diff --git a/src/Tiny_httpd.ml b/src/Tiny_httpd.ml
index f67866e2..8fa91fe3 100644
--- a/src/Tiny_httpd.ml
+++ b/src/Tiny_httpd.ml
@@ -82,16 +82,36 @@ module Byte_stream = struct
   let of_chan = of_chan_ ~close:close_in
   let of_chan_close_noerr = of_chan_ ~close:close_in_noerr
 
-  let rec iter f (self:t) : unit =
+  let of_fd (fd:Unix.file_descr) : t =
+    let i = ref 0 in
+    let len = ref 0 in
+    let buf = Bytes.make 4096 ' ' in
+    { bs_fill_buf=(fun () ->
+      if !i >= !len then (
+        i := 0;
+        len := Unix.read fd buf 0 (Bytes.length buf);
+      );
+      buf, !i, !len - !i);
+      bs_consume=(fun n -> i := !i + n);
+      bs_close=(fun () -> Unix.close fd)
+    }
+
+  let rec iter_full f (self:t) : unit =
     let s, i, len = self.bs_fill_buf () in
     if len=0 then (
       self.bs_close();
     ) else (
-      f s i len;
-      self.bs_consume len;
-      (iter [@tailcall]) f self
+      let n = f s i len in
+      assert (n<len);
+      self.bs_consume n;
+      (iter_full [@tailcall]) f self
     )
 
+  let iter f (self:t) : unit = iter_full (fun s i len -> f s i len; len) self
+
+  let to_fd (fd:Unix.file_descr) (self:t) =
+    iter_full (fun s i len -> Unix.write fd s i len) self
+
   let to_chan (oc:out_channel) (self:t) =
     iter (fun s i len -> output oc s i len) self
 
@@ -449,7 +469,7 @@ module Request = struct
       in
       Ok (Some {meth; host; path; headers; body=()})
     with
-    | End_of_file | Sys_error _ -> Ok None
+    | End_of_file | Sys_error _ | Unix.Unix_error _ -> Ok None
     | Bad_req (c,s) -> Error (c,s)
     | e ->
       Error (400, Printexc.to_string e)
@@ -558,32 +578,42 @@ module Response = struct
     Format.fprintf out "{@[code=%d;@ headers=%a;@ body=%a@]}"
       self.code Headers.pp self.headers pp_body self.body
 
+  let rec write_fd_ (fd:Unix.file_descr) s i len : unit =
+    let n = Unix.write fd s i len in
+    if n < len then (
+      (write_fd_ [@tailcall]) fd s (i+n) (len-n)
+    )
+
+  let write_fd_str_ fd s =
+    write_fd_ fd (Bytes.unsafe_of_string s) 0 (String.length s)
+
   (* print a stream as a series of chunks *)
-  let output_stream_chunked_ (oc:out_channel) (str:byte_stream) : unit =
+  let output_stream_chunked_ (fd:Unix.file_descr) (str:byte_stream) : unit =
     let continue = ref true in
     while !continue do
       (* next chunk *)
       let s, i, len = str.bs_fill_buf () in
-      Printf.fprintf oc "%x\r\n" len;
-      output oc s i len;
+      write_fd_str_ fd @@ Printf.sprintf "%x\r\n" len;
+      write_fd_ fd s i len;
       str.bs_consume len;
       if len = 0 then (
         continue := false;
       );
-      output_string oc "\r\n";
+      write_fd_str_ fd "\r\n";
     done;
     ()
 
-  let output_ (oc:out_channel) (self:t) : unit =
-    Printf.fprintf oc "HTTP/1.1 %d %s\r\n" self.code (Response_code.descr self.code);
-    List.iter (fun (k,v) -> Printf.fprintf oc "%s: %s\r\n" k v) self.headers;
-    output_string oc "\r\n";
+  let output_ (fd:Unix.file_descr) (self:t) : unit =
+    write_fd_str_ fd
+      (Printf.sprintf "HTTP/1.1 %d %s\r\n" self.code (Response_code.descr self.code));
+    List.iter (fun (k,v) -> write_fd_str_ fd @@ Printf.sprintf "%s: %s\r\n" k v) self.headers;
+    write_fd_str_ fd "\r\n";
     begin match self.body with
       | `String "" -> ()
-      | `String s -> output_string oc s;
-      | `Stream str -> output_stream_chunked_ oc str;
+      | `String s -> write_fd_str_ fd s;
+      | `Stream str -> output_stream_chunked_ fd str;
     end;
-    flush oc
+    ()
 end
 
 (* semaphore, for limiting concurrency. *)
@@ -688,10 +718,8 @@ let find_map f l =
   in aux f l
 
 let handle_client_ (self:t) (client_sock:Unix.file_descr) : unit =
-  let ic = Unix.in_channel_of_descr client_sock in
-  let oc = Unix.out_channel_of_descr client_sock in
   let buf = Buf_.create() in
-  let is = Byte_stream.of_chan ic in
+  let is = Byte_stream.of_fd client_sock in
   let continue = ref true in
   while !continue && self.running do
     _debug (fun k->k "read next request");
@@ -700,8 +728,8 @@ let handle_client_ (self:t) (client_sock:Unix.file_descr) : unit =
     | Error (c,s) ->
       let res = Response.make_raw ~code:c s in
       begin
-        try Response.output_ oc res
-        with Sys_error _ -> ()
+        try Response.output_ client_sock res
+        with Sys_error _ | Unix.Unix_error _ -> ()
       end;
       continue := false
     | Ok (Some req) ->
@@ -717,7 +745,7 @@ let handle_client_ (self:t) (client_sock:Unix.file_descr) : unit =
           begin match Request.get_header ~f:String.trim req "Expect" with
             | Some "100-continue" ->
               _debug (fun k->k "send back: 100 CONTINUE");
-              Response.output_ oc (Response.make_raw ~code:100 "");
+              Response.output_ client_sock (Response.make_raw ~code:100 "");
             | Some s -> bad_reqf 417 "unknown expectation %s" s
             | None -> ()
           end;
@@ -748,13 +776,13 @@ let handle_client_ (self:t) (client_sock:Unix.file_descr) : unit =
           Response.fail ~code:500 "server error: %s" (Printexc.to_string e)
       in
       begin
-        try Response.output_ oc res
-        with Sys_error _ -> continue := false
+        try Response.output_ client_sock res
+        with Sys_error _ | Unix.Unix_error _ -> continue := false
       end
     | exception Bad_req (code,s) ->
-      Response.output_ oc (Response.make_raw ~code s);
+      Response.output_ client_sock (Response.make_raw ~code s);
       continue := false
-    | exception Sys_error _ ->
+    | exception (Sys_error _ | Unix.Unix_error _) ->
       continue := false; (* connection broken somehow *)
   done;
   _debug (fun k->k "done with client, exiting");
@@ -778,18 +806,14 @@ let run (self:t) : (unit,_) result =
     Unix.setsockopt_optint sock Unix.SO_LINGER None;
     let inet_addr = Unix.inet_addr_of_string self.addr in
     Unix.bind sock (Unix.ADDR_INET (inet_addr, self.port));
-    Unix.listen sock (self.sem_max_connections.Sem_.n);
-
-      ignore @@ Thread.create (fun () ->
-          while true do
-            _debug (fun k->k "sem: %d" self.sem_max_connections.n);
-            Unix.sleep 1;
-          done) ();
-
+    Unix.listen sock (2 * self.sem_max_connections.Sem_.n);
     while self.running do
       (* limit concurrency *)
-      let client_sock, _ = Unix.accept sock in
       Sem_.acquire self.sem_max_connections;
+      let client_sock, _ = Unix.accept sock in
+      (try Unix.setsockopt_optint client_sock Unix.SO_LINGER None with _->());
+      (try Unix.setsockopt_float client_sock SO_RCVTIMEO 5. with _ -> ());
+      (try Unix.setsockopt_float client_sock SO_SNDTIMEO 5. with _ -> ());
       self.new_thread
         (fun () ->
            try
diff --git a/src/Tiny_httpd.mli b/src/Tiny_httpd.mli
index d5b4824d..1142fd28 100644
--- a/src/Tiny_httpd.mli
+++ b/src/Tiny_httpd.mli
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 (** {1 Tiny Http Server}
 
     This library implements a very simple, basic HTTP/1.1 server using blocking
@@ -112,6 +111,18 @@ module Byte_stream : sig
   val of_chan : in_channel -> t
   (** Make a buffered stream from the given channel. *)
 
+  val of_fd : Unix.file_descr -> t
+  (** Make a buffered stream from the given unix filedescriptor, which
+      must be readable.
+      @since 0.4
+  *)
+
+  val to_fd : Unix.file_descr -> t -> unit
+  (** Make a buffered stream from the given unix filedescriptor, which
+      must be readable.
+      @since 0.4
+  *)
+
   val of_chan_close_noerr : in_channel -> t
   (** Same as {!of_chan} but the [close] method will never fail. *)
 
@@ -121,8 +132,13 @@ module Byte_stream : sig
 
   val of_string : string -> t
 
+  val iter_full : (bytes -> int -> int -> int) -> t -> unit
+  (** Iterate on the chunks, consuming chunks partially.
+      The function returns how many bytes were actually consumed.
+      @since 0.4 *)
+
   val iter : (bytes -> int -> int -> unit) -> t -> unit
-  (** Iterate on the chunks of the stream
+  (** Iterate on the chunks of the stream.
       @since 0.3 *)
 
   val to_chan : out_channel -> t -> unit