diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index df1f78aaa..566f277da 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+	* added support for fadvise/F_RDADVISE for improved disk read performance
 	* introduced pop_alerts() which pops the entire alert queue in a single call
 	* support saving metadata in resume file, enable it by default for magnet links
 	* support for receiving multi announce messages for local peer discovery
diff --git a/docs/manual.rst b/docs/manual.rst
index 311b069ee..1ce3efcba 100644
--- a/docs/manual.rst
+++ b/docs/manual.rst
@@ -4404,6 +4404,7 @@ session_settings
 		bool always_send_user_agent;
 		bool apply_ip_filter_to_trackers;
 		int read_job_every;
+		use_disk_read_ahead;
 	};
 
 ``version`` is automatically set to the libtorrent version you're using
@@ -5268,6 +5269,10 @@ download rate is enough to saturate the disk, there's a risk the read jobs will
 never be serviced. With this setting, every *x* write job, issued in a row, will
 instead pick one read job off of the sorted queue, where *x* is ``read_job_every``.
 
+``use_disk_read_ahead`` defaults to true and will attempt to optimize disk reads
+by giving the operating system heads up of disk read requests as they are queued
+in the disk job queue. This gives a significant performance boost for seeding.
+
 pe_settings
 ===========
 
diff --git a/examples/client_test.cpp b/examples/client_test.cpp
index 437313e75..e069bd107 100644
--- a/examples/client_test.cpp
+++ b/examples/client_test.cpp
@@ -933,6 +933,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	using namespace libtorrent;
 	session_settings settings;
 
+	settings.use_disk_read_ahead = false;
 	settings.user_agent = "client_test/" LIBTORRENT_VERSION;
 	settings.choking_algorithm = session_settings::auto_expand_choker;
 	//settings.announce_to_all_trackers = true;
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/file.hpp b/include/libtorrent/file.hpp
index 77523af8f..dd5fd1f12 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/file.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/file.hpp
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 		size_type writev(size_type file_offset, iovec_t const* bufs, int num_bufs, error_code& ec);
 		size_type readv(size_type file_offset, iovec_t const* bufs, int num_bufs, error_code& ec);
+		void hint_read(size_type file_offset, int len);
 
 		size_type get_size(error_code& ec) const;
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
index c07c22493..0fd3db5f3 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
@@ -268,6 +268,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			, always_send_user_agent(false)
 			, apply_ip_filter_to_trackers(true)
 			, read_job_every(10)
+			, use_disk_read_ahead(true)
 		{}
 
 		// libtorrent version. Used for forward binary compatibility
@@ -1070,6 +1071,10 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		// write jobs have been taking priority in a row, service
 		// one read job
 		int read_job_every;
+
+		// issue posix_fadvise() or fcntl(F_RDADVISE) for disk reads
+		// ahead of time
+		bool use_disk_read_ahead;
 	};
 
 #ifndef TORRENT_DISABLE_DHT
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp b/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
index 1fb683d28..de2c8598d 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		virtual int readv(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs);
 		virtual int writev(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs);
 
+		virtual void hint_read(int slot, int offset, int len) {}
 		// negative return value indicates an error
 		virtual int read(char* buf, int slot, int offset, int size) = 0;
 
@@ -201,6 +202,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		int read(char* buf, int slot, int offset, int size);
 		int write(char const* buf, int slot, int offset, int size);
 		int sparse_end(int start) const;
+		void hint_read(int slot, int offset, int len);
 		int readv(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs);
 		int writev(file::iovec_t const* buf, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs);
 		size_type physical_offset(int slot, int offset);
@@ -422,6 +424,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		int hash_for_slot(int slot, partial_hash& h, int piece_size
 			, int small_piece_size = 0, sha1_hash* small_hash = 0);
 
+		void hint_read_impl(int piece_index, int offset, int size);
+
 		int read_impl(
 			file::iovec_t* bufs
 			, int piece_index
diff --git a/src/disk_io_thread.cpp b/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
index d7255dc6b..3748a94fb 100644
--- a/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
+++ b/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
@@ -1722,6 +1722,11 @@ namespace libtorrent
 					}
 				}
 
+				if (m_settings.use_disk_read_ahead && defer)
+				{
+					j.storage->hint_read_impl(j.piece, j.offset, j.buffer_size);
+				}
+
 				TORRENT_ASSERT(j.offset >= 0);
 				if (m_settings.allow_reordered_disk_operations && defer)
 				{
diff --git a/src/file.cpp b/src/file.cpp
index a5c9a0137..be033ff69 100644
--- a/src/file.cpp
+++ b/src/file.cpp
@@ -1014,6 +1014,20 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 #endif
 
+	void file::hint_read(size_type file_offset, int len)
+	{
+#if defined POSIX_FADV_WILLNEED
+		posix_fadvise(m_fd, file_offset, len, POSIX_FADV_WILLNEED);
+#elif defined F_RDADVISE
+		radvisory r;
+		r.ra_offset = file_offset;
+		r.ra_count = len;
+		fcntl(m_fd, F_RDADVISE, &r);
+#else
+		// TODO: is there any way to pre-fetch data from a file on windows?
+#endif
+	}
+
 	size_type file::readv(size_type file_offset, iovec_t const* bufs, int num_bufs, error_code& ec)
 	{
 		TORRENT_ASSERT((m_open_mode & rw_mask) == read_only || (m_open_mode & rw_mask) == read_write);
diff --git a/src/session.cpp b/src/session.cpp
index bea6af323..fb2972016 100644
--- a/src/session.cpp
+++ b/src/session.cpp
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		set.cache_size = 0;
 		set.cache_buffer_chunk_size = 1;
 		set.use_read_cache = false;
+		set.use_disk_read_ahead = false;
 
 		set.close_redundant_connections = true;
 
diff --git a/src/storage.cpp b/src/storage.cpp
index 5cca457ac..bd25871a5 100644
--- a/src/storage.cpp
+++ b/src/storage.cpp
@@ -1011,6 +1011,59 @@ ret:
 		return ret;
 	}
 
+	void default_storage::hint_read(int slot, int offset, int size)
+	{
+		size_type start = slot * (size_type)m_files.piece_length() + offset;
+		TORRENT_ASSERT(start + size <= m_files.total_size());
+
+		size_type file_offset = start;
+		file_storage::iterator file_iter;
+
+		// TODO: use binary search!
+		for (file_iter = files().begin();;)
+		{
+			if (file_offset < file_iter->size)
+				break;
+
+			file_offset -= file_iter->size;
+			++file_iter;
+			TORRENT_ASSERT(file_iter != files().end());
+		}
+
+		boost::intrusive_ptr<file> file_handle;
+		int bytes_left = size;
+		int slot_size = static_cast<int>(m_files.piece_size(slot));
+
+		if (offset + bytes_left > slot_size)
+			bytes_left = slot_size - offset;
+
+		TORRENT_ASSERT(bytes_left >= 0);
+
+		int file_bytes_left;
+		for (;bytes_left > 0; ++file_iter, bytes_left -= file_bytes_left)
+		{
+			TORRENT_ASSERT(file_iter != files().end());
+
+			file_bytes_left = bytes_left;
+			if (file_offset + file_bytes_left > file_iter->size)
+				file_bytes_left = (std::max)(static_cast<int>(file_iter->size - file_offset), 0);
+
+			if (file_bytes_left == 0) continue;
+
+			if (file_iter->pad_file) continue;
+
+			error_code ec;
+			file_handle = open_file(file_iter, file::read_only, ec);
+
+			// failing to hint that we want to read is not a big deal
+			// just swollow the error and keep going
+			if (!file_handle || ec) continue;
+
+			file_handle->hint_read(file_offset, file_bytes_left);
+			file_offset = 0;
+		}
+	}
+
 	int default_storage::readv(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset
 		, int num_bufs)
 	{
@@ -1072,6 +1125,7 @@ ret:
 		size_type file_offset = start;
 		file_storage::iterator file_iter;
 
+		// TODO: use binary search!
 		for (file_iter = files().begin();;)
 		{
 			if (file_offset < file_iter->size)
@@ -1698,6 +1752,13 @@ ret:
 		m_free_slots.push_back(slot_index);
 	}
 
+	void piece_manager::hint_read_impl(int piece_index, int offset, int size)
+	{
+		m_last_piece = piece_index;
+		int slot = slot_for(piece_index);
+		m_storage->hint_read(slot, offset, size);
+	}
+
 	int piece_manager::read_impl(
 		file::iovec_t* bufs
 		, int piece_index