diff --git a/src/main/main.c b/src/main/main.c
index 838b704..693cac9 100644
--- a/src/main/main.c
+++ b/src/main/main.c
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@
 #include "options.h"
 #include "pv.h"
 
-/* We do not set this because it breaks "dd" - see below. */
-/* #undef MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING */
-
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -335,16 +332,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			    opts->fineta, opts->rate, opts->average_rate,
 			    opts->bytes, opts->bufpercent, opts->lastwritten, opts->name);
 
-#ifdef MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING
-	/*
-	 * Try and make the output use non-blocking I/O.
-	 *
-	 * Note that this can cause problems with (broken) applications
-	 * such as dd when used in a pipeline.
-	 */
-	fcntl(state->control.output_fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK | fcntl(state->control.output_fd, F_GETFL));
-#endif				/* MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING */
-
 	/* Initialise the signal handling. */
 	pv_sig_init(state);
 
diff --git a/src/pv/state.c b/src/pv/state.c
index 079ea99..472175e 100644
--- a/src/pv/state.c
+++ b/src/pv/state.c
@@ -10,11 +10,15 @@
 #include "pv.h"
 #include "pv-internal.h"
 
+/* We do not set this because it breaks "dd" - see below. */
+/* #undef MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING */
+
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 
 
 /* alloc / realloc history buffer */
@@ -385,6 +389,15 @@ void pv_state_output_set(pvstate_t state, int fd, const char *name)
 		free(state->control.output_name);
 	state->control.output_fd = fd;
 	state->control.output_name = pv_strdup(name);
+#ifdef MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING
+	/*
+	 * Try and make the output use non-blocking I/O.
+	 *
+	 * Note that this can cause problems with (broken) applications
+	 * such as dd when used in a pipeline.
+	 */
+	fcntl(state->control.output_fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK | fcntl(state->control.output_fd, F_GETFL));
+#endif				/* MAKE_OUTPUT_NONBLOCKING */
 }
 
 void pv_state_average_rate_window_set(pvstate_t state, unsigned int val)