diff --git a/gio/gasynchelper.c b/gio/gasynchelper.c
index 34bba9534..fa6c8162b 100644
--- a/gio/gasynchelper.c
+++ b/gio/gasynchelper.c
@@ -168,3 +168,31 @@ _g_fd_source_new (int           fd,
 
   return source;
 }
+
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+gboolean
+_g_win32_overlap_wait_result (HANDLE           hfile,
+                              OVERLAPPED      *overlap,
+                              DWORD           *transferred,
+                              GCancellable    *cancellable G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+  GPollFD pollfd[1] = { 0, };
+  gboolean result = FALSE;
+  gint num, npoll;
+
+  pollfd[0].fd = (gint)overlap->hEvent;
+  pollfd[0].events = G_IO_IN;
+  num = 1;
+
+  npoll = g_poll (pollfd, num, -1);
+  if (npoll <= 0)
+    /* error out, should never happen */
+    goto end;
+
+  /* either cancelled or IO completed, either way get the result */
+  result = GetOverlappedResult (overlap->hEvent, overlap, transferred, TRUE);
+
+end:
+  return result;
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/gio/gasynchelper.h b/gio/gasynchelper.h
index cd6d28295..cbee6a669 100644
--- a/gio/gasynchelper.h
+++ b/gio/gasynchelper.h
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@
 
 #include <gio/gio.h>
 
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+#endif
+
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 typedef gboolean (*GFDSourceFunc) (int          fd,
@@ -35,6 +39,13 @@ GSource *_g_fd_source_new      (int              fd,
 				gushort          events,
 				GCancellable    *cancellable);
 
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+gboolean _g_win32_overlap_wait_result (HANDLE           hfile,
+                                       OVERLAPPED      *overlap,
+                                       DWORD           *transferred,
+                                       GCancellable    *cancellable);
+#endif
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __G_ASYNC_HELPER_H__ */
diff --git a/gio/gwin32inputstream.c b/gio/gwin32inputstream.c
index 5576f0260..58b99e0a0 100644
--- a/gio/gwin32inputstream.c
+++ b/gio/gwin32inputstream.c
@@ -291,6 +291,8 @@ g_win32_input_stream_read (GInputStream  *stream,
   GWin32InputStream *win32_stream;
   BOOL res;
   DWORD nbytes, nread;
+  OVERLAPPED overlap = { 0, };
+  gssize retval = -1;
 
   win32_stream = G_WIN32_INPUT_STREAM (stream);
 
@@ -302,26 +304,54 @@ g_win32_input_stream_read (GInputStream  *stream,
   else
     nbytes = count;
 
-  res = ReadFile (win32_stream->priv->handle, buffer, nbytes, &nread, NULL);
-  if (!res)
+  overlap.hEvent = CreateEvent (NULL, FALSE, FALSE, NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (overlap.hEvent != NULL, -1);
+
+  res = ReadFile (win32_stream->priv->handle, buffer, nbytes, &nread, &overlap);
+  if (res)
+    retval = nread;
+  else
     {
       int errsv = GetLastError ();
-      gchar *emsg;
 
+      if (errsv == ERROR_IO_PENDING &&
+          _g_win32_overlap_wait_result (win32_stream->priv->handle,
+                                        &overlap, &nread, cancellable))
+        {
+          retval = nread;
+          goto end;
+        }
+
+      if (g_cancellable_set_error_if_cancelled (cancellable, error))
+        goto end;
+
+      errsv = GetLastError ();
       if (errsv == ERROR_HANDLE_EOF ||
-	  errsv == ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE)
-	return 0;
+          errsv == ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE)
+        {
+          /* TODO: the other end of a pipe may call the WriteFile
+           * function with nNumberOfBytesToWrite set to zero. In this
+           * case, it's not possible for the caller to know if it's
+           * broken pipe or a read of 0. Perhaps we should add a
+           * is_broken flag for this win32 case.. */
+          retval = 0;
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          gchar *emsg;
 
-      emsg = g_win32_error_message (errsv);
-      g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR,
-		   g_io_error_from_win32_error (errsv),
-		   _("Error reading from handle: %s"),
-		   emsg);
-      g_free (emsg);
-      return -1;
+          emsg = g_win32_error_message (errsv);
+          g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR,
+                       g_io_error_from_win32_error (errsv),
+                       _("Error reading from handle: %s"),
+                       emsg);
+          g_free (emsg);
+        }
     }
 
-  return nread;
+end:
+  CloseHandle (overlap.hEvent);
+  return retval;
 }
 
 static gboolean
diff --git a/gio/gwin32outputstream.c b/gio/gwin32outputstream.c
index 609e4f423..5a6798b51 100644
--- a/gio/gwin32outputstream.c
+++ b/gio/gwin32outputstream.c
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ g_win32_output_stream_write (GOutputStream  *stream,
   GWin32OutputStream *win32_stream;
   BOOL res;
   DWORD nbytes, nwritten;
+  OVERLAPPED overlap = { 0, };
+  gssize retval = -1;
 
   win32_stream = G_WIN32_OUTPUT_STREAM (stream);
 
@@ -304,24 +306,49 @@ g_win32_output_stream_write (GOutputStream  *stream,
   else
     nbytes = count;
 
-  res = WriteFile (win32_stream->priv->handle, buffer, nbytes, &nwritten, NULL);
-  if (!res)
+  overlap.hEvent = CreateEvent (NULL, FALSE, FALSE, NULL);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (overlap.hEvent != NULL, -1);
+
+  res = WriteFile (win32_stream->priv->handle, buffer, nbytes, &nwritten, &overlap);
+  if (res)
+    retval = nwritten;
+  else
     {
       int errsv = GetLastError ();
-      gchar *emsg = g_win32_error_message (errsv);
 
-      if (errsv == ERROR_HANDLE_EOF)
-	return 0;
+      if (errsv == ERROR_IO_PENDING &&
+          _g_win32_overlap_wait_result (win32_stream->priv->handle,
+                                        &overlap, &nwritten, cancellable))
+        {
+          retval = nwritten;
+          goto end;
+        }
 
-      g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR,
-		   g_io_error_from_win32_error (errsv),
-		   _("Error writing to handle: %s"),
-		   emsg);
-      g_free (emsg);
-      return -1;
+      if (g_cancellable_set_error_if_cancelled (cancellable, error))
+        goto end;
+
+      errsv = GetLastError ();
+      if (errsv == ERROR_HANDLE_EOF ||
+          errsv == ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE)
+        {
+          retval = 0;
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          gchar *emsg;
+
+          emsg = g_win32_error_message (errsv);
+          g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR,
+                       g_io_error_from_win32_error (errsv),
+                       _("Error writing to handle: %s"),
+                       emsg);
+          g_free (emsg);
+        }
     }
 
-  return nwritten;
+end:
+  CloseHandle (overlap.hEvent);
+  return retval;
 }
 
 static gboolean