diff --git a/config-mingw.mk b/config-mingw.mk
index 054e1ce2..7cd59d0f 100644
--- a/config-mingw.mk
+++ b/config-mingw.mk
@@ -32,11 +32,14 @@ RUNNER_LINKFLAGS=$(LINKFLAGS)
 RUNNER_LIBS=-lws2_32
 RUNNER_SRC=test/runner-win.c
 
-uv.a: uv-win.o 
-	$(AR) rcs uv.a uv-win.o
+uv.a: uv-win.o uv-common.o
+	$(AR) rcs uv.a uv-win.o uv-common.o
 
 uv-win.o: uv-win.c uv.h uv-win.h
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c uv-win.c -o uv-win.o
 
+uv-common.o: uv-common.c uv.h uv-win.h
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c uv-common.c -o uv-common.o
+
 distclean-platform:
 clean-platform:
diff --git a/config-unix.mk b/config-unix.mk
index 500b1890..af8c7d81 100644
--- a/config-unix.mk
+++ b/config-unix.mk
@@ -35,12 +35,15 @@ RUNNER_LINKFLAGS=$(LINKFLAGS) -pthread
 RUNNER_LIBS=
 RUNNER_SRC=test/runner-unix.c
 
-uv.a: uv-unix.o ev/ev.o
-	$(AR) rcs uv.a uv-unix.o ev/ev.o
+uv.a: uv-unix.o uv-common.o ev/ev.o
+	$(AR) rcs uv.a uv-unix.o uv-common.o ev/ev.o
 
 uv-unix.o: uv-unix.c uv.h uv-unix.h
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c uv-unix.c -o uv-unix.o
 
+uv-common.o: uv-common.c uv.h uv-unix.h
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c uv-common.c -o uv-common.o
+
 ev/ev.o: ev/config.h ev/ev.c
 	$(MAKE) -C ev
 
diff --git a/msvs/libuv.vcxproj b/msvs/libuv.vcxproj
index 3c7f2e1a..7b11f49e 100644
--- a/msvs/libuv.vcxproj
+++ b/msvs/libuv.vcxproj
@@ -119,9 +119,12 @@
       <ExcludedFromBuild Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">true</ExcludedFromBuild>
     </ClCompile>
     <ClCompile Include="..\uv-win.c" />
+    <ClCompile Include="..\uv-common.c" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="..\AUTHORS" />
+    <None Include="..\config-mingw.mk" />
+    <None Include="..\config-unix.mk" />
     <None Include="..\iocp-links.html" />
     <None Include="..\LICENSE" />
     <None Include="..\Makefile" />
diff --git a/uv-common.c b/uv-common.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1b454f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/uv-common.c
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/* Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to
+ * deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the
+ * rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
+ * sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+ * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
+ * IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include "uv.h"
+
+#include <assert.h>
+
+
+const char* uv_err_name(uv_err_t err) {
+  switch (err.code) {
+    case UV_UNKNOWN: return "UNKNOWN";
+    case UV_OK: return "OK";
+    case UV_EOF: return "EOF";
+    case UV_EACCESS: return "EACCESS";
+    case UV_EAGAIN: return "EAGAIN";
+    case UV_EADDRINUSE: return "EADDRINUSE";
+    case UV_EADDRNOTAVAIL: return "EADDRNOTAVAIL";
+    case UV_EAFNOSUPPORT: return "EAFNOSUPPORT";
+    case UV_EALREADY: return "EALREADY";
+    case UV_EBADF: return "EBADF";
+    case UV_EBUSY: return "EBUSY";
+    case UV_ECONNABORTED: return "ECONNABORTED";
+    case UV_ECONNREFUSED: return "ECONNREFUSED";
+    case UV_ECONNRESET: return "ECONNRESET";
+    case UV_EDESTADDRREQ: return "EDESTADDRREQ";
+    case UV_EFAULT: return "EFAULT";
+    case UV_EHOSTUNREACH: return "EHOSTUNREACH";
+    case UV_EINTR: return "EINTR";
+    case UV_EINVAL: return "EINVAL";
+    case UV_EISCONN: return "EISCONN";
+    case UV_EMFILE: return "EMFILE";
+    case UV_ENETDOWN: return "ENETDOWN";
+    case UV_ENETUNREACH: return "ENETUNREACH";
+    case UV_ENFILE: return "ENFILE";
+    case UV_ENOBUFS: return "ENOBUFS";
+    case UV_ENOMEM: return "ENOMEM";
+    case UV_ENONET: return "ENONET";
+    case UV_ENOPROTOOPT: return "ENOPROTOOPT";
+    case UV_ENOTCONN: return "ENOTCONN";
+    case UV_ENOTSOCK: return "ENOTSOCK";
+    case UV_ENOTSUP: return "ENOTSUP";
+    case UV_EPROTO: return "EPROTO";
+    case UV_EPROTONOSUPPORT: return "EPROTONOSUPPORT";
+    case UV_EPROTOTYPE: return "EPROTOTYPE";
+    case UV_ETIMEDOUT: return "ETIMEDOUT";
+    default:
+      assert(0);
+      return NULL;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/uv-unix.c b/uv-unix.c
index d3c3be20..0e978277 100644
--- a/uv-unix.c
+++ b/uv-unix.c
@@ -44,50 +44,6 @@ int uv_tcp_open(uv_handle_t*, int fd);
 static void uv__finish_close(uv_handle_t* handle);
 
 
-const char* uv_err_tostr(uv_err_code code) {
-  switch (code) {
-    case UV_UNKNOWN: return "UNKNOWN";
-    case UV_OK: return "OK";
-    case UV_EOF: return "EOF";
-    case UV_EACCESS: return "EACCESS";
-    case UV_EAGAIN: return "EAGAIN";
-    case UV_EADDRINUSE: return "EADDRINUSE";
-    case UV_EADDRNOTAVAIL: return "EADDRNOTAVAIL";
-    case UV_EAFNOSUPPORT: return "EAFNOSUPPORT";
-    case UV_EALREADY: return "EALREADY";
-    case UV_EBADF: return "EBADF";
-    case UV_EBUSY: return "EBUSY";
-    case UV_ECONNABORTED: return "ECONNABORTED";
-    case UV_ECONNREFUSED: return "ECONNREFUSED";
-    case UV_ECONNRESET: return "ECONNRESET";
-    case UV_EDESTADDRREQ: return "EDESTADDRREQ";
-    case UV_EFAULT: return "EFAULT";
-    case UV_EHOSTUNREACH: return "EHOSTUNREACH";
-    case UV_EINTR: return "EINTR";
-    case UV_EINVAL: return "EINVAL";
-    case UV_EISCONN: return "EISCONN";
-    case UV_EMFILE: return "EMFILE";
-    case UV_ENETDOWN: return "ENETDOWN";
-    case UV_ENETUNREACH: return "ENETUNREACH";
-    case UV_ENFILE: return "ENFILE";
-    case UV_ENOBUFS: return "ENOBUFS";
-    case UV_ENOMEM: return "ENOMEM";
-    case UV_ENONET: return "ENONET";
-    case UV_ENOPROTOOPT: return "ENOPROTOOPT";
-    case UV_ENOTCONN: return "ENOTCONN";
-    case UV_ENOTSOCK: return "ENOTSOCK";
-    case UV_ENOTSUP: return "ENOTSUP";
-    case UV_EPROTO: return "EPROTO";
-    case UV_EPROTONOSUPPORT: return "EPROTONOSUPPORT";
-    case UV_EPROTOTYPE: return "EPROTOTYPE";
-    case UV_ETIMEDOUT: return "ETIMEDOUT";
-    default:
-      assert(0);
-      return NULL;
-  }
-}
-
-
 /* flags */
 enum {
   UV_CLOSING  = 0x00000001, /* uv_close() called but not finished. */
diff --git a/uv.h b/uv.h
index cf425b4b..0b4984bf 100644
--- a/uv.h
+++ b/uv.h
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ struct uv_handle_s {
  */
 uv_err_t uv_last_error();
 char* uv_strerror(uv_err_t err);
-const char* uv_err_tostr(uv_err_code code);
+const char* uv_err_name(uv_err_t err);
 
 void uv_init(uv_alloc_cb alloc);
 int uv_run();