diff --git a/lib/connect.c b/lib/connect.c
index ac15d2f8..35fa6497 100644
--- a/lib/connect.c
+++ b/lib/connect.c
@@ -79,20 +79,6 @@ static int mosquitto__connect_init(struct mosquitto *mosq, const char *host, int
 	mosq->msgs_in.inflight_quota = mosq->msgs_in.inflight_maximum;
 	mosq->msgs_out.inflight_quota = mosq->msgs_out.inflight_maximum;
 
-	if(mosq->sockpairR != INVALID_SOCKET){
-		COMPAT_CLOSE(mosq->sockpairR);
-		mosq->sockpairR = INVALID_SOCKET;
-	}
-	if(mosq->sockpairW != INVALID_SOCKET){
-		COMPAT_CLOSE(mosq->sockpairW);
-		mosq->sockpairW = INVALID_SOCKET;
-	}
-
-	if(net__socketpair(&mosq->sockpairR, &mosq->sockpairW)){
-		log__printf(mosq, MOSQ_LOG_WARNING,
-				"Warning: Unable to open socket pair, outgoing publish commands may be delayed.");
-	}
-
 	return MOSQ_ERR_SUCCESS;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/loop.c b/lib/loop.c
index 42e6ba4d..dffb254b 100644
--- a/lib/loop.c
+++ b/lib/loop.c
@@ -193,6 +193,15 @@ int mosquitto_loop(struct mosquitto *mosq, int timeout, int max_packets)
 
 int mosquitto_loop_forever(struct mosquitto *mosq, int timeout, int max_packets)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_PSELECT
+	struct timespec local_timeout;
+#else
+	struct timeval local_timeout;
+#endif
+	fd_set readfds;
+	int fdcount;
+	char pairbuf;
+	int maxfd = 0;
 	int run = 1;
 	int rc;
 	unsigned long reconnect_delay;
@@ -252,15 +261,42 @@ int mosquitto_loop_forever(struct mosquitto *mosq, int timeout, int max_packets)
 					mosq->reconnects++;
 				}
 
-#ifdef WIN32
-				Sleep(reconnect_delay*1000);
+				local_timeout.tv_sec = reconnect_delay;
+#ifdef HAVE_PSELECT
+				local_timeout.tv_nsec = 0;
 #else
-				req.tv_sec = reconnect_delay;
-				req.tv_nsec = 0;
-				while(nanosleep(&req, &rem) == -1 && errno == EINTR){
-					req = rem;
+				local_timeout.tv_usec = 0;
+#endif
+				FD_ZERO(&readfds);
+				maxfd = 0;
+				if(mosq->sockpairR != INVALID_SOCKET){
+					/* sockpairR is used to break out of select() before the
+					 * timeout, when mosquitto_loop_stop() is called */
+					FD_SET(mosq->sockpairR, &readfds);
+					maxfd = mosq->sockpairR;
 				}
+#ifdef HAVE_PSELECT
+				fdcount = pselect(maxfd+1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &local_timeout, NULL);
+#else
+				fdcount = select(maxfd+1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &local_timeout);
+#endif
+				if(fdcount == -1){
+#ifdef WIN32
+					errno = WSAGetLastError();
 #endif
+					if(errno == EINTR){
+						return MOSQ_ERR_SUCCESS;
+					}else{
+						return MOSQ_ERR_ERRNO;
+					}
+				}else if(mosq->sockpairR != INVALID_SOCKET && FD_ISSET(mosq->sockpairR, &readfds)){
+#ifndef WIN32
+					if(read(mosq->sockpairR, &pairbuf, 1) == 0){
+					}
+#else
+					recv(mosq->sockpairR, &pairbuf, 1, 0);
+#endif
+				}
 
 				state = mosquitto__get_state(mosq);
 				if(state == mosq_cs_disconnecting || state == mosq_cs_disconnected){
diff --git a/lib/mosquitto.c b/lib/mosquitto.c
index f9be81b7..173e716e 100644
--- a/lib/mosquitto.c
+++ b/lib/mosquitto.c
@@ -92,8 +92,10 @@ struct mosquitto *mosquitto_new(const char *id, bool clean_start, void *userdata
 	mosq = (struct mosquitto *)mosquitto__calloc(1, sizeof(struct mosquitto));
 	if(mosq){
 		mosq->sock = INVALID_SOCKET;
-		mosq->sockpairR = INVALID_SOCKET;
-		mosq->sockpairW = INVALID_SOCKET;
+		if(net__socketpair(&mosq->sockpairR, &mosq->sockpairW)){
+			log__printf(mosq, MOSQ_LOG_WARNING,
+					"Warning: Unable to open socket pair, outgoing publish commands may be delayed.");
+		}
 #ifdef WITH_THREADING
 		mosq->thread_id = pthread_self();
 #endif
@@ -131,8 +133,10 @@ int mosquitto_reinitialise(struct mosquitto *mosq, const char *id, bool clean_st
 	}
 	mosq->protocol = mosq_p_mqtt311;
 	mosq->sock = INVALID_SOCKET;
-	mosq->sockpairR = INVALID_SOCKET;
-	mosq->sockpairW = INVALID_SOCKET;
+	if(net__socketpair(&mosq->sockpairR, &mosq->sockpairW)){
+		log__printf(mosq, MOSQ_LOG_WARNING,
+				"Warning: Unable to open socket pair, outgoing publish commands may be delayed.");
+	}
 	mosq->keepalive = 60;
 	mosq->clean_start = clean_start;
 	if(id){
diff --git a/lib/net_mosq.c b/lib/net_mosq.c
index c6b46238..8d9d9a7c 100644
--- a/lib/net_mosq.c
+++ b/lib/net_mosq.c
@@ -1086,6 +1086,9 @@ int net__socketpair(mosq_sock_t *pairR, mosq_sock_t *pairW)
 #else
 	int sv[2];
 
+	*pairR = INVALID_SOCKET;
+	*pairW = INVALID_SOCKET;
+
 	if(socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0, sv) == -1){
 		return MOSQ_ERR_ERRNO;
 	}