diff --git a/libretro-common/file/nbio/nbio_linux.c b/libretro-common/file/nbio/nbio_linux.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e42f7cdd40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libretro-common/file/nbio/nbio_linux.c
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <file/nbio.h>
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/syscall.h>
+#include <linux/aio_abi.h>
+
+/* there's also a Unix AIO thingy, but it's not in glibc and we don't want more dependencies */
+
+static int io_setup(unsigned nr, aio_context_t * ctxp)
+{
+	return syscall(__NR_io_setup, nr, ctxp);
+}
+
+static int io_destroy(aio_context_t ctx) 
+{
+	return syscall(__NR_io_destroy, ctx);
+}
+
+static int io_submit(aio_context_t ctx, long nr, struct iocb ** cbp)
+{
+	return syscall(__NR_io_submit, ctx, nr, cbp);
+}
+
+static int io_cancel(aio_context_t ctx, struct iocb * iocb, struct io_event * result)
+{
+	return syscall(__NR_io_cancel, ctx, iocb, result);
+}
+
+static int io_getevents(aio_context_t ctx, long min_nr, long nr,
+                        struct io_event * events, struct timespec * timeout)
+{
+	return syscall(__NR_io_getevents, ctx, min_nr, nr, events, timeout);
+}
+
+struct nbio_t
+{
+	int fd;
+	bool busy;
+	
+	aio_context_t ctx;
+	struct iocb cb;
+	
+	void* ptr;
+	size_t len;
+};
+
+struct nbio_t* nbio_open(const char * filename, unsigned mode)
+{
+	static const int o_flags[] =   { O_RDONLY, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC, O_RDWR, O_RDONLY, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC };
+	
+	aio_context_t ctx = 0;
+	struct nbio_t* handle;
+	int fd;
+	
+	fd = open(filename, o_flags[mode]|O_CLOEXEC, 0644);
+	if (fd < 0) return NULL;
+	
+	if (io_setup(128, &ctx) < 0)
+	{
+		close(fd);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	
+	handle = malloc(sizeof(struct nbio_t));
+	handle->fd = fd;
+	handle->ctx = ctx;
+	handle->len = lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_END);
+	handle->ptr = malloc(handle->len);
+	handle->busy = false;
+	return handle;
+}
+
+static void nbio_begin_op(struct nbio_t* handle, uint16_t op)
+{
+	struct iocb * cbp = &handle->cb;
+	
+	memset(&handle->cb, 0, sizeof(handle->cb));
+	handle->cb.aio_fildes = handle->fd;
+	handle->cb.aio_lio_opcode = op;
+	
+	handle->cb.aio_buf = (uint64_t)(uintptr_t)handle->ptr;
+	handle->cb.aio_offset = 0;
+	handle->cb.aio_nbytes = handle->len;
+	
+	if (io_submit(handle->ctx, 1, &cbp) != 1)
+	{
+		puts("ERROR - io_submit() failed");
+		abort();
+	}
+	
+	handle->busy = true;
+}
+
+void nbio_begin_read(struct nbio_t* handle)
+{
+	nbio_begin_op(handle, IOCB_CMD_PREAD);
+}
+
+void nbio_begin_write(struct nbio_t* handle)
+{
+	nbio_begin_op(handle, IOCB_CMD_PWRITE);
+}
+
+bool nbio_iterate(struct nbio_t* handle)
+{
+	if (handle->busy)
+	{
+		struct io_event ev;
+		if (io_getevents(handle->ctx, 0, 1, &ev, NULL) == 1)
+		{
+			handle->busy = false;
+		}
+	}
+	return !handle->busy;
+}
+
+void nbio_resize(struct nbio_t* handle, size_t len)
+{
+	if (len < handle->len)
+	{
+		/* this works perfectly fine if this check is removed, but it won't work on other nbio implementations */
+		/* therefore, it's blocked so nobody accidentally relies on it */
+		puts("ERROR - attempted file shrink operation, not implemented");
+		abort();
+	}
+	if (ftruncate(handle->fd, len) != 0)
+	{
+		puts("ERROR - couldn't resize file (ftruncate)");
+		abort(); /* this one returns void and I can't find any other way for it to report failure */
+	}
+	handle->ptr = realloc(handle->ptr, len);
+	handle->len = len;
+}
+
+void* nbio_get_ptr(struct nbio_t* handle, size_t* len)
+{
+	if (len) *len = handle->len;
+	if (!handle->busy) return handle->ptr;
+	else return NULL;
+}
+
+void nbio_cancel(struct nbio_t* handle)
+{
+	if (handle->busy)
+	{
+		struct io_event ev;
+		io_cancel(handle->ctx, &handle->cb, &ev);
+		handle->busy = false;
+	}
+}
+
+void nbio_free(struct nbio_t* handle)
+{
+	io_destroy(handle->ctx);
+	close(handle->fd);
+	free(handle->ptr);
+	free(handle);
+}