diff --git a/include/uv.h b/include/uv.h
index 4078bcd8..6a763839 100644
--- a/include/uv.h
+++ b/include/uv.h
@@ -1789,6 +1789,7 @@ UV_EXTERN void uv_once(uv_once_t* guard, void (*callback)(void));
 
 UV_EXTERN int uv_thread_create(uv_thread_t *tid,
     void (*entry)(void *arg), void *arg);
+UV_EXTERN unsigned long uv_thread_self(void);
 UV_EXTERN int uv_thread_join(uv_thread_t *tid);
 
 /* the presence of these unions force similar struct layout */
diff --git a/src/uv-common.c b/src/uv-common.c
index 75dfcd89..dd91dbb2 100644
--- a/src/uv-common.c
+++ b/src/uv-common.c
@@ -314,6 +314,15 @@ int uv_thread_create(uv_thread_t *tid, void (*entry)(void *arg), void *arg) {
 }
 
 
+unsigned long uv_thread_self(void) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  return (unsigned long) GetCurrentThreadId();
+#else
+  return (unsigned long) pthread_self();
+#endif
+}
+
+
 void uv_walk(uv_loop_t* loop, uv_walk_cb walk_cb, void* arg) {
   ngx_queue_t* q;
   uv_handle_t* h;