diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f55dae5..0365013 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ set(HEADER_FILES
     io/inifile.h
     io/path.h
     io/catchiofailure.h
+    io/nativefilestream.h
     math/math.h
     misc/memory.h
     misc/random.h
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ set(SRC_FILES
     io/inifile.cpp
     io/path.cpp
     io/catchiofailure.cpp
+    io/nativefilestream.cpp
     math/math.cpp
     misc/random.cpp
     tests/testutils.cpp
@@ -119,6 +121,12 @@ set(META_VERSION_PATCH 0)
 include(3rdParty)
 use_iconv(AUTO_LINKAGE REQUIRED)
 
+# configure use of native file buffer
+option(USE_NATIVE_FILE_BUFFER "enables use of native file buffer under Windows, affects bc (required for unicode filenames under Windows)" OFF)
+if(USE_NATIVE_FILE_BUFFER)
+    list(APPEND META_PUBLIC_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS ${META_PROJECT_VARNAME}_USE_NATIVE_FILE_BUFFER)
+endif()
+
 # include modules to apply configuration
 include(BasicConfig)
 include(WindowsResources)
diff --git a/io/nativefilestream.cpp b/io/nativefilestream.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa1069b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/io/nativefilestream.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#include "./nativefilestream.h"
+
+#ifdef PLATFORM_MINGW
+# include <c++utilities/io/catchiofailure.h>
+# include <windows.h>
+# include <fcntl.h>
+# include <sys/stat.h>
+#endif
+
+using namespace std;
+
+namespace IoUtilities {
+
+#if !defined(PLATFORM_MINGW) || !defined(CPP_UTILITIES_USE_NATIVE_FILE_BUFFER)
+
+// just use std::fstream
+
+#else
+
+NativeFileStream::NativeFileStream() :
+    m_filebuf(new __gnu_cxx::stdio_filebuf<char>)
+{
+    rdbuf(m_filebuf.get());
+}
+
+NativeFileStream::~NativeFileStream()
+{}
+
+void NativeFileStream::open(const string &path, ios_base::openmode flags)
+{
+    // convert path to UTF-16
+    int requiredSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path.data(), -1, nullptr, 0);
+    if(requiredSize <= 0) {
+        ::IoUtilities::throwIoFailure("Unable to calculate buffer size for conversion of path to UTF-16");
+    }
+    auto widePath = make_unique<wchar_t[]>(static_cast<size_t>(requiredSize));
+    requiredSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path.data(), -1, widePath.get(), requiredSize);
+    if(requiredSize <= 0) {
+        ::IoUtilities::throwIoFailure("Unable to convert path to UTF-16");
+    }
+    // translate flags
+    int nativeFlags = (flags & ios_base::binary ? _O_BINARY : 0);
+    int permissions = 0;
+    if((flags & ios_base::out) && (flags & ios_base::in)) {
+        nativeFlags |= _O_RDWR;
+    } else if(flags & ios_base::out) {
+        nativeFlags |= _O_WRONLY | _O_CREAT;
+        permissions = _S_IREAD | _S_IWRITE;
+    } else if(flags & ios_base::in) {
+        nativeFlags |= _O_RDONLY;
+    }
+    if(flags & ios_base::trunc) {
+        nativeFlags |= _O_TRUNC;
+    }
+    // initialize stdio_filebuf
+    int fd = _wopen(widePath.get(), nativeFlags, permissions);
+    if(fd == -1) {
+        ::IoUtilities::throwIoFailure("_wopen failed");
+    }
+    m_filebuf = make_unique<__gnu_cxx::stdio_filebuf<char> >(fd, flags);
+    rdbuf(m_filebuf.get());
+}
+
+void NativeFileStream::close()
+{
+    if(m_filebuf) {
+        m_filebuf->close();
+    }
+}
+
+#endif
+
+}
diff --git a/io/nativefilestream.h b/io/nativefilestream.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91d8dc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/io/nativefilestream.h
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#ifndef IOUTILITIES_NATIVE_FILE_STREAM
+#define IOUTILITIES_NATIVE_FILE_STREAM
+
+#include "../global.h"
+
+#ifndef PLATFORM_MINGW
+# include <fstream>
+#else
+# include "../misc/memory.h"
+# include <string>
+# include <iostream>
+# include <ext/stdio_filebuf.h>
+#endif
+
+namespace IoUtilities {
+
+#if !defined(PLATFORM_MINGW) || !defined(CPP_UTILITIES_USE_NATIVE_FILE_BUFFER)
+
+typedef std::fstream NativeFileStream;
+
+#else
+
+class CPP_UTILITIES_EXPORT NativeFileStream : public std::iostream
+{
+public:
+    NativeFileStream();
+    ~NativeFileStream();
+
+    bool is_open() const;
+    void open(const std::string &path, std::ios_base::openmode flags);
+    void close();
+
+private:
+    std::unique_ptr<__gnu_cxx::stdio_filebuf<char> > m_filebuf;
+    std::__c_file m_cfile;
+};
+
+inline bool NativeFileStream::is_open() const
+{
+    return m_filebuf && m_filebuf->is_open();
+}
+
+#endif
+
+}
+
+#endif // IOUTILITIES_NATIVE_FILE_STREAM
+