diff --git a/uv-win.c b/uv-win.c
index 4314ef6e..a7ada030 100644
--- a/uv-win.c
+++ b/uv-win.c
@@ -1347,6 +1347,19 @@ int uv_idle_stop(uv_handle_t* handle) {
 }
 
 
+int uv_is_active(uv_handle_t* handle) {
+  switch (handle->type) {
+    case UV_IDLE:
+    case UV_PREPARE:
+    case UV_CHECK:
+      return (handle->flags & UV_HANDLE_ACTIVE) ? 1 : 0;
+
+    default:
+      return 1;
+  }
+}
+
+
 int uv_async_init(uv_handle_t* handle, uv_async_cb async_cb,
                    uv_close_cb close_cb, void* data) {
   uv_req_t* req;
diff --git a/uv.h b/uv.h
index e0e7430b..2b2744ee 100644
--- a/uv.h
+++ b/uv.h
@@ -248,6 +248,11 @@ int uv_idle_init(uv_handle_t* handle, uv_close_cb close_cb, void* data);
 int uv_idle_start(uv_handle_t* handle, uv_loop_cb cb);
 int uv_idle_stop(uv_handle_t* handle);
 
+/* Returns 1 if the prepare/check/idle handle has been started, 0 otherwise.
+ * For other handle types this always returns 1.
+ */
+int uv_is_active(uv_handle_t* handle);
+
 /* libev wrapper. uv_async_send wakes up the event loop and calls the async
  * handle's callback There is no guarantee that every uv_async_send call
  * leads to exactly one invocation of the callback; The only guarantee is