diff --git a/compat/readv.c b/compat/readv.c
index c6f291a854..6b2c2da7e3 100644
--- a/compat/readv.c
+++ b/compat/readv.c
@@ -26,11 +26,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-# include <io.h>
-#else
-# include <unistd.h>
-#endif
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 ssize_t readv(int fd, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt)
 {
diff --git a/compat/windows/unistd.h b/compat/windows/unistd.h
index a4db2cad87..10add608da 100644
--- a/compat/windows/unistd.h
+++ b/compat/windows/unistd.h
@@ -29,5 +29,16 @@
 // _getpid() exists but it returns an int, not a pid_t
 typedef int pid_t;
 
+// redirect missing functions from the GDK
+#define strdup(s) _strdup(s)
+
+#define read(fd, dst, count)  _read(fd, dst, count)
+#define write(fd, src, count) _write(fd, src, count)
+#define close(fd) _close(fd)
+#define dup(fd) _dup(fd)
+#define dup2(fd, f2) _dup2(fd,f2)
+#define setmode(fd, m) _setmode(fd,m)
+#define fdopen(a, b)  _fdopen(a, b)
+
 
 #endif // WINSDK_UNISTD_H__
diff --git a/compat/writev.c b/compat/writev.c
index 10acccb671..2981ba3350 100644
--- a/compat/writev.c
+++ b/compat/writev.c
@@ -26,11 +26,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-# include <io.h>
-#else
-# include <unistd.h>
-#endif
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 ssize_t writev(int fd, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt)
 {
diff --git a/src/win32/filesystem.c b/src/win32/filesystem.c
index 5929ff698a..7f48e4761e 100644
--- a/src/win32/filesystem.c
+++ b/src/win32/filesystem.c
@@ -37,17 +37,13 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <winsock2.h>
 #include <direct.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <vlc_common.h>
 #include <vlc_charset.h>
 #include <vlc_fs.h>
 #include "libvlc.h" /* vlc_mkdir */
 
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-# define __STDC__ 1
-# include <io.h> /* _pipe */
-#endif
-
 #ifndef NTDDI_WIN10_RS3
 #define NTDDI_WIN10_RS3  0x0A000004
 #endif