diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1ec35b97c..cbcb78652 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ set(FISH_SRCS
     src/proc.cpp src/reader.cpp src/redirection.cpp src/sanity.cpp src/screen.cpp
     src/signal.cpp src/termsize.cpp src/timer.cpp src/tinyexpr.cpp
     src/tokenizer.cpp src/topic_monitor.cpp src/trace.cpp src/utf8.cpp src/util.cpp
-    src/wcstringutil.cpp src/wgetopt.cpp src/wildcard.cpp src/wutil.cpp
+    src/wcstringutil.cpp src/wgetopt.cpp src/wildcard.cpp src/wutil.cpp src/fds.cpp
 )
 
 # Header files are just globbed.
diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index f237be299..2861a54d0 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -1751,22 +1751,6 @@ double timef() {
 
 void exit_without_destructors(int code) { _exit(code); }
 
-void autoclose_fd_t::close() {
-    if (fd_ < 0) return;
-    exec_close(fd_);
-    fd_ = -1;
-}
-
-void exec_close(int fd) {
-    assert(fd >= 0 && "Invalid fd");
-    while (close(fd) == -1) {
-        if (errno != EINTR) {
-            wperror(L"close");
-            break;
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 extern "C" {
 [[gnu::noinline]] void debug_thread_error(void) {
     // Wait for a SIGINT. We can't use sigsuspend() because the signal may be delivered on another
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index bfff7b26f..66a37b604 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -442,50 +442,6 @@ class scoped_push {
     }
 };
 
-/// A helper class for managing and automatically closing a file descriptor.
-class autoclose_fd_t {
-    int fd_;
-
-   public:
-    // Closes the fd if not already closed.
-    void close();
-
-    // Returns the fd.
-    int fd() const { return fd_; }
-
-    // Returns the fd, transferring ownership to the caller.
-    int acquire() {
-        int temp = fd_;
-        fd_ = -1;
-        return temp;
-    }
-
-    // Resets to a new fd, taking ownership.
-    void reset(int fd) {
-        if (fd == fd_) return;
-        close();
-        fd_ = fd;
-    }
-
-    // \return if this has a valid fd.
-    bool valid() const { return fd_ >= 0; }
-
-    autoclose_fd_t(const autoclose_fd_t &) = delete;
-    void operator=(const autoclose_fd_t &) = delete;
-    autoclose_fd_t(autoclose_fd_t &&rhs) : fd_(rhs.fd_) { rhs.fd_ = -1; }
-
-    void operator=(autoclose_fd_t &&rhs) {
-        close();
-        std::swap(this->fd_, rhs.fd_);
-    }
-
-    explicit autoclose_fd_t(int fd = -1) : fd_(fd) {}
-    ~autoclose_fd_t() { close(); }
-};
-
-/// Close a file descriptor \p fd, retrying on EINTR.
-void exec_close(int fd);
-
 wcstring format_string(const wchar_t *format, ...);
 wcstring vformat_string(const wchar_t *format, va_list va_orig);
 void append_format(wcstring &str, const wchar_t *format, ...);
diff --git a/src/env_universal_common.h b/src/env_universal_common.h
index 468ae43b0..2d852a54d 100644
--- a/src/env_universal_common.h
+++ b/src/env_universal_common.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 #include "common.h"
 #include "env.h"
+#include "fds.h"
 #include "wutil.h"
 
 /// Callback data, reflecting a change in universal variables.
diff --git a/src/fd_monitor.h b/src/fd_monitor.h
index 1127e102c..34b8706f2 100644
--- a/src/fd_monitor.h
+++ b/src/fd_monitor.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <sys/select.h>  // IWYU pragma: keep
 
 #include "common.h"
+#include "fds.h"
 #include "maybe.h"
 
 class fd_monitor_t;
diff --git a/src/fds.cpp b/src/fds.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30e49d77c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/fds.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/** Facilities for working with file descriptors. */
+
+#include "config.h"  // IWYU pragma: keep
+
+#include "fds.h"
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "wutil.h"
+
+void autoclose_fd_t::close() {
+    if (fd_ < 0) return;
+    exec_close(fd_);
+    fd_ = -1;
+}
+
+void exec_close(int fd) {
+    assert(fd >= 0 && "Invalid fd");
+    while (close(fd) == -1) {
+        if (errno != EINTR) {
+            wperror(L"close");
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/fds.h b/src/fds.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14c3b21d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/fds.h
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/** Facilities for working with file descriptors. */
+
+#ifndef FISH_FDS_H
+#define FISH_FDS_H
+
+#include <algorithm>
+
+/// A helper class for managing and automatically closing a file descriptor.
+class autoclose_fd_t {
+    int fd_;
+
+   public:
+    // Closes the fd if not already closed.
+    void close();
+
+    // Returns the fd.
+    int fd() const { return fd_; }
+
+    // Returns the fd, transferring ownership to the caller.
+    int acquire() {
+        int temp = fd_;
+        fd_ = -1;
+        return temp;
+    }
+
+    // Resets to a new fd, taking ownership.
+    void reset(int fd) {
+        if (fd == fd_) return;
+        close();
+        fd_ = fd;
+    }
+
+    // \return if this has a valid fd.
+    bool valid() const { return fd_ >= 0; }
+
+    autoclose_fd_t(const autoclose_fd_t &) = delete;
+    void operator=(const autoclose_fd_t &) = delete;
+    autoclose_fd_t(autoclose_fd_t &&rhs) : fd_(rhs.fd_) { rhs.fd_ = -1; }
+
+    void operator=(autoclose_fd_t &&rhs) {
+        close();
+        std::swap(this->fd_, rhs.fd_);
+    }
+
+    explicit autoclose_fd_t(int fd = -1) : fd_(fd) {}
+    ~autoclose_fd_t() { close(); }
+};
+
+/// Close a file descriptor \p fd, retrying on EINTR.
+void exec_close(int fd);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/io.h b/src/io.h
index 1504509d7..b90f66355 100644
--- a/src/io.h
+++ b/src/io.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 #include "common.h"
 #include "env.h"
+#include "fds.h"
 #include "flog.h"
 #include "global_safety.h"
 #include "maybe.h"