diff --git a/io.c b/io.c
index ac2f246b51..e3d93059f1 100644
--- a/io.c
+++ b/io.c
@@ -7767,6 +7767,11 @@ void
 rb_write_error2(const char *mesg, long len)
 {
     if (rb_stderr == orig_stderr || RFILE(orig_stderr)->fptr->fd < 0) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+	if (isatty(fileno(stderr))) {
+	    if (rb_w32_write_console(rb_str_new(mesg, len), fileno(stderr)) > 0) return;
+	}
+#endif
 	if (fwrite(mesg, sizeof(char), (size_t)len, stderr) < (size_t)len) {
 	    /* failed to write to stderr, what can we do? */
 	    return;