diff --git a/server/serial.c b/server/serial.c
index 239a9c5..4be8226 100644
--- a/server/serial.c
+++ b/server/serial.c
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ struct object *create_serial( struct fd *fd )
 {
     struct serial *serial;
 
+    /* set the fd back to blocking if necessary */
+    if (get_fd_options(fd) & (FILE_SYNCHRONOUS_IO_ALERT | FILE_SYNCHRONOUS_IO_NONALERT))
+        fcntl( get_unix_fd(fd), F_SETFL, 0 );
+
     if (!(serial = alloc_object( &serial_ops ))) return NULL;
 
     serial->readinterval = 0;