diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index 963ac6a7cf..75f5112bd2 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -639,8 +639,10 @@ var FileWriteStream = fs.FileWriteStream = function(path, options) {
   this.busy = false;
   this._queue = [];
 
-  this._queue.push([fs.open, this.path, this.flags, this.mode, undefined]);
-  this.flush();
+  if (this.fd === null) {
+    this._queue.push([fs.open, this.path, this.flags, this.mode, undefined]);
+    this.flush();
+  }
 };
 sys.inherits(FileWriteStream, events.EventEmitter);
 
diff --git a/src/node.js b/src/node.js
index 253cf0ff7b..caaf27d93d 100644
--- a/src/node.js
+++ b/src/node.js
@@ -129,8 +129,17 @@ global.clearInterval = global.clearTimeout;
 var stdout;
 process.__defineGetter__('stdout', function () {
   if (stdout) return stdout;
-  var net = module.requireNative('net');
-  stdout = new net.Stream(process.binding('stdio').stdoutFD);
+
+  var binding = process.binding('stdio'),
+      net = module.requireNative('net'),
+      fs = module.requireNative('fs'),
+      fd = binding.stdoutFD;
+
+  if (binding.isStdoutBlocking()) {
+    stdout = new fs.FileWriteStream(null, {fd: fd});
+  } else {
+    stdout = new net.Stream(fd);
+  }
 
   return stdout;
 });
diff --git a/src/node_stdio.cc b/src/node_stdio.cc
index b5caf0aa3e..01a123ac41 100644
--- a/src/node_stdio.cc
+++ b/src/node_stdio.cc
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ namespace node {
 
 
 static struct coupling *stdin_coupling = NULL;
-static struct coupling *stdout_coupling = NULL;
 
 static int stdin_fd = -1;
 static int stdout_fd = -1;
@@ -81,6 +80,14 @@ static Handle<Value> OpenStdin(const Arguments& args) {
   return scope.Close(Integer::New(stdin_fd));
 }
 
+static Handle<Value>
+IsStdoutBlocking (const Arguments& args)
+{
+  HandleScope scope;
+  bool tty = isatty(STDOUT_FILENO);
+  return scope.Close(Boolean::New(!tty));
+}
+
 
 void Stdio::Flush() {
   if (stdin_flags != -1) {
@@ -95,35 +102,26 @@ void Stdio::Flush() {
     close(stdout_fd);
     stdout_fd = -1;
   }
-
-  if (stdout_coupling) {
-    coupling_join(stdout_coupling);
-    coupling_destroy(stdout_coupling);
-    stdout_coupling = NULL;
-  }
 }
 
 
 void Stdio::Initialize(v8::Handle<v8::Object> target) {
   HandleScope scope;
 
+  stdout_fd = STDOUT_FILENO;
+
   if (isatty(STDOUT_FILENO)) {
     // XXX selecting on tty fds wont work in windows.
     // Must ALWAYS make a coupling on shitty platforms.
-    stdout_fd = STDOUT_FILENO;
-  } else {
-    stdout_coupling = coupling_new_push(STDOUT_FILENO);
-    stdout_fd = coupling_nonblocking_fd(stdout_coupling);
+    stdout_flags = fcntl(stdout_fd, F_GETFL, 0);
+    int r = fcntl(stdout_fd, F_SETFL, stdout_flags | O_NONBLOCK);
   }
 
-  stdout_flags = fcntl(stdout_fd, F_GETFL, 0);
-
-  int r = fcntl(stdout_fd, F_SETFL, stdout_flags | O_NONBLOCK);
-
   target->Set(String::NewSymbol("stdoutFD"), Integer::New(stdout_fd));
 
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "writeError", WriteError);
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "openStdin", OpenStdin);
+  NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "isStdoutBlocking", IsStdoutBlocking);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/echo.js b/test/fixtures/echo.js
index 60f3b614a0..4a963c9142 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/echo.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/echo.js
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ print("hello world\r\n");
 var stdin = process.openStdin();
 
 stdin.addListener("data", function (data) {
-  process.stdout.write(data);
+  process.stdout.write(data.toString());
 });
 
 stdin.addListener("end", function () {
-  process.stdout.close();
+  process.stdout.end();
 });
diff --git a/test/fixtures/stdout.js b/test/fixtures/stdout.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9aa72340c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/stdout.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+var sys = require('sys');
+sys.puts('test');
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js b/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..12d8b5e2eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-stdout-to-file.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+require('../common');
+var path = require('path')
+  , childProccess = require('child_process')
+  , fs = require('fs')
+  , stdoutScript = path.join(path.dirname(__dirname), 'fixtures/stdout.js')
+  , tmpFile = path.join(path.dirname(__dirname), 'fixtures/stdout.txt')
+  , cmd = process.argv[0]+' '+stdoutScript+' > '+tmpFile;
+
+try {
+  fs.unlinkSync(tmpFile);
+} catch (e) {}
+
+childProccess.exec(cmd, function(err) {
+  if (err) throw err;
+
+  var data = fs.readFileSync(tmpFile);
+  assert.equal(data, "test\n");
+  fs.unlinkSync(tmpFile);
+});
\ No newline at end of file