diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.cc b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.cc
index aeee8fe4d..4210510be 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.cc
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ void
 fhandler_base::reset (const fhandler_base *from)
 {
   pc << from->pc;
-  rabuf = NULL;
-  ralen = 0;
-  raixget = 0;
-  raixput = 0;
-  rabuflen = 0;
+  ra.rabuf = NULL;
+  ra.ralen = 0;
+  ra.raixget = 0;
+  ra.raixput = 0;
+  ra.rabuflen = 0;
   _refcnt = 0;
 }
 
@@ -66,15 +66,15 @@ int
 fhandler_base::put_readahead (char value)
 {
   char *newrabuf;
-  if (raixput < rabuflen)
+  if (raixput () < rabuflen ())
     /* Nothing to do */;
-  else if ((newrabuf = (char *) realloc (rabuf, rabuflen += 32)))
-    rabuf = newrabuf;
+  else if ((newrabuf = (char *) realloc (rabuf (), rabuflen () += 32)))
+    rabuf () = newrabuf;
   else
     return 0;
 
-  rabuf[raixput++] = value;
-  ralen++;
+  rabuf ()[raixput ()++] = value;
+  ralen ()++;
   return 1;
 }
 
@@ -82,11 +82,11 @@ int
 fhandler_base::get_readahead ()
 {
   int chret = -1;
-  if (raixget < ralen)
-    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf[raixget++]) & 0xff;
+  if (raixget () < ralen ())
+    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf ()[raixget ()++]) & 0xff;
   /* FIXME - not thread safe */
-  if (raixget >= ralen)
-    raixget = raixput = ralen = 0;
+  if (raixget () >= ralen ())
+    raixget () = raixput () = ralen () = 0;
   return chret;
 }
 
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ int
 fhandler_base::peek_readahead (int queryput)
 {
   int chret = -1;
-  if (!queryput && raixget < ralen)
-    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf[raixget]) & 0xff;
-  else if (queryput && raixput > 0)
-    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf[raixput - 1]) & 0xff;
+  if (!queryput && raixget () < ralen ())
+    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf ()[raixget ()]) & 0xff;
+  else if (queryput && raixput () > 0)
+    chret = ((unsigned char) rabuf ()[raixput () - 1]) & 0xff;
   return chret;
 }
 
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ void
 fhandler_base::set_readahead_valid (int val, int ch)
 {
   if (!val)
-    ralen = raixget = raixput = 0;
+    ralen () = raixget () = raixput () = 0;
   if (ch != -1)
     put_readahead (ch);
 }
@@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@ fhandler_base::lseek (off_t offset, int whence)
   if (whence != SEEK_CUR || offset != 0)
     {
       if (whence == SEEK_CUR)
-	offset -= ralen - raixget;
+	offset -= ralen () - raixget ();
       set_readahead_valid (0);
     }
 
@@ -1142,7 +1142,7 @@ fhandler_base::lseek (off_t offset, int whence)
      readahead that we have to take into account when calculating
      the actual position for the application.  */
   if (whence == SEEK_CUR)
-    res -= ralen - raixget;
+    res -= ralen () - raixget ();
 
   return res;
 }
@@ -1565,23 +1565,23 @@ fhandler_base::fhandler_base () :
   ino (0),
   _refcnt (0),
   openflags (0),
-  rabuf (NULL),
-  ralen (0),
-  raixget (0),
-  raixput (0),
-  rabuflen (0),
   unique_id (0),
   archetype (NULL),
   usecount (0)
 {
+  ra.rabuf = NULL;
+  ra.ralen = 0;
+  ra.raixget = 0;
+  ra.raixput = 0;
+  ra.rabuflen = 0;
   isclosed (false);
 }
 
 /* Normal I/O destructor */
 fhandler_base::~fhandler_base ()
 {
-  if (rabuf)
-    free (rabuf);
+  if (ra.rabuf)
+    free (ra.rabuf);
 }
 
 /**********************************************************************/
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.h b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.h
index c0d56b4da..b4a5638fe 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.h
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler.h
@@ -202,16 +202,21 @@ class fhandler_base
 
   ino_t ino;	/* file ID or hashed filename, depends on FS. */
   LONG _refcnt;
+ public:
+  struct rabuf_t
+  {
+    char *rabuf;		/* used for crlf conversion in text files */
+    size_t ralen;
+    size_t raixget;
+    size_t raixput;
+    size_t rabuflen;
+  };
 
  protected:
   /* File open flags from open () and fcntl () calls */
   int openflags;
 
-  char *rabuf;		/* used for crlf conversion in text files */
-  size_t ralen;
-  size_t raixget;
-  size_t raixput;
-  size_t rabuflen;
+  struct rabuf_t ra;
 
   /* Used for advisory file locking.  See flock.cc.  */
   int64_t unique_id;
@@ -315,7 +320,13 @@ class fhandler_base
     ReleaseSemaphore (read_state, n, NULL);
   }
 
-  bool get_readahead_valid () { return raixget < ralen; }
+  virtual char *&rabuf () { return ra.rabuf; };
+  virtual size_t &ralen () { return ra.ralen; };
+  virtual size_t &raixget () { return ra.raixget; };
+  virtual size_t &raixput () { return ra.raixput; };
+  virtual size_t &rabuflen () { return ra.rabuflen; };
+
+  bool get_readahead_valid () { return raixget () < ralen (); }
   int puts_readahead (const char *s, size_t len = (size_t) -1);
   int put_readahead (char value);
 
@@ -464,8 +475,8 @@ public:
   virtual bg_check_types bg_check (int, bool = false) {return bg_ok;}
   virtual void clear_readahead ()
   {
-    raixput = raixget = ralen = rabuflen = 0;
-    rabuf = NULL;
+    raixput () = raixget () = ralen () = rabuflen () = 0;
+    rabuf () = NULL;
   }
   void operator delete (void *p) {cfree (p);}
   virtual void set_eof () {}
@@ -2051,6 +2062,12 @@ private:
   DWORD __acquire_output_mutex (const char *fn, int ln, DWORD ms);
   void __release_output_mutex (const char *fn, int ln);
 
+  char *&rabuf ();
+  size_t &ralen ();
+  size_t &raixget ();
+  size_t &raixput ();
+  size_t &rabuflen ();
+
   friend tty_min * tty_list::get_cttyp ();
 };
 
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_console.cc b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_console.cc
index b3f2cb65a..f88d24701 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_console.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_console.cc
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ bool NO_COPY fhandler_console::invisible_console;
 static DWORD orig_conin_mode = (DWORD) -1;
 static DWORD orig_conout_mode = (DWORD) -1;
 
+/* con_ra is shared in the same process.
+   Only one console can exist in a process, therefore, static is suitable. */
+static struct fhandler_base::rabuf_t con_ra;
+
 static void
 beep ()
 {
@@ -214,6 +218,36 @@ fhandler_console::setup ()
     }
 }
 
+char *&
+fhandler_console::rabuf ()
+{
+  return con_ra.rabuf;
+}
+
+size_t &
+fhandler_console::ralen ()
+{
+  return con_ra.ralen;
+}
+
+size_t &
+fhandler_console::raixget ()
+{
+  return con_ra.raixget;
+}
+
+size_t &
+fhandler_console::raixput ()
+{
+  return con_ra.raixput;
+}
+
+size_t &
+fhandler_console::rabuflen ()
+{
+  return con_ra.rabuflen;
+}
+
 /* Return the tty structure associated with a given tty number.  If the
    tty number is < 0, just return a dummy record. */
 tty_min *
@@ -454,7 +488,7 @@ fhandler_console::read (void *pv, size_t& buflen)
   copied_chars +=
     get_readahead_into_buffer (buf + copied_chars, buflen);
 
-  if (!ralen)
+  if (!con_ra.ralen)
     input_ready = false;
   release_input_mutex ();
 
@@ -1103,6 +1137,9 @@ fhandler_console::close ()
   CloseHandle (get_handle ());
   CloseHandle (get_output_handle ());
 
+  if (con_ra.rabuf)
+    free (con_ra.rabuf);
+
   /* If already attached to pseudo console, don't call free_console () */
   cygheap_fdenum cfd (false);
   while (cfd.next () >= 0)
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_termios.cc b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_termios.cc
index 5b0ba5603..d96b669bd 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_termios.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_termios.cc
@@ -265,25 +265,26 @@ fhandler_termios::bg_check (int sig, bool dontsignal)
 int
 fhandler_termios::eat_readahead (int n)
 {
-  int oralen = ralen;
+  int oralen = ralen ();
   if (n < 0)
-    n = ralen;
-  if (n > 0 && ralen > 0)
+    n = ralen ();
+  if (n > 0 && ralen () > 0)
     {
-      if ((int) (ralen -= n) < 0)
-	ralen = 0;
+      if ((int) (ralen () -= n) < 0)
+	ralen () = 0;
       /* If IUTF8 is set, the terminal is in UTF-8 mode.  If so, we erase
 	 a complete UTF-8 multibyte sequence on VERASE/VWERASE.  Otherwise,
 	 if we only erase a single byte, invalid unicode chars are left in
 	 the input. */
       if (tc ()->ti.c_iflag & IUTF8)
-	while (ralen > 0 && ((unsigned char) rabuf[ralen] & 0xc0) == 0x80)
-	  --ralen;
+	while (ralen () > 0 &&
+	       ((unsigned char) rabuf ()[ralen ()] & 0xc0) == 0x80)
+	  --ralen ();
 
-      if (raixget >= ralen)
-	raixget = raixput = ralen = 0;
-      else if (raixput > ralen)
-	raixput = ralen;
+      if (raixget () >= ralen ())
+	raixget () = raixput () = ralen () = 0;
+      else if (raixput () > ralen ())
+	raixput () = ralen ();
     }
 
   return oralen;
@@ -411,7 +412,7 @@ fhandler_termios::line_edit (const char *rptr, size_t nread, termios& ti,
 	  if (ti.c_lflag & ECHO)
 	    {
 	      doecho ("\n\r", 2);
-	      doecho (rabuf, ralen);
+	      doecho (rabuf (), ralen ());
 	    }
 	  continue;
 	}
@@ -438,13 +439,13 @@ fhandler_termios::line_edit (const char *rptr, size_t nread, termios& ti,
 	doecho (&c, 1);
       /* Write in chunks of 32 bytes to reduce the number of WriteFile calls
       	in non-canonical mode. */
-      if ((!iscanon && ralen >= 32) || input_done)
+      if ((!iscanon && ralen () >= 32) || input_done)
 	{
 	  int status = accept_input ();
 	  if (status != 1)
 	    {
 	      ret = status ? line_edit_error : line_edit_pipe_full;
-	      nread += ralen;
+	      nread += ralen ();
 	      break;
 	    }
 	  ret = line_edit_input_done;
@@ -453,14 +454,14 @@ fhandler_termios::line_edit (const char *rptr, size_t nread, termios& ti,
     }
 
   /* If we didn't write all bytes in non-canonical mode, write them now. */
-  if (!iscanon && ralen > 0
+  if (!iscanon && ralen () > 0
       && (ret == line_edit_ok || ret == line_edit_input_done))
     {
       int status = accept_input ();
       if (status != 1)
 	{
 	  ret = status ? line_edit_error : line_edit_pipe_full;
-	  nread += ralen;
+	  nread += ralen ();
 	}
       else
 	ret = line_edit_input_done;
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_tty.cc b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_tty.cc
index 4977a8bd5..870fcebbc 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_tty.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fhandler_tty.cc
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ fhandler_pty_master::accept_input ()
     }
   else
     {
-      char *p = rabuf;
+      char *p = rabuf ();
       DWORD rc;
       DWORD written = 0;