diff --git a/awk.h b/awk.h
index 9e6f2ca..65e7fd4 100644
--- a/awk.h
+++ b/awk.h
@@ -1469,6 +1469,7 @@ extern bool is_identchar(int c);
 extern NODE *make_regnode(NODETYPE type, NODE *exp);
 extern bool validate_qualified_name(char *token);
 /* builtin.c */
+extern void efflush(FILE *fp, const char *from, struct redirect *rp);
 extern double double_to_int(double d);
 extern NODE *do_exp(int nargs);
 extern NODE *do_fflush(int nargs);
diff --git a/builtin.c b/builtin.c
index 386b6ed..fc3b508 100644
--- a/builtin.c
+++ b/builtin.c
@@ -96,39 +96,12 @@ fatal(_("attempt to use array `%s' in a scalar context"), array_vname(s1)); \
  */
 #define GAWK_RANDOM_MAX 0x7fffffffL
 
-/* efwrite --- like fwrite, but with error checking */
+
+/* wrerror --- handle a write or flush error */
 
 static void
-efwrite(const void *ptr,
-	size_t size,
-	size_t count,
-	FILE *fp,
-	const char *from,
-	struct redirect *rp,
-	bool flush)
+wrerror(FILE *fp, const char *from, struct redirect *rp)
 {
-	errno = 0;
-	if (rp != NULL) {
-		if (rp->output.gawk_fwrite(ptr, size, count, fp, rp->output.opaque) != count)
-			goto wrerror;
-	} else if (fwrite(ptr, size, count, fp) != count)
-		goto wrerror;
-	if (flush
-	  && ((fp == stdout && output_is_tty)
-	      || (rp != NULL && (rp->flag & RED_NOBUF) != 0))) {
-		if (rp != NULL) {
-			rp->output.gawk_fflush(fp, rp->output.opaque);
-			if (rp->output.gawk_ferror(fp, rp->output.opaque))
-				goto wrerror;
-		} else {
-			fflush(fp);
-			if (ferror(fp))
-				goto wrerror;
-		}
-	}
-	return;
-
-wrerror:
 #ifdef __MINGW32__
 	if (errno == 0 || errno == EINVAL)
 		w32_maybe_set_errno();
@@ -150,6 +123,46 @@ wrerror:
 			errno ? strerror(errno) : _("reason unknown"));
 }
 
+/* efflush --- flush output with proper error handling */
+
+void
+efflush(FILE *fp, const char *from, struct redirect *rp)
+{
+	errno = 0;
+	if (rp != NULL) {
+		rp->output.gawk_fflush(fp, rp->output.opaque);
+		if (rp->output.gawk_ferror(fp, rp->output.opaque))
+			return wrerror(fp, from, rp);
+	} else {
+		fflush(fp);
+		if (ferror(fp))
+			return wrerror(fp, from, rp);
+	}
+}
+
+/* efwrite --- like fwrite, but with error checking */
+
+static void
+efwrite(const void *ptr,
+	size_t size,
+	size_t count,
+	FILE *fp,
+	const char *from,
+	struct redirect *rp,
+	bool flush)
+{
+	errno = 0;
+	if (rp != NULL) {
+		if (rp->output.gawk_fwrite(ptr, size, count, fp, rp->output.opaque) != count)
+			return wrerror(fp, from, rp);
+	} else if (fwrite(ptr, size, count, fp) != count)
+		return wrerror(fp, from, rp);
+	if (flush
+	  && ((fp == stdout && output_is_tty)
+	      || (rp != NULL && (rp->flag & RED_NOBUF) != 0)))
+		efflush(fp, from, rp);
+}
+
 /* do_exp --- exponential function */
 
 NODE *
diff --git a/io.c b/io.c
index 91c94d9..dec81bc 100644
--- a/io.c
+++ b/io.c
@@ -1375,6 +1375,10 @@ close_redir(struct redirect *rp, bool exitwarn, two_way_close_type how)
 
 	if (rp == NULL)
 		return 0;
+	if ((rp->flag & RED_WRITE) && rp->output.fp)
+		/* flush before closing to take advantage of the error
+		 * handling */
+		efflush(rp->output.fp, "close_redir", rp);
 	if (rp->output.fp == stdout || rp->output.fp == stderr)
 		goto checkwarn;		/* bypass closing, remove from list */