diff --git a/dune b/dune
index 89ee5a3..0f7b651 100644
--- a/dune
+++ b/dune
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 
 (executable
   (name test)
-  (libraries lwt lwt.unix devkit extlib extunix libevent ocamlnet_lite ounit2 unix yojson)
+  (libraries lwt lwt.unix devkit extlib extunix libevent ocamlnet_lite ounit2 threads unix yojson)
   (modules test test_httpev))
 
 ; uses 8GB+ RAM, so do not run as part of test suite
diff --git a/files.ml b/files.ml
index 659b145..3f26994 100644
--- a/files.ml
+++ b/files.ml
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ let mkdir_p ?(perm=0o755) path =
   in
   aux path
 
-let save_as name ?(mode=0o644) f =
+let save_as_regular name ?(mode=0o644) f =
   (* not using make_temp_file cause same dir is needed for atomic rename *)
   let temp = Printf.sprintf "%s.save.%d.tmp" name (U.gettid ()) in
   bracket (Unix.openfile temp [Unix.O_WRONLY;Unix.O_CREAT] mode) Unix.close begin fun fd ->
@@ -81,3 +81,9 @@ let save_as name ?(mode=0o644) f =
     with
       exn -> Exn.suppress Unix.unlink temp; raise exn
   end
+
+let rec save_as name ?mode f =
+  match (Unix.lstat name).st_kind with
+  | Unix.S_LNK -> save_as (Unix.realpath name) ?mode f
+  | Unix.S_REG | (exception Unix.Unix_error (Unix.ENOENT, _, _)) -> save_as_regular name ?mode f
+  | _ -> Out_channel.with_open_gen [ Open_wronly ] 0 name f
diff --git a/files.mli b/files.mli
index 319ff47..b5ab3e6 100644
--- a/files.mli
+++ b/files.mli
@@ -22,11 +22,16 @@ val open_out_append_text : string -> out_channel
 val mkdir_p : ?perm:Unix.file_perm -> string -> unit
 
 (** [save_as filename ?mode f] is similar to
-    [Control.with_open_file_bin] except that writing is done to a
-    temporary file that will be renamed to [filename] after [f] has
-    succesfully terminated. Therefore this guarantee that either
-    [filename] will not be modified or will contain whatever [f] was
-    writing to it as a side-effect.
+    [Control.with_open_file_bin] for regular files, except that
+    writing is done to a temporary file that will be renamed to
+    [filename] after [f] has succesfully terminated. Therefore this
+    guarantee that either [filename] will not be modified or will
+    contain whatever [f] was writing to it as a side-effect.
+
+    There is no such special treatment for special files (Unix.stat
+    kind not S_REG, e.g. devices, pipes, etc), instead they are
+    written to directly. Symlinks are followed (not overwritten in
+    place). Throws {!Unix.Unix_error} on broken symlinks.
 
     FIXME windows *)
 val save_as : string -> ?mode:Unix.file_perm -> (out_channel -> unit) -> unit
diff --git a/test.ml b/test.ml
index c9af39f..15fccb2 100644
--- a/test.ml
+++ b/test.ml
@@ -595,6 +595,80 @@ let () =
   assert_equal !accumulator 4;
   ()
 
+let with_temp_path name f =
+  let path = Filename.concat (Filename.get_temp_dir_name ()) name in
+  (try Sys.remove path with _ -> ());
+  Fun.protect ~finally:(fun () -> try Sys.remove path with _ -> ()) (fun () -> f path)
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as writes to new regular file" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_new.txt" @@ fun path ->
+  Files.save_as path (fun oc -> output_string oc "hello\n");
+  let content = In_channel.with_open_text path In_channel.input_all in
+  assert_equal ~printer:id "hello\n" content
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as overwrites existing regular file" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_overwrite.txt" @@ fun path ->
+  Out_channel.with_open_text path (fun oc -> output_string oc "old\n");
+  Files.save_as path (fun oc -> output_string oc "new\n");
+  let content = In_channel.with_open_text path In_channel.input_all in
+  assert_equal ~printer:id "new\n" content
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as no temp file left on success" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_no_temp.txt" @@ fun path ->
+  Files.save_as path (fun oc -> output_string oc "data\n");
+  let temp = Printf.sprintf "%s.save.%d.tmp" path (U.gettid ()) in
+  assert_bool "temp file should not exist" (not (Sys.file_exists temp))
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as no temp file left on failure" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_fail.txt" @@ fun path ->
+  (try Files.save_as path (fun _oc -> failwith "boom") with Failure _ -> ());
+  let temp = Printf.sprintf "%s.save.%d.tmp" path (U.gettid ()) in
+  assert_bool "temp file should not exist" (not (Sys.file_exists temp));
+  assert_bool "target file should not exist" (not (Sys.file_exists path))
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as writes to /dev/null without error" @@ fun () ->
+  Files.save_as "/dev/null" (fun oc -> output_string oc "discarded\n");
+  let temp = Printf.sprintf "/dev/null.save.%d.tmp" (U.gettid ()) in
+  assert_bool "temp file should not exist" (not (Sys.file_exists temp));
+  assert_bool "/dev/null should be a char device" ((Unix.stat "/dev/null").st_kind = Unix.S_CHR)
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as writes to named pipe (FIFO)" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_fifo" @@ fun fifo_path ->
+  Unix.mkfifo fifo_path 0o644;
+  let received = ref "" in
+  let reader = Thread.create (fun () -> received := In_channel.with_open_text fifo_path In_channel.input_all) () in
+  Files.save_as fifo_path (fun oc -> output_string oc "fifo data\n");
+  Thread.join reader;
+  assert_equal ~printer:id "fifo data\n" !received
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as no temp file created for FIFO" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_fifo2" @@ fun fifo_path ->
+  Unix.mkfifo fifo_path 0o644;
+  let reader = Thread.create (fun () -> ignore (In_channel.with_open_text fifo_path In_channel.input_all)) () in
+  Files.save_as fifo_path (fun oc -> output_string oc "data\n");
+  Thread.join reader;
+  let temp = Printf.sprintf "%s.save.%d.tmp" fifo_path (U.gettid ()) in
+  assert_bool "temp file should not exist" (not (Sys.file_exists temp))
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as writes through symlink without clobbering it" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_symlink_target.txt" @@ fun target ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_symlink_link.txt" @@ fun link ->
+  Out_channel.with_open_text target (fun oc -> output_string oc "old\n");
+  Unix.symlink target link;
+  Files.save_as link (fun oc -> output_string oc "new\n");
+  assert_bool "symlink should still be a symlink" ((Unix.lstat link).st_kind = Unix.S_LNK);
+  let content = In_channel.with_open_text target In_channel.input_all in
+  assert_equal ~printer:id "new\n" content
+
+let () = test "Files.save_as fails on broken symlink" @@ fun () ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_symlink_target.txt" @@ fun target ->
+  with_temp_path "test_save_as_symlink_link.txt" @@ fun link ->
+  Unix.symlink target link;
+  try
+    Files.save_as link (fun oc -> output_string oc "new\n");
+    assert_failure "should fail on broken symlink"
+  with Unix.Unix_error(Unix.ENOENT, "realpath", _) -> ()
+
 let () = test "Logfmt" begin fun () ->
   let eq name expected got =
     assert_equal ~msg:name ~printer:(fun s -> sprintf "%S" s) expected got