This study examined the effects of explicit reading strategy instruction on the comprehension of Ethiopian EFL students. In total, 123 students at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia were randomly assigned into two groups. The experimental group was taught with explicit reading strategy instruction while the control group was taught with skill-based teaching for a semester. Pre- and post-reading comprehension tests were used to determine whether explicit reading strategy instruction helped the students in enhancing their reading proficiency. The results of this study showed that the students who received reading strategy instruction made greater gains in reading comprehension than students who were taught with conventional skill- based teaching. The theoretical implications of these findings for higher education reading curriculum design, and future research directions are then presented.