diff --git a/include/wine/server_protocol.h b/include/wine/server_protocol.h
index 97ab4e25834..5ed95a41c19 100644
--- a/include/wine/server_protocol.h
+++ b/include/wine/server_protocol.h
@@ -2905,6 +2905,23 @@ struct get_async_result_reply
 
 
 
+struct set_async_direct_result_request
+{
+    struct request_header __header;
+    obj_handle_t   handle;
+    apc_param_t    information;
+    unsigned int   status;
+    char __pad_28[4];
+};
+struct set_async_direct_result_reply
+{
+    struct reply_header __header;
+    obj_handle_t   handle;
+    char __pad_12[4];
+};
+
+
+
 struct read_request
 {
     struct request_header __header;
@@ -5547,6 +5564,7 @@ enum request
     REQ_register_async,
     REQ_cancel_async,
     REQ_get_async_result,
+    REQ_set_async_direct_result,
     REQ_read,
     REQ_write,
     REQ_ioctl,
@@ -5828,6 +5846,7 @@ union generic_request
     struct register_async_request register_async_request;
     struct cancel_async_request cancel_async_request;
     struct get_async_result_request get_async_result_request;
+    struct set_async_direct_result_request set_async_direct_result_request;
     struct read_request read_request;
     struct write_request write_request;
     struct ioctl_request ioctl_request;
@@ -6107,6 +6126,7 @@ union generic_reply
     struct register_async_reply register_async_reply;
     struct cancel_async_reply cancel_async_reply;
     struct get_async_result_reply get_async_result_reply;
+    struct set_async_direct_result_reply set_async_direct_result_reply;
     struct read_reply read_reply;
     struct write_reply write_reply;
     struct ioctl_reply ioctl_reply;
@@ -6262,7 +6282,7 @@ union generic_reply
 
 /* ### protocol_version begin ### */
 
-#define SERVER_PROTOCOL_VERSION 743
+#define SERVER_PROTOCOL_VERSION 744
 
 /* ### protocol_version end ### */
 
diff --git a/server/async.c b/server/async.c
index 7aef28355f0..7d0ff10f7a4 100644
--- a/server/async.c
+++ b/server/async.c
@@ -338,6 +338,31 @@ obj_handle_t async_handoff( struct async *async, data_size_t *result, int force_
         return async->wait_handle;
     }
 
+    if (get_error() == STATUS_ALERTED)
+    {
+        /* give the client opportunity to complete synchronously.  after the
+         * client performs the I/O, it reports the result back to the server
+         * via the set_async_direct_result request.  if it turns out that the
+         * I/O request is not actually immediately satiable, the client may
+         * then choose to re-queue the async by reporting STATUS_PENDING
+         * instead.
+         *
+         * since we're deferring the initial I/O (to the client), we mark the
+         * async as having unknown initial status (unknown_status = 1).  note
+         * that we don't reuse async_set_unknown_status() here.  this is because
+         * the one responsible for performing the I/O is not the device driver,
+         * but instead the client that requested the I/O in the first place.
+         *
+         * also, async_set_unknown_status() would set direct_result to zero
+         * forcing APC_ASYNC_IO to fire in async_terminate(), which is not
+         * useful due to subtle semantic differences between synchronous and
+         * asynchronous completion.
+         */
+        async->unknown_status = 1;
+        async_terminate( async, STATUS_ALERTED );
+        return async->wait_handle;
+    }
+
     async->initial_status = get_error();
 
     if (!async->pending && NT_ERROR( get_error() ))
@@ -728,3 +753,50 @@ DECL_HANDLER(get_async_result)
     }
     set_error( iosb->status );
 }
+
+/* notify direct completion of async and close the wait handle if not blocking */
+DECL_HANDLER(set_async_direct_result)
+{
+    struct async *async = (struct async *)get_handle_obj( current->process, req->handle, 0, &async_ops );
+    unsigned int status = req->status;
+
+    if (!async) return;
+
+    if (!async->unknown_status || !async->terminated || !async->alerted)
+    {
+        set_error( STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER );
+        release_object( &async->obj );
+        return;
+    }
+
+    async_set_initial_status( async, status );
+
+    if (status == STATUS_PENDING)
+    {
+        async->direct_result = 0;
+        async->pending = 1;
+    }
+
+    /* if the I/O has completed successfully, the client would have already
+     * set the IOSB. therefore, we can skip waiting on wait_handle and do
+     * async_set_result() directly.
+     */
+    async_set_result( &async->obj, status, req->information );
+
+    /* close wait handle here to avoid extra server round trip, if the I/O
+     * either has completed, or is pending and not blocking.
+     */
+    if (status != STATUS_PENDING || !async->blocking)
+    {
+        close_handle( async->thread->process, async->wait_handle );
+        async->wait_handle = 0;
+    }
+
+    /* report back to the client whether the wait handle has been closed.
+     * handle will be 0 if closed by us; otherwise the original value is
+     * retained
+     */
+    reply->handle = async->wait_handle;
+
+    release_object( &async->obj );
+}
diff --git a/server/protocol.def b/server/protocol.def
index 21b17c11551..ce05e9a38c6 100644
--- a/server/protocol.def
+++ b/server/protocol.def
@@ -2163,6 +2163,16 @@ enum message_type
 @END
 
 
+/* Notify direct completion of async and close the wait handle if not blocking */
+@REQ(set_async_direct_result)
+    obj_handle_t   handle;        /* wait handle */
+    apc_param_t    information;   /* IO_STATUS_BLOCK Information */
+    unsigned int   status;        /* completion status */
+@REPLY
+    obj_handle_t   handle;        /* wait handle, or NULL if closed */
+@END
+
+
 /* Perform a read on a file object */
 @REQ(read)
     async_data_t   async;         /* async I/O parameters */
diff --git a/server/request.h b/server/request.h
index f2d0e827d94..128b70fe3cf 100644
--- a/server/request.h
+++ b/server/request.h
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ DECL_HANDLER(set_serial_info);
 DECL_HANDLER(register_async);
 DECL_HANDLER(cancel_async);
 DECL_HANDLER(get_async_result);
+DECL_HANDLER(set_async_direct_result);
 DECL_HANDLER(read);
 DECL_HANDLER(write);
 DECL_HANDLER(ioctl);
@@ -522,6 +523,7 @@ static const req_handler req_handlers[REQ_NB_REQUESTS] =
     (req_handler)req_register_async,
     (req_handler)req_cancel_async,
     (req_handler)req_get_async_result,
+    (req_handler)req_set_async_direct_result,
     (req_handler)req_read,
     (req_handler)req_write,
     (req_handler)req_ioctl,
@@ -1396,6 +1398,12 @@ C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct cancel_async_request) == 32 );
 C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct get_async_result_request, user_arg) == 16 );
 C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct get_async_result_request) == 24 );
 C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct get_async_result_reply) == 8 );
+C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct set_async_direct_result_request, handle) == 12 );
+C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct set_async_direct_result_request, information) == 16 );
+C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct set_async_direct_result_request, status) == 24 );
+C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct set_async_direct_result_request) == 32 );
+C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct set_async_direct_result_reply, handle) == 8 );
+C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct set_async_direct_result_reply) == 16 );
 C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct read_request, async) == 16 );
 C_ASSERT( FIELD_OFFSET(struct read_request, pos) == 56 );
 C_ASSERT( sizeof(struct read_request) == 64 );
diff --git a/server/trace.c b/server/trace.c
index 32606d540f7..6b50b9d0d18 100644
--- a/server/trace.c
+++ b/server/trace.c
@@ -2758,6 +2758,18 @@ static void dump_get_async_result_reply( const struct get_async_result_reply *re
     dump_varargs_bytes( " out_data=", cur_size );
 }
 
+static void dump_set_async_direct_result_request( const struct set_async_direct_result_request *req )
+{
+    fprintf( stderr, " handle=%04x", req->handle );
+    dump_uint64( ", information=", &req->information );
+    fprintf( stderr, ", status=%08x", req->status );
+}
+
+static void dump_set_async_direct_result_reply( const struct set_async_direct_result_reply *req )
+{
+    fprintf( stderr, " handle=%04x", req->handle );
+}
+
 static void dump_read_request( const struct read_request *req )
 {
     dump_async_data( " async=", &req->async );
@@ -4595,6 +4607,7 @@ static const dump_func req_dumpers[REQ_NB_REQUESTS] = {
     (dump_func)dump_register_async_request,
     (dump_func)dump_cancel_async_request,
     (dump_func)dump_get_async_result_request,
+    (dump_func)dump_set_async_direct_result_request,
     (dump_func)dump_read_request,
     (dump_func)dump_write_request,
     (dump_func)dump_ioctl_request,
@@ -4872,6 +4885,7 @@ static const dump_func reply_dumpers[REQ_NB_REQUESTS] = {
     NULL,
     NULL,
     (dump_func)dump_get_async_result_reply,
+    (dump_func)dump_set_async_direct_result_reply,
     (dump_func)dump_read_reply,
     (dump_func)dump_write_reply,
     (dump_func)dump_ioctl_reply,
@@ -5149,6 +5163,7 @@ static const char * const req_names[REQ_NB_REQUESTS] = {
     "register_async",
     "cancel_async",
     "get_async_result",
+    "set_async_direct_result",
     "read",
     "write",
     "ioctl",