diff --git a/C/iopreds.c b/C/iopreds.c
index 2fc6ac1fa..be658e654 100755
--- a/C/iopreds.c
+++ b/C/iopreds.c
@@ -828,6 +828,30 @@ IOSWIGetc(int sno)
   return i;
 }
 
+/* static */
+static int
+IOSWIWidePutc(int sno, int ch)
+{
+  int i;
+  Yap_StartSlots();
+  i = (SWIWidePutc)(ch, Stream[sno].u.swi_stream.swi_ptr);
+  Yap_CloseSlots();
+  YENV = ENV;
+  return i;
+}
+
+/* static */
+static int
+IOSWIWideGetc(int sno)
+{
+  int i;
+  Yap_StartSlots();
+  i = (SWIWideGetc)(Stream[sno].u.swi_stream.swi_ptr);
+  Yap_CloseSlots();
+  YENV = ENV;
+  return i;
+}
+
 #if USE_SOCKET
 /* static */
 static int
@@ -1271,7 +1295,10 @@ EOFGetc(int sno)
       s->stream_getc = PlGetc;
       s->stream_gets = PlGetsFunc();
     }
-    s->stream_wgetc = get_wchar;
+    if (s->status & SWI_Stream_f)
+      s->stream_wgetc = IOSWIWideGetc;
+    else
+      s->stream_wgetc = get_wchar;
     if (CharConversionTable != NULL)
       s->stream_wgetc_for_read = ISOWGetc;
     else
@@ -3156,13 +3183,13 @@ LookupSWIStream (struct io_stream *swi_s)
   Stream[i].encoding = DefaultEncoding();
   Stream[i].stream_getc = IOSWIGetc;
   Stream[i].stream_putc = IOSWIPutc;
-  Stream[i].stream_wputc = put_wchar;
-  Stream[i].stream_wgetc = get_wchar;
+  Stream[i].stream_wputc = IOSWIWidePutc;
+  Stream[i].stream_wgetc = IOSWIWideGetc;
   Stream[i].stream_gets = DefaultGets;
   if (CharConversionTable != NULL)
     Stream[i].stream_wgetc_for_read = ISOWGetc;
   else
-    Stream[i].stream_wgetc_for_read = get_wchar;
+    Stream[i].stream_wgetc_for_read = IOSWIWideGetc;
   return i;
 }
 
@@ -4575,9 +4602,9 @@ p_get (void)
     Yap_Error(PERMISSION_ERROR_INPUT_BINARY_STREAM, ARG1, "get/2");
     return FALSE;
   }
-  while ((ch = get_wchar(sno)) <= 32 && ch >= 0);
+  while ((ch = Stream[sno].stream_wgetc(sno)) <= 32 && ch >= 0);
   UNLOCK(Stream[sno].streamlock);
-  return (Yap_unify_constant (ARG2, MkIntTerm (ch)));
+  return (Yap_unify_constant (ARG2, MkIntegerTerm (ch)));
 }
 
 static Int
@@ -4595,7 +4622,7 @@ p_get0 (void)
     Yap_Error(PERMISSION_ERROR_INPUT_BINARY_STREAM, ARG1, "get0/2");
     return FALSE;
   }
-  out = get_wchar(sno);
+  out = Stream[sno].stream_wgetc(sno);
   UNLOCK(Stream[sno].streamlock);
   return (Yap_unify_constant (ARG2, MkIntegerTerm (out)) );
 }
@@ -5698,7 +5725,7 @@ p_skip (void)
     UNLOCK(Stream[sno].streamlock);
     return (FALSE);
   }
-  while ((ch = get_wchar(sno)) != n && ch != -1);
+  while ((ch = Stream[sno].stream_wgetc(sno)) != n && ch != -1);
   UNLOCK(Stream[sno].streamlock);
   return (TRUE);
 }
diff --git a/H/YapHeap.h b/H/YapHeap.h
index 0aa5dc800..dc43eb001 100755
--- a/H/YapHeap.h
+++ b/H/YapHeap.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 
 typedef int (*SWI_PutFunction)(int, void *);
 typedef int (*SWI_GetFunction)(void *);
+typedef int (*SWI_PutWideFunction)(int, void *);
+typedef int (*SWI_GetWideFunction)(void *);
 typedef int (*SWI_CloseFunction)(void *);
 
 #include "../include/dswiatoms.h"
diff --git a/H/dglobals.h b/H/dglobals.h
index 0eea087e5..2729af0e8 100644
--- a/H/dglobals.h
+++ b/H/dglobals.h
@@ -91,10 +91,6 @@
 #define TotGcRecovered WL->tot_gc_recovered
 #define LastGcTime WL->last_gc_time
 #define LastSSTime WL->last_ss_time
-#define FSWIStream WL->f_swi_stream
-#define SWIGetc WL->swi_getc
-#define SWIPutc WL->swi_putc
-#define SWIClose WL->swi_close
 
 #if defined(YAPOR) || defined(THREADS)
 #define SignalLock WL->signal_lock
@@ -177,6 +173,12 @@
 
 #define BGL Yap_global->bgl
 #endif
+#define FSWIStream Yap_global->f_swi_stream
+#define SWIGetc Yap_global->swi_getc
+#define SWIPutc Yap_global->swi_putc
+#define SWIWideGetc Yap_global->swi_wgetc
+#define SWIWidePutc Yap_global->swi_wputc
+#define SWIClose Yap_global->swi_close
 
 #define Yap_AllowLocalExpansion Yap_global->allow_local_expansion
 #define Yap_AllowGlobalExpansion Yap_global->allow_global_expansion
diff --git a/H/hglobals.h b/H/hglobals.h
index b41656049..99843a85e 100644
--- a/H/hglobals.h
+++ b/H/hglobals.h
@@ -93,10 +93,6 @@ typedef struct worker_local {
   YAP_ULONG_LONG  tot_gc_recovered;
   Int  last_gc_time;
   Int  last_ss_time;
-  Functor  f_swi_stream;
-  SWI_GetFunction  swi_getc;
-  SWI_PutFunction  swi_putc;
-  SWI_CloseFunction  swi_close;
 
 #if defined(YAPOR) || defined(THREADS)
   lockvar  signal_lock;
@@ -179,6 +175,12 @@ typedef struct worker_shared {
 
   lockvar  bgl;
 #endif
+  Functor  f_swi_stream;
+  SWI_GetFunction  swi_getc;
+  SWI_PutFunction  swi_putc;
+  SWI_GetWideFunction  swi_wgetc;
+  SWI_PutWideFunction  swi_wputc;
+  SWI_CloseFunction  swi_close;
 
   int  allow_local_expansion;
   int  allow_global_expansion;
diff --git a/H/iglobals.h b/H/iglobals.h
index 5c4a81dae..622fdebeb 100644
--- a/H/iglobals.h
+++ b/H/iglobals.h
@@ -91,10 +91,6 @@ static void InitWorker(int wid) {
   FOREIGN_WL(wid)->tot_gc_recovered = 0L;
   FOREIGN_WL(wid)->last_gc_time = 0L;
   FOREIGN_WL(wid)->last_ss_time = 0L;
-  FOREIGN_WL(wid)->f_swi_stream = NULL;
-  FOREIGN_WL(wid)->swi_getc = NULL;
-  FOREIGN_WL(wid)->swi_putc = NULL;
-  FOREIGN_WL(wid)->swi_close = NULL;
 
 #if defined(YAPOR) || defined(THREADS)
   INIT_LOCK(FOREIGN_WL(wid)->signal_lock);
@@ -177,6 +173,12 @@ static void InitGlobal(void) {
 
   INIT_LOCK(Yap_global->bgl);
 #endif
+  Yap_global->f_swi_stream = NULL;
+  Yap_global->swi_getc = NULL;
+  Yap_global->swi_putc = NULL;
+  Yap_global->swi_wgetc = NULL;
+  Yap_global->swi_wputc = NULL;
+  Yap_global->swi_close = NULL;
 
   Yap_global->allow_local_expansion = TRUE;
   Yap_global->allow_global_expansion = TRUE;
diff --git a/H/rglobals.h b/H/rglobals.h
index 77084af95..e8681a7b5 100644
--- a/H/rglobals.h
+++ b/H/rglobals.h
@@ -92,10 +92,6 @@ static void RestoreWorker(int wid) {
 
 
 
-
-
-
-
 #if defined(YAPOR) || defined(THREADS)
   REINIT_LOCK(FOREIGN_WL(wid)->signal_lock);
 
@@ -188,6 +184,12 @@ static void RestoreGlobal(void) {
 
 
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 #if HAVE_LIBREADLINE
 
 
diff --git a/library/yap2swi/yap2swi.c b/library/yap2swi/yap2swi.c
index abfbbd486..b5c019f6a 100755
--- a/library/yap2swi/yap2swi.c
+++ b/library/yap2swi/yap2swi.c
@@ -3097,6 +3097,8 @@ PL_YAP_InitSWIIO(struct SWI_IO *swio)
   FSWIStream = SWIFunctorToFunctor(swio->f);
   SWIGetc = swio->get_c;
   SWIPutc = swio->put_c;
+  SWIWideGetc = swio->get_w;
+  SWIWidePutc = swio->put_w;
   SWIClose = swio->close_s;
 }
 
diff --git a/misc/GLOBALS b/misc/GLOBALS
index efd11d81c..8c1d74e45 100644
--- a/misc/GLOBALS
+++ b/misc/GLOBALS
@@ -99,11 +99,6 @@ YAP_ULONG_LONG		tot_gc_recovered	TotGcRecovered	=0L
 Int			last_gc_time		LastGcTime	=0L
 Int			last_ss_time		LastSSTime	=0L
 
-Functor			f_swi_stream		FSWIStream	=NULL
-SWI_GetFunction		swi_getc		SWIGetc		=NULL
-SWI_PutFunction		swi_putc		SWIPutc		=NULL
-SWI_CloseFunction	swi_close		SWIClose	=NULL
-
 // global variables that cannot be global in a thread/or-p implementation
 #if defined(YAPOR) || defined(THREADS)
 lockvar				signal_lock	SignalLock	MkLock
@@ -199,6 +194,13 @@ UInt  threads_total_time		ThreadsTotalTime =0L
 lockvar		bgl			BGL		MkLock
 #endif
 
+Functor			f_swi_stream		FSWIStream	=NULL
+SWI_GetFunction		swi_getc		SWIGetc		=NULL
+SWI_PutFunction		swi_putc		SWIPutc		=NULL
+SWI_GetWideFunction	swi_wgetc		SWIWideGetc	=NULL
+SWI_PutWideFunction	swi_wputc		SWIWidePutc	=NULL
+SWI_CloseFunction	swi_close		SWIClose	=NULL
+
 // stack overflow expansion/gc control
 int		allow_local_expansion	Yap_AllowLocalExpansion =TRUE
 int		allow_global_expansion	Yap_AllowGlobalExpansion =TRUE
diff --git a/packages/PLStream/pl-file.c b/packages/PLStream/pl-file.c
index 58ab98b3b..5298edf04 100755
--- a/packages/PLStream/pl-file.c
+++ b/packages/PLStream/pl-file.c
@@ -4316,6 +4316,7 @@ static void
 init_yap_extras()
 {
   swi_io_struct swiio;
+
   swiio.f = FUNCTOR_dstream1;
   swiio.get_c = pl_Sgetc;
   swiio.put_c = Sputc;