a third win in four matches as they worked hard to outdo a battling Rotherham side at the Madejski Stadium.
He rammed home his spot kick on the stroke of half time after Chris Swailes had fouled Nicky Forster and that single strike proved to be enough to clinch all three points in a game of few chances.
The Royals made a poor start to the game and barely created a chance in the opening 30 minutes as the visitors sat back and looked to counter attack with their quick strikers.
The tactic worked for long periods and in the early stages it was Ronnie Moore's side who carried the greater threat.
Chris Sedgwick skied a shot when Adrian Williams' poor clearance from a Richard Barker cross fell invitingly for the Rotherham midfielder.
And Scott Minto saw a stinging free-kick parried by Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann, who reacted well to bravely dive at the feet of Richard Barker on the follow up.
Reading thought they had made a breakthrough on 20 minutes when James Harper's swinging free-kick was turned home by Kitson only for an offside flag to deny the striker his second goal of the season.
Kitson did not have to wait too long to register that particular statistic though as he gratefully accepted the chance to break the deadlock from the penalty spot a minute before the break.
The lively Forster looked poised to shoot when Rotherham's skipper Chris Swailes took his standing leg away, referee Lee Probert pointing to the spot and then booking Shaun Barker for protesting a little too hard.
Kitson blasted down the middle to put Reading in front and the home side might have double their lead when Steven Sidwell saw a searching long-range drive plucked out of the air by Rotherham keeper Mike Pollitt.
And the alert keeper rescued Rotherham again when an offside flag surprisingly did not come to their aid midway through the second half, the keeper diving at Forster's feet after a clever flick from Kitson had sent him clear.
But the lively Paul Shaw, despite slipping back into midfield to accommodate the arrival of striker Michael Proctor from the substitute's bench, should have restored parity for the Millers when he found space in the area but blazed wide from an increasingly tight angle.