diff --git a/PC/VC6/pythoncore.dsp b/PC/VC6/pythoncore.dsp
index 2cae542ae72..1d2415cd8b4 100644
--- a/PC/VC6/pythoncore.dsp
+++ b/PC/VC6/pythoncore.dsp
@@ -97,10 +97,6 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_bisectmodule.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
-SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_bytesio.c
-# End Source File
-# Begin Source File
-
 SOURCE=..\..\Modules\cjkcodecs\_codecs_cn.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -137,10 +133,6 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_csv.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
-SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_fileio.c
-# End Source File
-# Begin Source File
-
 SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_functoolsmodule.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -153,6 +145,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_hotshot.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_json.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -237,6 +233,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Objects\boolobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\bufferedio.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Objects\bufferobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -245,6 +245,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Objects\bytearrayobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\bytesio.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Objects\bytes_methods.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -345,6 +349,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Objects\exceptions.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\fileio.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Objects\fileobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -442,6 +450,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Modules\zlib\gzio.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\iobase.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Modules\imageop.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -671,6 +683,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Objects\sliceobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\stringio.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Objects\stringobject.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
@@ -699,6 +715,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\Python\sysmodule.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\Modules\_io\textio.c
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\Python\thread.c
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
diff --git a/PC/VS7.1/pythoncore.vcproj b/PC/VS7.1/pythoncore.vcproj
index 2ee7555adfd..1b50c0b6ead 100644
--- a/PC/VS7.1/pythoncore.vcproj
+++ b/PC/VS7.1/pythoncore.vcproj
@@ -361,18 +361,12 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\cjkcodecs\_codecs_tw.c">
 		</File>
-		<File
-			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_bytesio.c">
-		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_codecsmodule.c">
 		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_csv.c">
 		</File>
-		<File
-			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_fileio.c">
-		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_functoolsmodule.c">
 		</File>
@@ -382,6 +376,9 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_hotshot.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_json.c">
 		</File>
@@ -442,12 +439,18 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\boolobject.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\bufferedio.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\bufferobject.c">
 		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\bytearrayobject.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\bytesio.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\stringobject.c">
 		</File>
@@ -523,6 +526,9 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\exceptions.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\fileio.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\fileobject.c">
 		</File>
@@ -628,6 +634,9 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\intobject.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\iobase.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\iterobject.c">
 		</File>
@@ -772,6 +781,9 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Objects\sliceobject.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\stringio.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\stropmodule.c">
 		</File>
@@ -790,6 +802,9 @@
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Python\sysmodule.c">
 		</File>
+		<File
+			RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\textio.c">
+		</File>
 		<File
 			RelativePath="..\..\Python\thread.c">
 		</File>
diff --git a/PC/VS8.0/pythoncore.vcproj b/PC/VS8.0/pythoncore.vcproj
index db105edd522..4e42531dbf4 100644
--- a/PC/VS8.0/pythoncore.vcproj
+++ b/PC/VS8.0/pythoncore.vcproj
@@ -998,14 +998,6 @@
 				RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_csv.c"
 				>
 			</File>
-			<File
-				RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_fileio.c"
-				>
-			</File>
-			<File
-				RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_bytesio.c"
-				>
-			</File>
 			<File
 				RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_functoolsmodule.c"
 				>
@@ -1350,6 +1342,42 @@
 					>
 				</File>
 			</Filter>
+			<Filter
+				Name="_io"
+				>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.h"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\bufferedio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\bytesio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\fileio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\iobase.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\stringio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\..\Modules\_io\textio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+			</Filter>
 		</Filter>
 		<Filter
 			Name="Objects"
diff --git a/PC/config.c b/PC/config.c
index a5e153003f8..41f057349fd 100644
--- a/PC/config.c
+++ b/PC/config.c
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ extern void initparser(void);
 extern void init_winreg(void);
 extern void init_struct(void);
 extern void initdatetime(void);
-extern void init_fileio(void);
-extern void init_bytesio(void);
 extern void init_functools(void);
 extern void init_json(void);
 extern void initzlib(void);
@@ -68,6 +66,7 @@ extern void init_codecs_tw(void);
 extern void init_subprocess(void);
 extern void init_lsprof(void);
 extern void init_ast(void);
+extern void init_io(void);
 extern void _PyWarnings_Init(void);
 
 /* tools/freeze/makeconfig.py marker for additional "extern" */
@@ -132,8 +131,6 @@ struct _inittab _PyImport_Inittab[] = {
 	{"_winreg", init_winreg},
 	{"_struct", init_struct},
 	{"datetime", initdatetime},
-	{"_fileio", init_fileio},
-	{"_bytesio", init_bytesio},
 	{"_functools", init_functools},
 	{"_json", init_json},
 
@@ -166,6 +163,8 @@ struct _inittab _PyImport_Inittab[] = {
 	{"exceptions", NULL},
         {"_warnings", _PyWarnings_Init},
 
+        {"_io", init_io},
+
         /* Sentinel */
         {0, 0}
 };
diff --git a/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcproj b/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcproj
index bf4d7246ca1..06c1df56d83 100644
--- a/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcproj
+++ b/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcproj
@@ -998,14 +998,6 @@
 				RelativePath="..\Modules\_csv.c"
 				>
 			</File>
-			<File
-				RelativePath="..\Modules\_fileio.c"
-				>
-			</File>
-			<File
-				RelativePath="..\Modules\_bytesio.c"
-				>
-			</File>
 			<File
 				RelativePath="..\Modules\_functoolsmodule.c"
 				>
@@ -1350,6 +1342,42 @@
 					>
 				</File>
 			</Filter>
+			<Filter
+				Name="_io"
+				>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\_iomodule.h"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\bufferedio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\bytesio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\fileio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\iobase.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\stringio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+				<File
+					RelativePath="..\Modules\_io\textio.c"
+					>
+				</File>
+			</Filter>
 		</Filter>
 		<Filter
 			Name="Objects"