diff --git a/src/basicio.cpp b/src/basicio.cpp
index b09ec603..2b56d246 100644
--- a/src/basicio.cpp
+++ b/src/basicio.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ EXIV2_RCSID("@(#) $Id$");
 #include "error.hpp"
 
 // + standard includes
+#include <string>
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cstdio>                       // for remove()
 #include <sys/types.h>                  // for stat()
@@ -94,33 +95,65 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         return basicIo;
     }
 
-    long FileIo::write(const byte* data, long wcount )
+    int FileIo::switchMode(OpMode opMode)
     {
         assert(fp_ != 0);
+        if (opMode_ == opMode) return 0;
+
+        bool reopen = true;
+        std::string mode = "r+b";
+
+        switch(opMode) {
+        case opRead:
+            // Flush if current mode allows reading, else reopen (in mode "r+b"
+            // as in this case we know that we can write to the file)
+            if (   openMode_[0] == 'r' 
+                || openMode_.substr(0, 2) == "w+" 
+                || openMode_.substr(0, 2) == "a+") reopen = false;
+            break;
+        case opWrite:
+            // Flush if current mode allows writing, else reopen
+            if (   openMode_.substr(0, 2) == "r+" 
+                || openMode_[0] == 'w'
+                || openMode_[0] == 'a') reopen = false;
+            break;
+        case opSeek:
+            reopen = false;
+            break;
+        }
+
+        if (!reopen) {
+            // Don't do anything when switching _from_ opSeek mode; we
+            // flush when switching _to_ opSeek.
+            if (opMode_ == opSeek) return 0;
 
-        // ANSI C requires a flush or seek when switching
-        // between read and write modes. 
-        if (opMode_ == opRead) {
-            // on msvcrt fflush does not do the job
+            // Flush. On msvcrt fflush does not do the job
             fseek(fp_, 0, SEEK_CUR);
+            opMode_ = opMode;
+            return 0;
         }
-        opMode_ = opWrite;
+
+        // Reopen the file
+        long offset = ftell(fp_);
+        if (offset == -1) return -1;
+        if (open(mode) != 0) return 1;
+        opMode_ = opMode;
+        return fseek(fp_, offset, SEEK_SET);
+    }
+
+    long FileIo::write(const byte* data, long wcount)
+    {
+        assert(fp_ != 0);
+        if (switchMode(opWrite) != 0) return 0;
         return (long)fwrite(data, 1, wcount, fp_);
     }
 
     long FileIo::write(BasicIo& src)
     {
         assert(fp_ != 0);
-        if (static_cast<BasicIo*>(this)==&src) return 0;
+        if (static_cast<BasicIo*>(this) == &src) return 0;
         if (!src.isopen()) return 0;
-
-        // ANSI C requires a flush or seek when switching
-        // between read and write modes. 
-        if (opMode_ == opRead) {
-            // on msvcrt fflush does not do the job
-            fseek(fp_, 0, SEEK_CUR);
-        }
-        opMode_ = opWrite;
+        if (switchMode(opWrite) != 0) return 0;
 
         byte buf[4096];
         long readCount = 0;
@@ -182,11 +215,7 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
     int FileIo::putb(byte data)
     {
         assert(fp_ != 0);
-        if (opMode_ == opRead) {
-            // on msvcrt fflush does not do the job
-            fseek(fp_, 0, SEEK_CUR);
-        }
-        opMode_ = opWrite;
+        if (switchMode(opWrite) != 0) return EOF;
         return putc(data, fp_);
     }
     
@@ -218,6 +247,10 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
 
     long FileIo::size() const
     {
+#if defined WIN32 && !defined __CYGWIN__
+        // On msvcrt stat only works if the file is not open, or so it seems
+        assert(fp_ == 0);
+#endif
         if (fp_ != 0) {
             fflush(fp_);
         }
@@ -230,8 +263,8 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
 
     int FileIo::open()
     {
-        // Default open is in read-write binary mode
-        return open("r+b");
+        // Default open is in read-only binary mode
+        return open("rb");
     }
 
     int FileIo::open(const std::string& mode)
@@ -273,24 +306,14 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
     long FileIo::read(byte* buf, long rcount)
     {
         assert(fp_ != 0);
-        
-        if (opMode_ == opWrite) {
-            // on msvcrt fflush does not do the job
-            fseek(fp_, 0, SEEK_CUR);
-        }
-        opMode_ = opRead;
+        if (switchMode(opRead) != 0) return 0;
         return (long)fread(buf, 1, rcount, fp_);
     }
 
     int FileIo::getb()
     {
         assert(fp_ != 0);
-        
-        if (opMode_ == opWrite) {
-            // on msvcrt fflush does not do the job
-            fseek(fp_, 0, SEEK_CUR);
-        }
-        opMode_ = opRead;
+        if (switchMode(opRead) != 0) return EOF;
         return getc(fp_);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/basicio.hpp b/src/basicio.hpp
index 24636c88..a651fb47 100644
--- a/src/basicio.hpp
+++ b/src/basicio.hpp
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
          */
         int open(const std::string& mode);
         /*!
-          @brief Open the file using using the default access mode of "r+b".
+          @brief Open the file using using the default access mode of "rb".
               This method can also be used to "reopen" a file which will flush
               any unwritten data and reset the IO position to the start.
           @return 0 if successful;<BR>
@@ -406,6 +406,8 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         /*!
           @brief Flush any buffered writes and get the current file size
               in bytes. 
+          @note On Win32 systems the file must be closed prior to calling this
+              function.
           @return Size of the file in bytes;<BR>
                  -1 if failure;
          */
@@ -445,6 +447,16 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         std::string openMode_;
         FILE *fp_;
         OpMode opMode_;
+
+        // METHODS
+        /*!
+          @brief Switch to a new access mode, reopening the file if needed.
+              Optimized to only reopen the file when it is really necessary.
+          @param opMode The mode to switch to. 
+          @return 0 if successful
+         */
+        int switchMode(OpMode opMode);
+
     }; // class FileIo
 
     /*!
@@ -622,7 +634,7 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         ByteVector data_;
         ByteVector::size_type idx_;
 
-        //METHODS
+        // METHODS
         void checkSize(long wcount);
     }; // class MemIo    
 }                                       // namespace Exiv2
diff --git a/src/iotest.cpp b/src/iotest.cpp
index ac82a607..441c5935 100644
--- a/src/iotest.cpp
+++ b/src/iotest.cpp
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ try {
     memIo1.seek(0, BasicIo::beg);
     fileOut1.write(memIo1);
 
+    // On Win32 files must be closed before stat
+    memIo1.close();
+    fileIn.close();
+    fileOut1.close();
+
     // Make sure they are all the same size
     if(fileIn.size() != memIo1.size() || memIo1.size() != fileOut1.size()) {
         std::cerr << argv[0] << 
@@ -97,7 +102,10 @@ try {
     if (rc != 0) return rc;
     
     // Another test of reading and writing
-    fileOut1.seek(0, BasicIo::beg);
+    if (fileOut1.open() != 0)  {
+        throw Error(9, fileOut1.path(), strError());
+    }
+
     memIo2.seek(0, BasicIo::beg);
     FileIo fileOut2(argv[3]);
     if (fileOut2.open("w+b") != 0) {
@@ -146,13 +154,18 @@ int WriteReadSeek(BasicIo &io)
         std::cerr << ": WRS initial write failed\n";
         return 2;
     }
-    
+
+    // On Win32 files must be closed before stat    
+    io.close();
+
     if (io.size() != len1) {
         std::cerr << ": WRS size is not " << len1 << "\n";
         return 2;
     }
 
-    io.seek(-len1, BasicIo::cur);
+    if (io.open() != 0)  {
+        throw Error(9, io.path(), strError());
+    }
 
     int c = EOF;
     memset(buf, -1, sizeof(buf));
diff --git a/test/exiv2-test.sh b/test/exiv2-test.sh
index a5923ee6..6cbb3b37 100755
--- a/test/exiv2-test.sh
+++ b/test/exiv2-test.sh
@@ -93,6 +93,12 @@ diff iii kkk
 
 ) > $results 2>&1
 
+if [ `../config/config.guess` = "i686-pc-mingw32" ] ; then
+    sed 's,\\,/,g' $results > ${results}-new
+    mv -f ${results}-new $results
+    unix2dos -q $results
+fi
+
 diff -q -w $diffargs $results $good
 rc=$?
 if [ $rc -eq 0 ] ; then