diff --git a/lib/event.c b/lib/event.c
index d3bc0205ae98..93df0383b882 100644
--- a/lib/event.c
+++ b/lib/event.c
@@ -1594,6 +1594,60 @@ static int thread_process_io_helper(struct event_loop *m, struct event *thread,
 	return 1;
 }
 
+static inline void thread_process_io_inner_loop(struct event_loop *m, unsigned int num,
+					 struct pollfd *pfds, nfds_t *i, uint32_t *ready)
+{
+  /* no event for current fd? immediately continue */
+  if (pfds[*i].revents == 0)
+    return;
+
+  *ready = *ready + 1;
+
+  /*
+   * Unless someone has called event_cancel from another
+   * pthread, the only thing that could have changed in
+   * m->handler.pfds while we were asleep is the .events
+   * field in a given pollfd. Barring event_cancel() that
+   * value should be a superset of the values we have in our
+   * copy, so there's no need to update it. Similarily,
+   * barring deletion, the fd should still be a valid index
+   * into the master's pfds.
+   *
+   * We are including POLLERR here to do a READ event
+   * this is because the read should fail and the
+   * read function should handle it appropriately
+   */
+  if (pfds[*i].revents & (POLLIN | POLLHUP | POLLERR)) {
+    thread_process_io_helper(m, m->read[pfds[*i].fd], POLLIN,
+			     pfds[*i].revents, *i);
+  }
+  if (pfds[*i].revents & POLLOUT)
+    thread_process_io_helper(m, m->write[pfds[*i].fd],
+			     POLLOUT, pfds[*i].revents, *i);
+
+  /*
+   * if one of our file descriptors is garbage, remove the same
+   * from both pfds + update sizes and index
+   */
+  if (pfds[*i].revents & POLLNVAL) {
+    memmove(m->handler.pfds + *i, m->handler.pfds + *i + 1,
+	    (m->handler.pfdcount - *i - 1)
+	    * sizeof(struct pollfd));
+    m->handler.pfdcount--;
+    m->handler.pfds[m->handler.pfdcount].fd = 0;
+    m->handler.pfds[m->handler.pfdcount].events = 0;
+    
+    memmove(pfds + *i, pfds + *i + 1,
+	    (m->handler.copycount - *i - 1)
+	    * sizeof(struct pollfd));
+    m->handler.copycount--;
+    m->handler.copy[m->handler.copycount].fd = 0;
+    m->handler.copy[m->handler.copycount].events = 0;
+    
+    *i = *i - 1;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Process I/O events.
  *
@@ -1609,55 +1663,7 @@ static void thread_process_io(struct event_loop *m, unsigned int num)
 	struct pollfd *pfds = m->handler.copy;
 
 	for (nfds_t i = 0; i < m->handler.copycount && ready < num; ++i) {
-		/* no event for current fd? immediately continue */
-		if (pfds[i].revents == 0)
-			continue;
-
-		ready++;
-
-		/*
-		 * Unless someone has called event_cancel from another
-		 * pthread, the only thing that could have changed in
-		 * m->handler.pfds while we were asleep is the .events
-		 * field in a given pollfd. Barring event_cancel() that
-		 * value should be a superset of the values we have in our
-		 * copy, so there's no need to update it. Similarily,
-		 * barring deletion, the fd should still be a valid index
-		 * into the master's pfds.
-		 *
-		 * We are including POLLERR here to do a READ event
-		 * this is because the read should fail and the
-		 * read function should handle it appropriately
-		 */
-		if (pfds[i].revents & (POLLIN | POLLHUP | POLLERR)) {
-			thread_process_io_helper(m, m->read[pfds[i].fd], POLLIN,
-						 pfds[i].revents, i);
-		}
-		if (pfds[i].revents & POLLOUT)
-			thread_process_io_helper(m, m->write[pfds[i].fd],
-						 POLLOUT, pfds[i].revents, i);
-
-		/*
-		 * if one of our file descriptors is garbage, remove the same
-		 * from both pfds + update sizes and index
-		 */
-		if (pfds[i].revents & POLLNVAL) {
-			memmove(m->handler.pfds + i, m->handler.pfds + i + 1,
-				(m->handler.pfdcount - i - 1)
-					* sizeof(struct pollfd));
-			m->handler.pfdcount--;
-			m->handler.pfds[m->handler.pfdcount].fd = 0;
-			m->handler.pfds[m->handler.pfdcount].events = 0;
-
-			memmove(pfds + i, pfds + i + 1,
-				(m->handler.copycount - i - 1)
-					* sizeof(struct pollfd));
-			m->handler.copycount--;
-			m->handler.copy[m->handler.copycount].fd = 0;
-			m->handler.copy[m->handler.copycount].events = 0;
-
-			i--;
-		}
+	  thread_process_io_inner_loop(m, num, pfds, &i, &ready);
 	}
 }