diff --git a/src/xz/util.c b/src/xz/util.c
index a1339f4f..69e0cd3c 100644
--- a/src/xz/util.c
+++ b/src/xz/util.c
@@ -272,10 +272,31 @@ is_empty_filename(const char *filename)
 }
 
 
+extern bool
+is_tty(int fd)
+{
+#if defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+	// There is no need to check if handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE
+	// because it will return false anyway when used in GetConsoleMode().
+	// The resulting HANDLE is owned by the file descriptor.
+	// The HANDLE must not be closed here.
+	intptr_t handle = _get_osfhandle(fd);
+	DWORD mode;
+
+	// GetConsoleMode() is an easy way to tell if the HANDLE is a
+	// console or not. We do not care about the value of mode since we
+	// do not plan to use any further Windows console functions.
+	return GetConsoleMode((HANDLE)handle, &mode);
+#else
+	return isatty(fd);
+#endif
+}
+
+
 extern bool
 is_tty_stdin(void)
 {
-	const bool ret = isatty(STDIN_FILENO);
+	const bool ret = is_tty(STDIN_FILENO);
 
 	if (ret)
 		message_error(_("Compressed data cannot be read from "
@@ -288,7 +309,7 @@ is_tty_stdin(void)
 extern bool
 is_tty_stdout(void)
 {
-	const bool ret = isatty(STDOUT_FILENO);
+	const bool ret = is_tty(STDOUT_FILENO);
 
 	if (ret)
 		message_error(_("Compressed data cannot be written to "
diff --git a/src/xz/util.h b/src/xz/util.h
index 7aa9caee..995c2444 100644
--- a/src/xz/util.h
+++ b/src/xz/util.h
@@ -109,6 +109,20 @@ extern void my_snprintf(char **pos, size_t *left, const char *fmt, ...);
 extern bool is_empty_filename(const char *filename);
 
 
+/// \brief      Test if file descriptor is a terminal
+///
+/// For POSIX systems, this is a simple wrapper around isatty(). However on
+/// Windows, isatty() returns true for all character devices, not just
+/// terminals.
+///
+/// \param      fd    File descriptor to test
+///
+/// \return     bool:
+///             - true if file descriptor is a terminal
+///             - false otherwise
+extern bool is_tty(int fd);
+
+
 /// \brief      Test if stdin is a terminal
 ///
 /// If stdin is a terminal, an error message is printed and exit status set