diff --git a/modules/juce_core/network/juce_Socket.cpp b/modules/juce_core/network/juce_Socket.cpp
index 1c15fc5645..515aa25f0f 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/network/juce_Socket.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/network/juce_Socket.cpp
@@ -55,6 +55,24 @@ namespace juce
 //==============================================================================
 namespace SocketHelpers
 {
+   #if JUCE_WINDOWS
+    using WSAPollFunc = int (WSAAPI*) (LPWSAPOLLFD, ULONG, INT);
+    static WSAPollFunc wsaPollFunc = nullptr;
+
+    static void checkForWSAPoll()
+    {
+        static bool hasChecked = false;
+
+        if (! hasChecked)
+        {
+            hasChecked = true;
+
+            if (auto* moduleHandle = GetModuleHandleW (L"Ws2_32.dll"))
+                wsaPollFunc = (WSAPollFunc) GetProcAddress (moduleHandle, "WSAPoll");
+        }
+    }
+   #endif
+
     static void initSockets()
     {
        #if JUCE_WINDOWS
@@ -67,6 +85,8 @@ namespace SocketHelpers
             WSADATA wsaData;
             const WORD wVersionRequested = MAKEWORD (1, 1);
             WSAStartup (wVersionRequested, &wsaData);
+
+            checkForWSAPoll();
         }
        #endif
     }
@@ -286,9 +306,61 @@ namespace SocketHelpers
         if (! lock.isLocked())
             return -1;
 
+        auto hasErrorOccured = [&handle] () -> bool
+        {
+            auto h = handle.load();
+
+            if (h == invalidSocket)
+                return true;
+
+            int opt;
+            juce_socklen_t len = sizeof (opt);
+
+            if (getsockopt (h, SOL_SOCKET, SO_ERROR, (char*) &opt, &len) < 0  || opt != 0)
+                return true;
+
+            return false;
+        };
+
         auto h = handle.load();
 
-       #if JUCE_MINGW
+      #if ! JUCE_MINGW
+       #if JUCE_WINDOWS
+        if (wsaPollFunc != nullptr)
+       #endif
+        {
+            short eventsFlag = (forReading ? POLLIN : POLLOUT);
+            pollfd pfd { (SocketHandle) h, eventsFlag, 0 };
+
+            int result = 0;
+
+            for (;;)
+            {
+               #if JUCE_WINDOWS
+                result = SocketHelpers::wsaPollFunc (&pfd, 1, timeoutMsecs);
+               #else
+                result = poll (&pfd, 1, timeoutMsecs);
+               #endif
+
+                if (result >= 0
+                   #if JUCE_WINDOWS
+                    || result == SOCKET_ERROR
+                   #else
+                    || errno != EINTR
+                   #endif
+                    )
+                {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (result < 0 || hasErrorOccured())
+                return -1;
+
+            return (pfd.revents & eventsFlag) != 0;
+        }
+       #endif
+
         struct timeval timeout;
         struct timeval* timeoutp;
 
@@ -309,59 +381,13 @@ namespace SocketHelpers
         FD_ZERO (&wset);
         FD_SET (h, &wset);
 
-        fd_set* const prset = forReading ? &rset : nullptr;
-        fd_set* const pwset = forReading ? nullptr : &wset;
+        fd_set* prset = forReading ? &rset : nullptr;
+        fd_set* pwset = forReading ? nullptr : &wset;
 
-        if (select ((int) h + 1, prset, pwset, 0, timeoutp) < 0)
-            return -1;
-       #else
-        short eventsFlag = (forReading ? POLLIN : POLLOUT);
-        pollfd pfd { (SocketHandle) h, eventsFlag, 0 };
-
-        int result = 0;
-
-        for (;;)
-        {
-           #if JUCE_WINDOWS
-            result = WSAPoll (&pfd, 1, timeoutMsecs);
-           #else
-            result = poll (&pfd, 1, timeoutMsecs);
-           #endif
-
-            if (result >= 0
-               #if JUCE_WINDOWS
-                || result == SOCKET_ERROR
-               #else
-                || errno != EINTR
-               #endif
-                )
-            {
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (result < 0)
-            return -1;
-       #endif
-
-        // we are closing
-        if (handle.load() < 0)
+        if (select ((int) h + 1, prset, pwset, nullptr, timeoutp) < 0 || hasErrorOccured())
             return -1;
 
-        {
-            int opt;
-            juce_socklen_t len = sizeof (opt);
-
-            if (getsockopt (h, SOL_SOCKET, SO_ERROR, (char*) &opt, &len) < 0
-                 || opt != 0)
-                return -1;
-        }
-
-       #if JUCE_MINGW
         return FD_ISSET (h, forReading ? &rset : &wset) ? 1 : 0;
-       #else
-        return (pfd.revents & eventsFlag) != 0;
-       #endif
     }
 
     static addrinfo* getAddressInfo (bool isDatagram, const String& hostName, int portNumber)