diff --git a/deps/evcom/evcom.c b/deps/evcom/evcom.c
index 1ee02a1f0a..1088181cef 100644
--- a/deps/evcom/evcom.c
+++ b/deps/evcom/evcom.c
@@ -1139,12 +1139,13 @@ void evcom_stream_force_close (evcom_stream *stream)
   evcom_stream_detach(stream);
 }
 
-void
+/* Returns the number of bytes flushed to the buffer */
+ssize_t
 evcom_stream_write (evcom_stream *stream, const char *str, size_t len)
 {
   if (!WRITABLE(stream) || GOT_CLOSE(stream)) {
     assert(0 && "Do not write to a closed stream");
-    return;
+    return -1;
   }
 
   ssize_t sent = 0;
@@ -1188,7 +1189,7 @@ evcom_stream_write (evcom_stream *stream, const char *str, size_t len)
   } /* TODO else { memcpy to last buffer on head } */
 
   assert(sent >= 0);
-  if ((size_t)sent == len) return; /* sent the whole buffer */
+  if ((size_t)sent == len) return sent; /* sent the whole buffer */
 
   len -= sent;
   str += sent;
@@ -1202,7 +1203,7 @@ evcom_stream_write (evcom_stream *stream, const char *str, size_t len)
   if (ATTACHED(stream)) {
     ev_io_start(D_LOOP_(stream) &stream->write_watcher);
   }
-  return;
+  return sent;
 
 close:
   stream->send_action = stream_send__close;
@@ -1210,6 +1211,7 @@ close:
   if (ATTACHED(stream)) {
     ev_io_start(D_LOOP_(stream) &stream->write_watcher);
   }
+  return -1;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/deps/evcom/evcom.h b/deps/evcom/evcom.h
index fd03a5bf05..3b07289fb5 100644
--- a/deps/evcom/evcom.h
+++ b/deps/evcom/evcom.h
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ void evcom_stream_read_resume   (evcom_stream *);
 void evcom_stream_read_pause    (evcom_stream *);
 void evcom_stream_reset_timeout (evcom_stream *, float timeout);
 void evcom_stream_set_no_delay  (evcom_stream *, int no_delay);
-void evcom_stream_write         (evcom_stream *, const char *str, size_t len);
+ssize_t evcom_stream_write      (evcom_stream *, const char *str, size_t len);
 /* Once the write buffer is drained, evcom_stream_close will shutdown the
  * writing end of the stream and will close the read end once the server
  * replies with an EOF.
diff --git a/doc/api.txt b/doc/api.txt
index 9466fc6e45..1e7abcfb20 100644
--- a/doc/api.txt
+++ b/doc/api.txt
@@ -1493,6 +1493,10 @@ Sets the encoding (either +"ascii"+, +"utf8"+, or +"binary"+) for data that is r
 Sends data on the connection. The second parameter specifies the encoding
 in the case of a string--it defaults to ASCII because encoding to UTF8 is
 rather slow.
++
+Returns +true+ if the entire data was flushed successfully to the kernel
+buffer. Returns +false+ if all or part of the data was queued in user memory.
++'drain'+ will be emitted when the buffer is again free.
 
 
 +connection.close()+::
diff --git a/src/node_net.cc b/src/node_net.cc
index b9f739c0e5..bc0f67315b 100644
--- a/src/node_net.cc
+++ b/src/node_net.cc
@@ -633,12 +633,12 @@ Handle<Value> Connection::Write(const Arguments& args) {
   }
 
   char * buf = new char[len];
-  ssize_t written = DecodeWrite(buf, len, args[0], enc);
-  assert(written == len);
-  connection->Write(buf, written);
+  ssize_t bufsize = DecodeWrite(buf, len, args[0], enc);
+  assert(bufsize == len);
+  ssize_t sent = connection->Write(buf, bufsize);
   delete [] buf;
 
-  return scope.Close(Integer::New(written));
+  return sent == bufsize ? True() : False();
 }
 
 void Connection::OnReceive(const void *buf, size_t len) {
diff --git a/src/node_net.h b/src/node_net.h
index 12e9e1dbd6..8ad1471a6a 100644
--- a/src/node_net.h
+++ b/src/node_net.h
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ class Connection : public EventEmitter {
     return evcom_stream_connect(&stream_, address);
   }
 
-  void Write(const char *buf, size_t len) {
-    evcom_stream_write(&stream_, buf, len);
+  ssize_t Write(const char *buf, size_t len) {
+    return evcom_stream_write(&stream_, buf, len);
   }
 
   void Close() {
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-tcp-pause.js b/test/pummel/test-tcp-pause.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0316e7797d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pummel/test-tcp-pause.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+process.mixin(require("../common"));
+tcp = require("tcp");
+N = 200;
+
+server = tcp.createServer(function (connection) {
+  function write (j) {
+    if (j >= N) {
+      connection.close();
+      return;
+    }
+    setTimeout(function () {
+      connection.write("C");
+      write(j+1);
+    }, 10);
+  }
+  write(0);
+});
+server.listen(PORT);
+
+
+recv = "";
+chars_recved = 0;
+
+client = tcp.createConnection(PORT);
+client.setEncoding("ascii");
+client.addListener("data", function (d) {
+    print(d);
+    recv += d;
+});
+
+setTimeout(function () {
+  chars_recved = recv.length;
+  puts("pause at: " + chars_recved);
+  assert.equal(true, chars_recved > 1);
+  client.pause();
+  setTimeout(function () {
+    puts("resume at: " + chars_recved);
+    assert.equal(chars_recved, recv.length);
+    client.resume();
+
+    setTimeout(function () {
+      chars_recved = recv.length;
+      puts("pause at: " + chars_recved);
+      client.pause();
+
+      setTimeout(function () {
+        puts("resume at: " + chars_recved);
+        assert.equal(chars_recved, recv.length);
+        client.resume();
+
+      }, 500);
+
+    }, 500);
+
+  }, 500);
+
+}, 500);
+
+client.addListener("end", function () {
+  server.close();
+  client.close();
+});
+
+process.addListener("exit", function () {
+  assert.equal(N, recv.length);
+  debug("Exit");
+});
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle-kernel-buffer.js b/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle-kernel-buffer.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 8914e3556d..0000000000
--- a/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle-kernel-buffer.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-process.mixin(require("../common"));
-tcp = require("tcp");
-N = 30*1024; // 500kb
-
-puts("build big string");
-var body = "";
-for (var i = 0; i < N; i++) {
-  body += "C";
-}
-
-puts("start server on port " + PORT);
-
-server = tcp.createServer(function (connection) {
-  connection.addListener("connect", function () {
-    connection.write(body);
-    connection.close();
-  });
-});
-server.listen(PORT);
-
-
-chars_recved = 0;
-npauses = 0;
-
-
-var paused = false;
-client = tcp.createConnection(PORT);
-client.setEncoding("ascii");
-client.addListener("data", function (d) {
-  chars_recved += d.length;
-  puts("got " + chars_recved);
-  if (!paused) {
-    client.pause();
-    npauses += 1;
-    paused = true;
-    puts("pause");
-    x = chars_recved;
-    setTimeout(function () {
-      assert.equal(chars_recved, x);
-      client.resume();
-      puts("resume");
-      paused = false;
-    }, 100);
-  }
-});
-
-client.addListener("end", function () {
-  server.close();
-  client.close();
-});
-
-process.addListener("exit", function () {
-  assert.equal(N, chars_recved);
-  assert.equal(true, npauses > 2);
-});
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle.js b/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle.js
index 0316e7797d..32a7363722 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-tcp-throttle.js
@@ -1,60 +1,48 @@
 process.mixin(require("../common"));
 tcp = require("tcp");
-N = 200;
+N = 60*1024; // 30kb
+
+puts("build big string");
+var body = "";
+for (var i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+  body += "C";
+}
+
+puts("start server on port " + PORT);
 
 server = tcp.createServer(function (connection) {
-  function write (j) {
-    if (j >= N) {
-      connection.close();
-      return;
-    }
-    setTimeout(function () {
-      connection.write("C");
-      write(j+1);
-    }, 10);
-  }
-  write(0);
+  connection.addListener("connect", function () {
+    assert.equal(false, connection.write(body));
+    connection.close();
+  });
 });
 server.listen(PORT);
 
 
-recv = "";
 chars_recved = 0;
+npauses = 0;
 
+
+var paused = false;
 client = tcp.createConnection(PORT);
 client.setEncoding("ascii");
 client.addListener("data", function (d) {
-    print(d);
-    recv += d;
-});
-
-setTimeout(function () {
-  chars_recved = recv.length;
-  puts("pause at: " + chars_recved);
-  assert.equal(true, chars_recved > 1);
-  client.pause();
-  setTimeout(function () {
-    puts("resume at: " + chars_recved);
-    assert.equal(chars_recved, recv.length);
-    client.resume();
-
+  chars_recved += d.length;
+  puts("got " + chars_recved);
+  if (!paused) {
+    client.pause();
+    npauses += 1;
+    paused = true;
+    puts("pause");
+    x = chars_recved;
     setTimeout(function () {
-      chars_recved = recv.length;
-      puts("pause at: " + chars_recved);
-      client.pause();
-
-      setTimeout(function () {
-        puts("resume at: " + chars_recved);
-        assert.equal(chars_recved, recv.length);
-        client.resume();
-
-      }, 500);
-
-    }, 500);
-
-  }, 500);
-
-}, 500);
+      assert.equal(chars_recved, x);
+      client.resume();
+      puts("resume");
+      paused = false;
+    }, 100);
+  }
+});
 
 client.addListener("end", function () {
   server.close();
@@ -62,6 +50,6 @@ client.addListener("end", function () {
 });
 
 process.addListener("exit", function () {
-  assert.equal(N, recv.length);
-  debug("Exit");
+  assert.equal(N, chars_recved);
+  assert.equal(true, npauses > 2);
 });