diff --git a/wire/Makefile b/wire/Makefile
index 493c8fa47..d72b4cba0 100644
--- a/wire/Makefile
+++ b/wire/Makefile
@@ -4,11 +4,14 @@
 wire-wrongdir:
 	$(MAKE) -C .. wire-all
 
-WIRE_HEADERS := wire/wire.h wire/wire_sync.h
+WIRE_HEADERS := wire/wire.h			\
+		wire/wire_sync.h		\
+		wire/wire_io.h
 WIRE_GEN_HEADERS := wire/gen_peer_wire.h wire/gen_onion_wire.h
 WIRE_GEN_SRC := wire/gen_peer_wire.c
 WIRE_GEN_ONION_SRC := wire/gen_onion_wire.c
 WIRE_SRC := wire/wire_sync.c			\
+		wire/wire_io.c			\
 		wire/fromwire.c			\
 		wire/towire.c
 
diff --git a/wire/wire_io.c b/wire/wire_io.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bb02780cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wire/wire_io.c
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+#include <ccan/endian/endian.h>
+/* FIXME: io_plan needs size_t */
+ #include <unistd.h>
+#include <ccan/io/io_plan.h>
+#include <ccan/short_types/short_types.h>
+#include <wire/wire_io.h>
+
+/*
+ * OK, this is a little tricky.  ccan/io lets you create your own plans,
+ * beyond the standard io_read/io_write etc.  It provides a union to place
+ * scratch data, and it's almost enough for our purposes.
+ */
+
+/* 2 bytes for the length header. */
+#define HEADER_LEN (sizeof(le16))
+
+/* Since length can only be 64k, this is an impossible value. */
+#define INSIDE_HEADER_BIT 0x80000000
+
+/* arg->u2.s contains length we've read, arg->u1.vp contains u8 **data. */
+static int do_read_wire_header(int fd, struct io_plan_arg *arg)
+{
+	ssize_t ret;
+	size_t len = arg->u2.s & ~INSIDE_HEADER_BIT;
+	u8 *p = *(u8 **)arg->u1.vp;
+
+	ret = read(fd, p + len, HEADER_LEN - len);
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		return -1;
+	arg->u2.s += ret;
+
+	/* Both bytes read?  Set up for normal read of data. */
+	if (arg->u2.s == INSIDE_HEADER_BIT + HEADER_LEN) {
+		arg->u2.s = be16_to_cpu(*(be16 *)p);
+		/* A type-only message is not unheard of, so optimize a little */
+		if (arg->u2.s != HEADER_LEN)
+			tal_resize((u8 **)arg->u1.vp, arg->u2.s);
+		arg->u1.vp = *(u8 **)arg->u1.vp;
+	}
+
+	return arg->u2.s == 0;
+}
+
+static int do_read_wire(int fd, struct io_plan_arg *arg)
+{
+	ssize_t ret;
+
+	/* Still reading header? */
+	if (arg->u2.s & INSIDE_HEADER_BIT)
+		return do_read_wire_header(fd, arg);
+
+	/* Normal read */
+	ret = read(fd, arg->u1.cp, arg->u2.s);
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	arg->u1.cp += ret;
+	arg->u2.s -= ret;
+	return arg->u2.s == 0;
+}
+
+struct io_plan *io_read_wire_(struct io_conn *conn,
+			      const tal_t *ctx,
+			      u8 **data,
+			      struct io_plan *(*next)(struct io_conn *, void *),
+			      void *next_arg)
+{
+	struct io_plan_arg *arg = io_plan_arg(conn, IO_IN);
+
+	/* We allocate data now; saves storing ctx, and lets us read in len. */
+	arg->u1.vp = data;
+	*data = tal_arr(ctx, u8, HEADER_LEN);
+
+	/* We use u2 to store the length we've read. */
+	arg->u2.s = INSIDE_HEADER_BIT;
+	return io_set_plan(conn, IO_IN, do_read_wire, next, next_arg);
+}
+
+/* arg->u2.s contains length we've written, arg->u1 contains u8 *data. */
+static int do_write_wire_header(int fd, struct io_plan_arg *arg)
+{
+	ssize_t ret;
+	size_t len = arg->u2.s & ~INSIDE_HEADER_BIT;
+	be16 hdr = cpu_to_be16(tal_count(arg->u1.const_vp));
+
+	ret = write(fd, (char *)&hdr + len, HEADER_LEN - len);
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		return -1;
+	arg->u2.s += ret;
+
+	/* Both bytes written?  Set up for normal write of data. */
+	if (arg->u2.s == INSIDE_HEADER_BIT + HEADER_LEN)
+		arg->u2.s = be16_to_cpu(hdr);
+
+	return arg->u2.s == 0;
+}
+
+static int do_write_wire(int fd, struct io_plan_arg *arg)
+{
+	ssize_t ret;
+
+	/* Still writing header? */
+	if (arg->u2.s & INSIDE_HEADER_BIT)
+		return do_write_wire_header(fd, arg);
+
+	/* Normal write */
+	ret = write(fd, arg->u1.cp, arg->u2.s);
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	arg->u1.cp += ret;
+	arg->u2.s -= ret;
+	return arg->u2.s == 0;
+}
+
+/* Write message from data (tal_count(data) gives length). */
+struct io_plan *io_write_wire_(struct io_conn *conn,
+			       const u8 *data,
+			       struct io_plan *(*next)(struct io_conn *, void *),
+			       void *next_arg)
+{
+	struct io_plan_arg *arg = io_plan_arg(conn, IO_OUT);
+
+	arg->u1.const_vp = data;
+
+	/* We use u2 to store the length we've written. */
+	arg->u2.s = INSIDE_HEADER_BIT;
+	return io_set_plan(conn, IO_OUT, do_write_wire, next, next_arg);
+}
diff --git a/wire/wire_io.h b/wire/wire_io.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e2b085b13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wire/wire_io.h
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#ifndef LIGHTNING_WIRE_WIRE_IO_H
+#define LIGHTNING_WIRE_WIRE_IO_H
+#include "config.h"
+#include <ccan/io/io.h>
+#include <ccan/short_types/short_types.h>
+
+/* Read message into *data, allocating off ctx. */
+struct io_plan *io_read_wire_(struct io_conn *conn,
+			      const tal_t *ctx,
+			      u8 **data,
+			      struct io_plan *(*next)(struct io_conn *, void *),
+			      void *next_arg);
+
+#define io_read_wire(conn, ctx, data, next, arg)			\
+	io_read_wire_((conn), (ctx), (data),				\
+		      typesafe_cb_preargs(struct io_plan *, void *,	\
+					  (next), (arg), struct io_conn *), \
+		      (arg))
+
+/* Write message from data (tal_count(data) gives length). */
+struct io_plan *io_write_wire_(struct io_conn *conn,
+			       const u8 *data,
+			       struct io_plan *(*next)(struct io_conn *, void *),
+			       void *next_arg);
+
+#define io_write_wire(conn, data, next, arg)				\
+	io_write_wire_((conn), (data),					\
+		       typesafe_cb_preargs(struct io_plan *, void *,	\
+					   (next), (arg), struct io_conn *), \
+		       (arg))
+#endif /* LIGHTNING_WIRE_WIRE_IO_H */