diff --git a/glib/gdir.c b/glib/gdir.c
index e15d353c5..073be6ad1 100644
--- a/glib/gdir.c
+++ b/glib/gdir.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
 
 struct _GDir
 {
+  gatomicrefcount ref_count;
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
   _WDIR *wdirp;
 #else
@@ -89,10 +90,13 @@ GDir *
 g_dir_open_with_errno (const gchar *path,
                        guint        flags)
 {
-  GDir dir;
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+  GDir *dir;
+  _WDIR *wdirp;
   gint saved_errno;
   wchar_t *wpath;
+#else
+  DIR *dirp;
 #endif
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (path != NULL, NULL);
@@ -102,21 +106,27 @@ g_dir_open_with_errno (const gchar *path,
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (wpath != NULL, NULL);
 
-  dir.wdirp = _wopendir (wpath);
+  wdirp = _wopendir (wpath);
   saved_errno = errno;
   g_free (wpath);
   errno = saved_errno;
 
-  if (dir.wdirp == NULL)
+  if (wdirp == NULL)
     return NULL;
+
+  dir = g_new0 (GDir, 1);
+  g_atomic_ref_count_init (&dir->ref_count);
+  dir->wdirp = wdirp;
+
+  return g_steal_pointer (&dir);
 #else
-  dir.dirp = opendir (path);
+  dirp = opendir (path);
 
-  if (dir.dirp == NULL)
+  if (dirp == NULL)
     return NULL;
-#endif
 
-  return g_memdup2 (&dir, sizeof dir);
+  return g_dir_new_from_dirp (dirp);
+#endif
 }
 
 /**
@@ -187,7 +197,8 @@ g_dir_new_from_dirp (gpointer dirp)
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (dirp != NULL, NULL);
 
-  dir = g_new (GDir, 1);
+  dir = g_new0 (GDir, 1);
+  g_atomic_ref_count_init (&dir->ref_count);
   dir->dirp = dirp;
 
   return dir;
@@ -287,23 +298,84 @@ g_dir_rewind (GDir *dir)
 #endif
 }
 
+static void
+g_dir_actually_close (GDir *dir)
+{
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+  g_clear_pointer (&dir->wdirp, _wclosedir);
+#else
+  g_clear_pointer (&dir->dirp, closedir);
+#endif
+}
+
 /**
  * g_dir_close:
  * @dir: (transfer full): a #GDir* created by g_dir_open()
  *
- * Closes the directory and deallocates all related resources.
+ * Closes the directory immediately and decrements the reference count.
+ *
+ * Once the reference count reaches zero, the `GDir` structure itself will be
+ * freed. Prior to GLib 2.80, `GDir` was not reference counted.
+ *
+ * It is an error to call any of the `GDir` methods other than
+ * [method@GLib.Dir.ref] and [method@GLib.Dir.unref] on a `GDir` after calling
+ * [method@GLib.Dir.close] on it.
  **/
 void
 g_dir_close (GDir *dir)
 {
   g_return_if_fail (dir != NULL);
 
-#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
-  _wclosedir (dir->wdirp);
-#else
-  closedir (dir->dirp);
-#endif
-  g_free (dir);
+  g_dir_actually_close (dir);
+  g_dir_unref (dir);
+}
+
+/**
+ * g_dir_ref:
+ * @dir: (transfer none): a `GDir`
+ *
+ * Increment the reference count of `dir`.
+ *
+ * Returns: (transfer full): the same pointer as `dir`
+ * Since: 2.80
+ */
+GDir *
+g_dir_ref (GDir *dir)
+{
+  g_return_val_if_fail (dir != NULL, NULL);
+
+  g_atomic_ref_count_inc (&dir->ref_count);
+  return dir;
+}
+
+/**
+ * g_dir_unref:
+ * @dir: (transfer full): a `GDir`
+ *
+ * Decrements the reference count of `dir`.
+ *
+ * Once the reference count reaches zero, the directory will be closed and all
+ * resources associated with it will be freed. If [method@GLib.Dir.close] is
+ * called when the reference count is greater than zero, the directory is closed
+ * but the `GDir` structure will not be freed until its reference count reaches
+ * zero.
+ *
+ * It is an error to call any of the `GDir` methods other than
+ * [method@GLib.Dir.ref] and [method@GLib.Dir.unref] on a `GDir` after calling
+ * [method@GLib.Dir.close] on it.
+ *
+ * Since: 2.80
+ */
+void
+g_dir_unref (GDir *dir)
+{
+  g_return_if_fail (dir != NULL);
+
+  if (g_atomic_ref_count_dec (&dir->ref_count))
+    {
+      g_dir_actually_close (dir);
+      g_free (dir);
+    }
 }
 
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
diff --git a/glib/gdir.h b/glib/gdir.h
index 0d3ee82b3..1b59b276e 100644
--- a/glib/gdir.h
+++ b/glib/gdir.h
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ void                     g_dir_rewind         (GDir         *dir);
 GLIB_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
 void                     g_dir_close          (GDir         *dir);
 
+GLIB_AVAILABLE_IN_2_80
+GDir *                   g_dir_ref             (GDir        *dir);
+GLIB_AVAILABLE_IN_2_80
+void                     g_dir_unref           (GDir        *dir);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __G_DIR_H__ */
diff --git a/glib/gstdio.h b/glib/gstdio.h
index 7acdb9cef..42c177b2a 100644
--- a/glib/gstdio.h
+++ b/glib/gstdio.h
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ typedef struct stat GStatBuf;
 
 #endif
 
-#if defined(G_OS_UNIX) && !defined(G_STDIO_WRAP_ON_UNIX)
+#if defined(G_OS_UNIX) && !defined(G_STDIO_WRAP_ON_UNIX) && !defined(__GI_SCANNER__)
 
 /* Just pass on to the system functions, so there's no potential for data
  * format mismatches, especially with large file interfaces. 
diff --git a/glib/tests/dir.c b/glib/tests/dir.c
index 74dbe143d..641cee80a 100644
--- a/glib/tests/dir.c
+++ b/glib/tests/dir.c
@@ -41,6 +41,29 @@ test_dir_nonexisting (void)
   g_error_free (error);
 }
 
+static void
+test_dir_refcounting (void)
+{
+  GDir *dir;
+  GError *local_error = NULL;
+
+  g_test_summary ("Test refcounting interactions with g_dir_close()");
+
+  /* Try keeping the `GDir` struct alive after closing it. */
+  dir = g_dir_open (".", 0, &local_error);
+  g_assert_no_error (local_error);
+
+  g_dir_ref (dir);
+  g_dir_close (dir);
+  g_dir_unref (dir);
+
+  /* Test that dropping the last ref closes it. Any leak here should be caught
+   * when the test is run under valgrind. */
+  dir = g_dir_open (".", 0, &local_error);
+  g_assert_no_error (local_error);
+  g_dir_unref (dir);
+}
+
 int
 main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
@@ -48,6 +71,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 
   g_test_add_func ("/dir/read", test_dir_read);
   g_test_add_func ("/dir/nonexisting", test_dir_nonexisting);
+  g_test_add_func ("/dir/refcounting", test_dir_refcounting);
 
   return g_test_run ();
 }
diff --git a/gobject/gboxed.c b/gobject/gboxed.c
index 57df1e07f..8872ca433 100644
--- a/gobject/gboxed.c
+++ b/gobject/gboxed.c
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GKeyFile, g_key_file, g_key_file_ref, g_key_file_unref)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GMappedFile, g_mapped_file, g_mapped_file_ref, g_mapped_file_unref)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GBookmarkFile, g_bookmark_file, g_bookmark_file_copy, g_bookmark_file_free)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GHmac, g_hmac, g_hmac_ref, g_hmac_unref)
+G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GDir, g_dir, g_dir_ref, g_dir_unref)
 
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GMainLoop, g_main_loop, g_main_loop_ref, g_main_loop_unref)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GMainContext, g_main_context, g_main_context_ref, g_main_context_unref)
@@ -153,6 +154,8 @@ G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GUri, g_uri, g_uri_ref, g_uri_unref)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GOptionGroup, g_option_group, g_option_group_ref, g_option_group_unref)
 G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GPatternSpec, g_pattern_spec, g_pattern_spec_copy, g_pattern_spec_free);
 
+G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GStrvBuilder, g_strv_builder, g_strv_builder_ref, g_strv_builder_unref);
+
 /* This one can't use G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (GStrv, g_strv, g_strdupv, g_strfreev) */
 GType
 g_strv_get_type (void)
diff --git a/gobject/glib-types.h b/gobject/glib-types.h
index d1a34ba5a..76f746cf2 100644
--- a/gobject/glib-types.h
+++ b/gobject/glib-types.h
@@ -345,6 +345,24 @@ typedef gsize GType;
  */
 #define G_TYPE_HMAC (g_hmac_get_type ())
 
+/**
+ * G_TYPE_DIR:
+ *
+ * The #GType for a boxed type holding a #GDir.
+ *
+ * Since: 2.80
+ */
+#define G_TYPE_DIR (g_dir_get_type ())
+
+/**
+ * G_TYPE_STRV_BUILDER:
+ *
+ * The #GType for a boxed type holding a #GStrvBuilder.
+ *
+ * Since: 2.80
+ */
+#define G_TYPE_STRV_BUILDER (g_strv_builder_get_type ())
+
 GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
 GType   g_date_get_type            (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
 GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
@@ -411,6 +429,10 @@ GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_2_76
 GType   g_bookmark_file_get_type   (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
 GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_2_80
 GType   g_hmac_get_type (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
+GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_2_80
+GType   g_dir_get_type (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
+GOBJECT_AVAILABLE_IN_2_80
+GType   g_strv_builder_get_type (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
 
 GOBJECT_DEPRECATED_FOR('G_TYPE_VARIANT')
 GType   g_variant_get_gtype        (void) G_GNUC_CONST;