diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e29899a9e..c2b52fcfe 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ src_mpd_SOURCES = \
 	src/Listen.cxx src/Listen.hxx \
 	src/Log.cxx src/Log.hxx \
 	src/ls.cxx \
+	src/SocketError.hxx \
 	src/io_error.h \
 	src/IOThread.cxx src/IOThread.hxx \
 	src/Main.cxx src/Main.hxx \
diff --git a/src/SocketError.hxx b/src/SocketError.hxx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed9e71525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SocketError.hxx
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2003-2013 The Music Player Daemon Project
+ * http://www.musicpd.org
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef MPD_SOCKET_ERROR_HXX
+#define MPD_SOCKET_ERROR_HXX
+
+#include "gcc.h"
+
+#include <glib.h>
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+#include <winsock2.h>
+typedef DWORD socket_error_t;
+#else
+#include <errno.h>
+typedef int socket_error_t;
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * A GQuark for GError for socket I/O errors.  The code is an errno
+ * value (or WSAGetLastError() on Windows).
+ */
+gcc_const
+static inline GQuark
+SocketErrorQuark(void)
+{
+	return g_quark_from_static_string("socket");
+}
+
+gcc_pure
+static inline socket_error_t
+GetSocketError()
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	return WSAGetLastError();
+#else
+	return errno;
+#endif
+}
+
+gcc_const
+static inline bool
+IsSocketErrorAgain(socket_error_t code)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	return code == WSAEINPROGRESS;
+#else
+	return code == EAGAIN;
+#endif
+}
+
+gcc_const
+static inline bool
+IsSocketErrorInterruped(socket_error_t code)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	return code == WSAEINTR;
+#else
+	return code == EINTR;
+#endif
+}
+
+gcc_const
+static inline bool
+IsSocketErrorClosed(socket_error_t code)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	return code == WSAECONNRESET;
+#else
+	return code == EPIPE || code == ECONNRESET;
+#endif
+}
+
+static inline void
+SetSocketError(GError **error_r, socket_error_t code)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	if (error_r == NULL)
+		return;
+
+	char buffer[256];
+	DWORD nbytes = FormatMessage(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
+				     FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |
+				     FORMAT_MESSAGE_MAX_WIDTH_MASK,
+				     NULL, code, 0,
+				     (LPSTR)buffer, sizeof(buffer), NULL);
+	const char *msg = nbytes > 0
+		? buffer
+		: "Unknown error";
+	g_set_error_literal(error_r, SocketErrorQuark(), code, msg);
+#else
+	g_set_error_literal(error_r, SocketErrorQuark(), code,
+			    g_strerror(code));
+#endif
+}
+
+static inline void
+SetSocketError(GError **error_r)
+{
+	SetSocketError(error_r, GetSocketError());
+}
+
+gcc_malloc
+static inline GError *
+NewSocketError(socket_error_t code)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+	char buffer[256];
+	DWORD nbytes = FormatMessage(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
+				     FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |
+				     FORMAT_MESSAGE_MAX_WIDTH_MASK,
+				     NULL, code, 0,
+				     (LPSTR)buffer, sizeof(buffer), NULL);
+	const char *msg = nbytes > 0
+		? buffer
+		: "Unknown error";
+	return g_error_new_literal(SocketErrorQuark(), code, msg);
+#else
+	return g_error_new_literal(SocketErrorQuark(), code, g_strerror(code));
+#endif
+}
+
+gcc_malloc
+static inline GError *
+NewSocketError()
+{
+	return NewSocketError(GetSocketError());
+}
+
+#endif