A method for the recovery of nucleic acids from a reaction mixture, such as nuclease protection assays, comprising the use of one reagent containing a) nuclease for digesting single-stranded RNA and b) a nucleic acid precipitating carrier agent, (sheared DNA or linear acrylamide). A second reagent contains a chaotropic agent (a guanidinium salt) for inactivating said nucleases and an alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol) for the simultaneous inactivation of the nucleases and the precipitation of the nucleic acids without the need for protease digestion or organic extraction.