diff --git a/tests/first_stage_test.py b/tests/first_stage_test.py
index 3f8a3f50..354f7479 100644
--- a/tests/first_stage_test.py
+++ b/tests/first_stage_test.py
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+import errno
+import operator
+import os
+
 import mitogen.core
 import mitogen.parent
 from mitogen.core import b
@@ -5,6 +9,269 @@ from mitogen.core import b
 import testlib
 
 
+def create_child_using_pipes(args, blocking, preexec_fn=None):
+    """
+    Create a child process whose stdin/stdout/stderr is connected to a pipe.
+
+    :param list args:
+        Program argument vector.
+    :param bool blocking:
+        If :data:`True`, the sockets use blocking IO, otherwise non-blocking.
+    :param function preexec_fn:
+        If not :data:`None`, a function to run within the post-fork child
+        before executing the target program.
+    :returns:
+        :class:`PopenProcess` instance.
+    """
+
+    parent_rfp, child_wfp = mitogen.core.pipe(blocking)
+    child_rfp, parent_wfp = mitogen.core.pipe(blocking)
+    stderr_r, stderr = mitogen.core.pipe(blocking=blocking)
+    mitogen.core.set_cloexec(stderr_r.fileno())
+    try:
+        proc = testlib.subprocess.Popen(
+            args=args,
+            stdin=child_rfp,
+            stdout=child_wfp,
+            stderr=stderr,
+            close_fds=True,
+            preexec_fn=preexec_fn,
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        parent_rfp.close()
+        parent_wfp.close()
+        stderr_r.close()
+        raise
+    finally:
+        child_rfp.close()
+        child_wfp.close()
+        stderr.close()
+
+    return mitogen.parent.PopenProcess(
+        proc=proc,
+        stdin=parent_wfp,
+        stdout=parent_rfp,
+        stderr=stderr_r,
+    )
+
+
+def create_child_using_sockets(args, blocking, size=None, preexec_fn=None):
+    """
+    Create a child process whose stdin/stdout is connected to a socket and stderr to a pipe.
+
+    :param list args:
+        Program argument vector.
+    :param bool blocking:
+        If :data:`True`, the sockets use blocking IO, otherwise non-blocking.
+    :param int size:
+        If not :data:`None`, use the value as the socket buffer size.
+    :param function preexec_fn:
+        If not :data:`None`, a function to run within the post-fork child
+        before executing the target program.
+    :returns:
+        :class:`PopenProcess` instance.
+    """
+
+    parent_rw_fp, child_rw_fp = mitogen.parent.create_socketpair(size=size, blocking=blocking)
+    stderr_r, stderr = mitogen.core.pipe(blocking=blocking)
+    mitogen.core.set_cloexec(stderr_r.fileno())
+    try:
+        proc = testlib.subprocess.Popen(
+            args=args,
+            stdin=child_rw_fp,
+            stdout=child_rw_fp,
+            stderr=stderr,
+            close_fds=True,
+            preexec_fn=preexec_fn,
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        parent_rw_fp.close()
+        stderr_r.close()
+        raise
+    finally:
+        child_rw_fp.close()
+        stderr.close()
+
+    return mitogen.parent.PopenProcess(
+        proc=proc,
+        stdin=parent_rw_fp,
+        stdout=parent_rw_fp,
+        stderr=stderr_r,
+    )
+
+
+class DummyConnectionBlocking(mitogen.parent.Connection):
+    """Dummy blocking IO connection"""
+
+    create_child = staticmethod(create_child_using_sockets)
+    name_prefix = "dummy_blocking"
+
+    #: Dictionary of extra kwargs passed to :attr:`create_child`.
+    #: Use a size smaller than the conn.get_preamble() size so multiple
+    #: read-calls are needed in the first stage.
+    create_child_args = {"blocking": True, "size": 4096}
+
+
+class DummyConnectionNonBlocking(mitogen.parent.Connection):
+    """Dummy non-blocking IO connection"""
+
+    create_child = staticmethod(create_child_using_sockets)
+    name_prefix = "dummy_non_blocking"
+
+    #: Dictionary of extra kwargs passed to :attr:`create_child`.
+    #: Use a size smaller than the conn.get_preamble() size so multiple
+    #: read-calls are needed in the first stage.
+    create_child_args = {"blocking": False, "size": 4096}
+
+
+class DummyConnectionEOFRead(mitogen.parent.Connection):
+    """Dummy connection that triggers an EOF-read(STDIN) in the first_stage"""
+
+    name_prefix = "dummy_eof_read"
+
+    #: Dictionary of extra kwargs passed to :attr:`create_child`.
+    create_child_args = {"blocking": True}
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def create_child(*a, **kw):
+        proc = create_child_using_pipes(*a, **kw)
+        # Close the pipe -> results in an EOF-read(STDIN) in the first_stage
+        proc.stdin.close()
+        # Whatever the parent writes to the child, drop it.
+        proc.stdin = open("/dev/null", "wb")
+        return proc
+
+
+class DummyConnectionEndlessBlockingRead(mitogen.parent.Connection):
+    """Dummy connection that triggers a non-returning read(STDIN) call in the
+    first_stage.
+
+    """
+
+    name_prefix = "dummy_endless_blocking_read"
+
+    #: Dictionary of extra kwargs passed to :attr:`create_child`.
+    create_child_args = {"blocking": True}
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def create_child(*a, **kw):
+        proc = create_child_using_pipes(*a, **kw)
+        # Keep the pipe open by having a reference to it, otherwise it would be
+        # automatically closed by the garbage collector.
+        proc._mitogen_test_orig_stdin = proc.stdin
+        # Whatever the parent writes to the child, drop it -> read from STDOUT
+        # blocks forever in the fork child as no data could be read.
+        proc.stdin = open("/dev/null", "wb")
+        return proc
+
+
+class ConnectionTest(testlib.RouterMixin, testlib.TestCase):
+    def test_non_blocking_stdin(self):
+        """Test that first stage works with non-blocking STDIN
+
+        The boot command should read the preamble from STDIN, write all ECO
+        markers to STDOUT, and then execute the preamble.
+
+        This test writes the complete preamble to non-blocking STDIN.
+
+        1. Fork child reads from non-blocking STDIN
+        2. Fork child writes all data as expected by the protocol.
+        3. A context call works as expected.
+
+        """
+        with testlib.LogCapturer() as _:
+            ctx = self.router._connect(DummyConnectionNonBlocking, connect_timeout=0.5)
+            self.assertEqual(3, ctx.call(operator.add, 1, 2))
+
+    def test_blocking_stdin(self):
+        """Test that first stage works with blocking STDIN
+
+        The boot command should read the preamble from STDIN, write all ECO
+        markers to STDOUT, and then execute the preamble.
+
+        This test writes the complete preamble to blocking STDIN.
+
+        1. Fork child reads from blocking STDIN
+        2. Fork child writes all data as expected by the protocol.
+        3. A context call works as expected.
+
+        """
+        with testlib.LogCapturer() as _:
+            ctx = self.router._connect(DummyConnectionBlocking, connect_timeout=0.5)
+            self.assertEqual(3, ctx.call(operator.add, 1, 2))
+
+    def test_broker_connect_eof_error(self):
+        """Test that broker takes care about EOF errors in the first stage
+
+        The boot command should write an ECO marker to stdout, try to read the
+        preamble from STDIN. This read returns with an EOF and the process exits.
+
+        This test writes closes the pipe for STDIN of the fork child to enforce an EOF read call.
+        1. Fork child reads from STDIN and reads an EOF and breaks the read-loop
+        2. Decompressing the received data results in an error
+        3. The child process exits
+        4. The streams get disconnected -> mitogen.parent.EofError is raised
+
+        """
+
+        with testlib.LogCapturer() as _:
+            e = self.assertRaises(mitogen.parent.EofError,
+                              self.router._connect, DummyConnectionEOFRead, connect_timeout=0.5)
+            self.assertIn("Error -5 while decompressing data", str(e))
+
+            # Test that a TimeoutError is raised by the broker and all resources
+            # are cleaned up.
+            options = mitogen.parent.Options(
+                old_router=self.router,
+                max_message_size=self.router.max_message_size,
+                connect_timeout=0.5,
+            )
+            conn = DummyConnectionEOFRead(options, router=self.router)
+            e = self.assertRaises(mitogen.parent.EofError,
+                                  conn.connect, context=mitogen.core.Context(None, 1234))
+            self.assertIn("Error -5 while decompressing data", str(e))
+            # Ensure the child process is reaped if the connection times out.
+            testlib.wait_for_child(conn.proc.pid)
+            e = self.assertRaises(OSError,
+                                  os.kill, conn.proc.pid, 0)
+            self.assertEqual(e.args[0], errno.ESRCH)
+
+    def test_broker_connect_timeout_because_endless_blocking_read(self):
+        """Test that broker takes care about connection timeouts
+
+        The boot command should write an ECO marker to stdout, try to read the
+        preamble from STDIN. This read blocks forever as the parent does write
+        all the data to /dev/null instead of the pipe. The broker should then
+        raise a TimeoutError as the child needs too much time.
+
+        This test writes no data to STDIN of the fork child to enforce a blocking read call.
+        1. Fork child tries to read from STDIN, but blocks forever.
+        2. Parent connection timeout timer pops up and the parent cleans up
+           everything from the child (e.g. kills the child process).
+        3. TimeoutError is raised in the connect call
+
+        """
+        with testlib.LogCapturer() as _:
+            # Ensure the child process is reaped if the connection times out.
+            options = mitogen.parent.Options(
+                old_router=self.router,
+                max_message_size=self.router.max_message_size,
+                connect_timeout=0.5,
+            )
+
+            conn = DummyConnectionEndlessBlockingRead(options, router=self.router)
+            try:
+                self.assertRaises(mitogen.core.TimeoutError,
+                                  lambda: conn.connect(context=mitogen.core.Context(None, 1234))
+                                  )
+                testlib.wait_for_child(conn.proc.pid)
+                e = self.assertRaises(OSError,
+                                      os.kill, conn.proc.pid, 0)
+                self.assertEqual(e.args[0], errno.ESRCH)
+            finally:
+                conn.proc._mitogen_test_orig_stdin.close()
+
+
 class CommandLineTest(testlib.RouterMixin, testlib.TestCase):
     # Ensure this version of Python produces a command line that is sufficient
     # to bootstrap this version of Python.
@@ -52,3 +319,49 @@ class CommandLineTest(testlib.RouterMixin, testlib.TestCase):
             )
         finally:
             fp.close()
+
+    def test_premature_eof(self):
+        """The boot command should write an ECO marker to stdout, read the
+        preamble from stdin, then execute it.
+
+        This test writes some data to STDIN and closes it then to create an
+        EOF situation.
+        1. Fork child tries to read from STDIN, but stops as EOF is received.
+        2. Fork child crashes (trying to decompress the junk data)
+        3. Fork child's file descriptors (write pipes) are closed by the OS
+        4. Fork parent does `dup(<read pipe>, <stdin>)` and `exec(<python>)`
+        5. Python reads `b''` (i.e. EOF) from stdin (a closed pipe)
+        6. Python runs `''` (a valid script) and exits with success"""
+
+        options = mitogen.parent.Options(max_message_size=123)
+        conn = mitogen.parent.Connection(options, self.router)
+        conn.context = mitogen.core.Context(None, 123)
+        proc = testlib.subprocess.Popen(
+            args=conn.get_boot_command(),
+            stdout=testlib.subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=testlib.subprocess.PIPE,
+            stdin=testlib.subprocess.PIPE,
+        )
+
+        # Do not send all of the data from the preamble
+        proc.stdin.write(conn.get_preamble()[:-128])
+        proc.stdin.close()
+        try:
+            returncode = proc.wait(timeout=1)
+        except testlib.subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+            proc.kill()
+            proc.wait(timeout=3)
+            self.fail("First stage did not handle EOF on STDIN")
+        try:
+            self.assertEqual(0, returncode)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                proc.stdout.read(),
+                mitogen.parent.BootstrapProtocol.EC0_MARKER + b("\n"),
+            )
+            self.assertIn(
+                b("Error -5 while decompressing data"),
+                proc.stderr.read(),
+            )
+        finally:
+            proc.stdout.close()
+            proc.stderr.close()