diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5e27efce2ae..be71e9d61a3 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+	* on windows, explicitly flush memory mapped files periodically
 	* fix issue where incoming uTP connections were not accepted over SOCKS5
 	* fix several issues in handling of checking files of v2 torrents, esp. from magnet links
 	* make the token limit when parsing metadata from magnet files configurable
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/file_view_pool.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/file_view_pool.hpp
index a6ef66d14d0..597156dd032 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/file_view_pool.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/file_view_pool.hpp
@@ -110,6 +110,10 @@ namespace aux {
 
 		void close_oldest();
 
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+		int flush_next_file();
+#endif
+
 	private:
 
 		std::shared_ptr<file_mapping> remove_oldest(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>&);
@@ -150,6 +154,10 @@ namespace aux {
 			mi::ordered_unique<mi::member<file_entry, file_id, &file_entry::key>>,
 			// look up files by least recently used
 			mi::sequenced<>
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+			// look up files by least recently flushed
+			, mi::sequenced<>
+#endif
 			>
 		>;
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/mmap.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/mmap.hpp
index 254e122f3d1..4d18421c76e 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/mmap.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/mmap.hpp
@@ -122,6 +122,10 @@ namespace aux {
 #endif
 			);
 
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+		void flush();
+#endif
+
 		// non-copyable
 		file_mapping(file_mapping const&) = delete;
 		file_mapping& operator=(file_mapping const&) = delete;
diff --git a/src/file_view_pool.cpp b/src/file_view_pool.cpp
index 87fc467a83a..2e67c06e6cd 100644
--- a/src/file_view_pool.cpp
+++ b/src/file_view_pool.cpp
@@ -269,6 +269,20 @@ namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
 		std::unique_lock<std::mutex> l(m_mutex);
 		deferred_destruction = remove_oldest(l);
 	}
+
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+	int file_view_pool::flush_next_file()
+	{
+		std::unique_lock<std::mutex> l(m_mutex);
+		auto& flush_view = m_files.get<2>();
+		if (flush_view.size() == 0) return 0;
+
+		flush_view.begin()->mapping->flush();
+		flush_view.relocate(m_files.project<2>(flush_view.begin()), flush_view.end());
+
+		return static_cast<int>(m_files.size());
+	}
+#endif
 }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/mmap.cpp b/src/mmap.cpp
index 836cbb9a1c6..4f823c6fcc5 100644
--- a/src/mmap.cpp
+++ b/src/mmap.cpp
@@ -638,9 +638,18 @@ file_mapping::file_mapping(file_handle file, open_mode_t const mode
 		throw_ex<storage_error>(error_code(GetLastError(), system_category()), operation_t::file_mmap);
 }
 
+void file_mapping::flush()
+{
+	if (m_mapping == nullptr) return;
+
+	// ignore errors, this is best-effort
+	FlushViewOfFile(m_mapping, static_cast<std::size_t>(m_size));
+}
+
 void file_mapping::close()
 {
 	if (m_mapping == nullptr) return;
+	flush();
 	std::lock_guard<std::mutex> l(*m_open_unmap_lock);
 	UnmapViewOfFile(m_mapping);
 	m_mapping = nullptr;
diff --git a/src/mmap_disk_io.cpp b/src/mmap_disk_io.cpp
index 8899146f9f3..1599892cbad 100644
--- a/src/mmap_disk_io.cpp
+++ b/src/mmap_disk_io.cpp
@@ -314,10 +314,6 @@ struct TORRENT_EXTRA_EXPORT mmap_disk_io final
 
 	settings_interface const& m_settings;
 
-	// we call close_oldest_file on the file_pool regularly. This is the next
-	// time we should call it
-	time_point m_next_close_oldest_file = min_time();
-
 	// LRU cache of open files
 	aux::file_view_pool m_file_pool;
 
@@ -1510,6 +1506,14 @@ TORRENT_EXPORT std::unique_ptr<disk_interface> mmap_disk_io_constructor(
 		++m_num_running_threads;
 		m_stats_counters.inc_stats_counter(counters::num_running_threads, 1);
 
+		// we call close_oldest_file on the file_pool regularly. This is the next
+		// time we should call it
+		time_point next_close_oldest_file = min_time();
+
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+		time_point next_flush_file = min_time();
+#endif
+
 		for (;;)
 		{
 			aux::disk_io_job* j = nullptr;
@@ -1538,20 +1542,35 @@ TORRENT_EXPORT std::unique_ptr<disk_interface> mmap_disk_io_constructor(
 					}
 				}
 
-				if (now > m_next_close_oldest_file)
+				if (now > next_close_oldest_file)
 				{
 					seconds const interval(m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::close_file_interval));
 					if (interval <= seconds(0))
 					{
 						// check again in one minute, in case the setting changed
-						m_next_close_oldest_file = now + minutes(1);
+						next_close_oldest_file = now + minutes(1);
 					}
 					else
 					{
-						m_next_close_oldest_file = now + interval;
+						next_close_oldest_file = now + interval;
 						m_file_pool.close_oldest();
 					}
 				}
+
+#if TORRENT_HAVE_MAP_VIEW_OF_FILE
+				if (now > next_flush_file)
+				{
+					// on windows we need to explicitly ask the operating system to flush
+					// dirty pages from time to time
+					int const pool_size = m_file_pool.flush_next_file();
+
+					// aim at flushing every file every 30 seconds, without
+					// flushing a file more often that every other second.
+					auto const interval = std::max(
+						seconds(30) / std::max(1, pool_size), seconds(2));
+					next_flush_file = now + ;
+				}
+#endif
 			}
 
 			execute_job(j);