diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index bbb655b0b..5e9642489 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ \
     netdb.h \
     netinet/in.h \
     netinet/tcp.h \
+    poll.h \
     sys/ioctl.h \
     sys/params.h \
     sys/socket.h \
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([__CYGWIN__])
 AC_SEARCH_LIBS(accept, network socket)
 
 # Checks for library functions.
-AC_CHECK_FUNCS([accept4 getaddrinfo gettimeofday inet_pton inet_ntop select socket strerror strlcpy])
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([accept4 getaddrinfo gettimeofday inet_pton inet_ntop poll select socket strerror strlcpy])
 
 # Required for MinGW with GCC v4.8.1 on Win7
 AC_DEFINE(WINVER, 0x0501, _)
diff --git a/src/modbus-private.h b/src/modbus-private.h
index 6cd342482..694096509 100644
--- a/src/modbus-private.h
+++ b/src/modbus-private.h
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ typedef struct _modbus_backend {
     unsigned int (*is_connected)(modbus_t *ctx);
     void (*close)(modbus_t *ctx);
     int (*flush)(modbus_t *ctx);
-    int (*select)(modbus_t *ctx, fd_set *rset, struct timeval *tv, int msg_length);
+    int (*select)(modbus_t *ctx, struct timeval *tv, int msg_length);
     void (*free)(modbus_t *ctx);
 } modbus_backend_t;
 
diff --git a/src/modbus-rtu.c b/src/modbus-rtu.c
index b7749230c..d938eae75 100644
--- a/src/modbus-rtu.c
+++ b/src/modbus-rtu.c
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 #ifndef _MSC_VER
 #include <unistd.h>
 #endif
+#if HAVE_POLL_H
+#include <poll.h>
+#endif
 #include "modbus-private.h"
 #include <assert.h>
 
@@ -1130,7 +1133,7 @@ static int _modbus_rtu_flush(modbus_t *ctx)
 }
 
 static int
-_modbus_rtu_select(modbus_t *ctx, fd_set *rset, struct timeval *tv, int length_to_read)
+_modbus_rtu_select(modbus_t *ctx, struct timeval *tv, int length_to_read)
 {
     int s_rc;
 #if defined(_WIN32)
@@ -1144,19 +1147,48 @@ _modbus_rtu_select(modbus_t *ctx, fd_set *rset, struct timeval *tv, int length_t
     if (s_rc < 0) {
         return -1;
     }
+
 #else
-    while ((s_rc = select(ctx->s + 1, rset, NULL, NULL, tv)) == -1) {
+#if HAVE_POLL
+    struct pollfd fds;
+    fds.fd = ctx->s;
+    fds.events = POLLIN;
+    fds.revents = 0;
+    while ((s_rc = poll(&fds, 1, (tv != NULL) ? tv->tv_sec * 1000 + tv->tv_usec / 1000 : -1)) == -1) {
+        if (errno == EINTR) {
+            if (ctx->debug) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "A non blocked signal was caught\n");
+            }
+        } else if (errno != EAGAIN) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    fd_set rset;
+
+    if (ctx->s >= FD_SETSIZE) {
+        if (ctx->debug) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "File descriptor greater than FD_SETSIZE passed to select() call\n");
+        }
+    	errno = EBADF;
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    FD_ZERO(&rset);
+    FD_SET(ctx->s, &rset);
+    while ((s_rc = select(ctx->s + 1, &rset, NULL, NULL, tv)) == -1) {
         if (errno == EINTR) {
             if (ctx->debug) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "A non blocked signal was caught\n");
             }
             /* Necessary after an error */
-            FD_ZERO(rset);
-            FD_SET(ctx->s, rset);
+            FD_ZERO(&rset);
+            FD_SET(ctx->s, &rset);
         } else {
             return -1;
         }
     }
+#endif
 
     if (s_rc == 0) {
         /* Timeout */
diff --git a/src/modbus-tcp.c b/src/modbus-tcp.c
index 8389eaedf..66d22c946 100644
--- a/src/modbus-tcp.c
+++ b/src/modbus-tcp.c
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
+#if HAVE_POLL_H
+#include <poll.h>
+#endif
+
 #if defined(_WIN32)
 /* Already set in modbus-tcp.h but it seems order matters in VS2005 */
 # include <winsock2.h>
@@ -284,15 +288,30 @@ static int _connect(int sockfd,
 #else
     if (rc == -1 && errno == EINPROGRESS) {
 #endif
-        fd_set wset;
         int optval;
         socklen_t optlen = sizeof(optval);
+#if HAVE_POLL
+        struct pollfd fds;
+
+        /* Wait to be available in writing */
+        fds.fd = sockfd;
+        fds.events = POLLOUT;
+        fds.revents = 0;
+        rc = poll(&fds, 1, (ro_tv != NULL) ? ro_tv->tv_sec * 1000 + ro_tv->tv_usec / 1000 : -1);
+#else
+        fd_set wset;
         struct timeval tv = *ro_tv;
 
+        if (sockfd >= FD_SETSIZE) {
+        	errno = EBADF;
+            return -1;
+        }
+
         /* Wait to be available in writing */
         FD_ZERO(&wset);
         FD_SET(sockfd, &wset);
         rc = select(sockfd + 1, NULL, &wset, NULL, &tv);
+#endif
         if (rc <= 0) {
             /* Timeout or fail */
             return -1;
@@ -759,21 +778,49 @@ int modbus_tcp_pi_accept(modbus_t *ctx, int *s)
 }
 
 static int
-_modbus_tcp_select(modbus_t *ctx, fd_set *rset, struct timeval *tv, int length_to_read)
+_modbus_tcp_select(modbus_t *ctx, struct timeval *tv, int length_to_read)
 {
     int s_rc;
-    while ((s_rc = select(ctx->s + 1, rset, NULL, NULL, tv)) == -1) {
+#if HAVE_POLL
+    struct pollfd fds;
+    fds.fd = ctx->s;
+    fds.events = POLLIN;
+    fds.revents = 0;
+    while ((s_rc = poll(&fds, 1, (tv != NULL) ? tv->tv_sec * 1000 + tv->tv_usec / 1000 : -1)) == -1) {
+        if (errno == EINTR) {
+            if (ctx->debug) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "A non blocked signal was caught\n");
+            }
+        } else if (errno != EAGAIN) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    fd_set rset;
+
+    if (ctx->s >= FD_SETSIZE) {
+        if (ctx->debug) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "File descriptor greater than FD_SETSIZE passed to select() call\n");
+        }
+    	errno = EBADF;
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    FD_ZERO(&rset);
+    FD_SET(ctx->s, &rset);
+    while ((s_rc = select(ctx->s + 1, &rset, NULL, NULL, tv)) == -1) {
         if (errno == EINTR) {
             if (ctx->debug) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "A non blocked signal was caught\n");
             }
             /* Necessary after an error */
-            FD_ZERO(rset);
-            FD_SET(ctx->s, rset);
+            FD_ZERO(&rset);
+            FD_SET(ctx->s, &rset);
         } else {
             return -1;
         }
     }
+#endif
 
     if (s_rc == 0) {
         errno = ETIMEDOUT;
diff --git a/src/modbus.c b/src/modbus.c
index 0360d5ccd..77e09ecc4 100644
--- a/src/modbus.c
+++ b/src/modbus.c
@@ -350,7 +350,6 @@ compute_data_length_after_meta(modbus_t *ctx, uint8_t *msg, msg_type_t msg_type)
 int _modbus_receive_msg(modbus_t *ctx, uint8_t *msg, msg_type_t msg_type)
 {
     int rc;
-    fd_set rset;
     struct timeval tv;
     struct timeval *p_tv;
     unsigned int length_to_read;
@@ -375,10 +374,6 @@ int _modbus_receive_msg(modbus_t *ctx, uint8_t *msg, msg_type_t msg_type)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    /* Add a file descriptor to the set */
-    FD_ZERO(&rset);
-    FD_SET(ctx->s, &rset);
-
     /* We need to analyse the message step by step.  At the first step, we want
      * to reach the function code because all packets contain this
      * information. */
@@ -405,7 +400,7 @@ int _modbus_receive_msg(modbus_t *ctx, uint8_t *msg, msg_type_t msg_type)
     }
 
     while (length_to_read != 0) {
-        rc = ctx->backend->select(ctx, &rset, p_tv, length_to_read);
+        rc = ctx->backend->select(ctx, p_tv, length_to_read);
         if (rc == -1) {
             _error_print(ctx, "select");
             if (ctx->error_recovery & MODBUS_ERROR_RECOVERY_LINK) {