diff --git a/epoll.c b/epoll.c
index 672025f50a..2d4aebfbdd 100644
--- a/epoll.c
+++ b/epoll.c
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ static void *epoll_init(struct event_base *);
 static int epoll_dispatch(struct event_base *, struct timeval *);
 static void epoll_dealloc(struct event_base *);
 
-const struct eventop epollops = {
-	"epoll",
+static const struct eventop epollops_changelist = {
+	"epoll (with changelist)",
 	epoll_init,
 	event_changelist_add,
 	event_changelist_del,
@@ -75,6 +75,24 @@ const struct eventop epollops = {
 	EVENT_CHANGELIST_FDINFO_SIZE
 };
 
+
+static int epoll_nochangelist_add(struct event_base *base, evutil_socket_t fd,
+    short old, short events, void *p);
+static int epoll_nochangelist_del(struct event_base *base, evutil_socket_t fd,
+    short old, short events, void *p);
+
+const struct eventop epollops = {
+	"epoll",
+	epoll_init,
+	epoll_nochangelist_add,
+	epoll_nochangelist_del,
+	epoll_dispatch,
+	epoll_dealloc,
+	1, /* need reinit */
+	EV_FEATURE_ET|EV_FEATURE_O1,
+	0
+};
+
 #define INITIAL_NEVENT 32
 #define MAX_NEVENT 4096
 
@@ -115,6 +133,11 @@ epoll_init(struct event_base *base)
 	}
 	epollop->nevents = INITIAL_NEVENT;
 
+	if ((base->flags & EVENT_BASE_FLAG_EPOLL_USE_CHANGELIST) != 0 ||
+	    ((base->flags & EVENT_BASE_FLAG_IGNORE_ENV) == 0 &&
+		evutil_getenv("EVENT_EPOLL_USE_CHANGELIST") != NULL))
+		base->evsel = &epollops_changelist;
+
 	evsig_init(base);
 
 	return (epollop);
@@ -145,19 +168,14 @@ epoll_op_to_string(int op)
 }
 
 static int
-epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
+epoll_apply_one_change(struct event_base *base,
+    struct epollop *epollop,
+    const struct event_change *ch)
 {
-	struct event_changelist *changelist = &base->changelist;
-	struct epollop *epollop = base->evbase;
-	struct event_change *ch;
 	struct epoll_event epev;
-	int i;
-	int op, events;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < changelist->n_changes; ++i) {
-		ch = &changelist->changes[i];
-		events = 0;
+	int op, events = 0;
 
+	if (1) {
 		/* The logic here is a little tricky.  If we had no events set
 		   on the fd before, we need to set op="ADD" and set
 		   events=the events we want to add.  If we had any events set
@@ -166,7 +184,6 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 		   want to remain.  But if we want to delete the last event,
 		   we say op="DEL" and set events=the remaining events.  What
 		   fun!
-
 		*/
 
 		/* TODO: Turn this into a switch or a table lookup. */
@@ -237,7 +254,7 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 		}
 
 		if (!events)
-			continue;
+			return 0;
 
 		memset(&epev, 0, sizeof(epev));
 		epev.data.fd = ch->fd;
@@ -251,6 +268,7 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 				if (epoll_ctl(epollop->epfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, ch->fd, &epev) == -1) {
 					event_warn("Epoll MOD(%d) on %d retried as ADD; that failed too",
 					    (int)epev.events, ch->fd);
+					return -1;
 				} else {
 					event_debug(("Epoll MOD(%d) on %d retried as ADD; succeeded.",
 						(int)epev.events,
@@ -267,6 +285,7 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 				if (epoll_ctl(epollop->epfd, EPOLL_CTL_MOD, ch->fd, &epev) == -1) {
 					event_warn("Epoll ADD(%d) on %d retried as MOD; that failed too",
 					    (int)epev.events, ch->fd);
+					return -1;
 				} else {
 					event_debug(("Epoll ADD(%d) on %d retried as MOD; succeeded.",
 						(int)epev.events,
@@ -292,6 +311,7 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 				    change_to_string(ch->read_change),
 				    ch->write_change,
 				    change_to_string(ch->write_change));
+				return -1;
 			}
 		} else {
 			event_debug(("Epoll %s(%d) on fd %d okay. [old events were %d; read change was %d; write change was %d]",
@@ -303,8 +323,60 @@ epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
 				ch->write_change));
 		}
 	}
+	return 0;
+}
 
-	return (0);
+static int
+epoll_apply_changes(struct event_base *base)
+{
+	struct event_changelist *changelist = &base->changelist;
+	struct epollop *epollop = base->evbase;
+	struct event_change *ch;
+
+	int r = 0;
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < changelist->n_changes; ++i) {
+		ch = &changelist->changes[i];
+		if (epoll_apply_one_change(base, epollop, ch) < 0)
+			r = -1;
+	}
+
+	return (r);
+}
+
+static int
+epoll_nochangelist_add(struct event_base *base, evutil_socket_t fd,
+    short old, short events, void *p)
+{
+	struct event_change ch;
+	ch.fd = fd;
+	ch.old_events = old;
+	ch.read_change = ch.write_change = 0;
+	if (events & EV_WRITE)
+		ch.write_change = EV_CHANGE_ADD |
+		    (events & EV_ET);
+	if (events & EV_READ)
+		ch.read_change = EV_CHANGE_ADD |
+		    (events & EV_ET);
+
+	return epoll_apply_one_change(base, base->evbase, &ch);
+}
+
+static int
+epoll_nochangelist_del(struct event_base *base, evutil_socket_t fd,
+    short old, short events, void *p)
+{
+	struct event_change ch;
+	ch.fd = fd;
+	ch.old_events = old;
+	ch.read_change = ch.write_change = 0;
+	if (events & EV_WRITE)
+		ch.write_change = EV_CHANGE_DEL;
+	if (events & EV_READ)
+		ch.read_change = EV_CHANGE_DEL;
+
+	return epoll_apply_one_change(base, base->evbase, &ch);
 }
 
 static int
diff --git a/include/event2/event.h b/include/event2/event.h
index fa0f625d3e..5be1168833 100644
--- a/include/event2/event.h
+++ b/include/event2/event.h
@@ -183,15 +183,31 @@ enum event_base_config_flag {
 	/** Do not allocate a lock for the event base, even if we have
 	    locking set up. */
 	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_NOLOCK = 0x01,
-	/** Do not check the EVENT_NO* environment variables when picking
-	    an event_base. */
+	/** Do not check the EVENT_* environment variables when configuring
+	    an event_base  */
 	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_IGNORE_ENV = 0x02,
 	/** Windows only: enable the IOCP dispatcher at startup */
 	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_STARTUP_IOCP = 0x04,
 	/** Instead of checking the current time every time the event loop is
 	    ready to run timeout callbacks, check after each timeout callback.
 	 */
-	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_NO_CACHE_TIME = 0x08
+	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_NO_CACHE_TIME = 0x08,
+
+	/** If we are using the epoll backend, this flag says that it is
+	    safe to use Libevent's internal change-list code to batch up
+	    adds and deletes in order to try to do as few syscalls as
+	    possible.  Setting this flag can make your code run faster, but
+	    it may trigger a Linux bug: it is not safe to use this flag
+	    if you have any fds cloned by dup() or its variants.  Doing so
+	    will produce strange and hard-to-diagnose bugs.
+
+	    This flag can also be activated by settnig the
+	    EVENT_EPOLL_USE_CHANGELIST environment variable.
+
+	    This flag has no effect if you wind up using a backend other than
+	    epoll.
+	 */
+	EVENT_BASE_FLAG_EPOLL_USE_CHANGELIST = 0x10
 };
 
 /**