diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 76466ae..7249623 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS([vsnprintf strlcat strtoul memrchr])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([fdatasync])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([fpathconf sysconf posix_memalign posix_fadvise])
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([nanosleep])
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS([setitimer])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([getopt.h])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([limits.h])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([wctype.h])
diff --git a/docs/NEWS.md b/docs/NEWS.md
index d7f60d5..8945e10 100644
--- a/docs/NEWS.md
+++ b/docs/NEWS.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ### NOT YET RELEASED
 
  * feature: new "`--si`" option to display and interpret size suffixes in multiples of 1000 rather than 1024 (pull request [#85](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/pulls/85)) supplied by [kevinruddy](https://codeberg.org/kevinruddy)
+ * fix: continue producing progress output when the output is blocking writes ([#34](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/34), [#86](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/86), [#87](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/87))
  * fix: honour the _TMPDIR_ / _TMP_ environment variables again, rather than hard-coding "`/tmp`", when using a terminal lock file (originally removed in 1.8.0) ([#88](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/88))
  * i18n: corrections and missing strings added to French translations (pull request [#83](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/pulls/83)) supplied by [Thomas Bertels](https://codeberg.org/tbertels)
 
diff --git a/docs/TODO.md b/docs/TODO.md
index 7f65574..9c5d706 100644
--- a/docs/TODO.md
+++ b/docs/TODO.md
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ Things still to do.  (#n) indicates the issue tracker number.
  * ([#17](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/17)) Allow "`-r`" with "`-l`" and "`-n`" to output lines/sec (Roland Kletzing)
  * ([#22](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/22)) Options to skip input and seek on output (Jason A. Pfeil, Feb 2022)
  * ([#25](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/25)) Normalise progress to 100% on overrun (Andrej Gantvorg)
- * ([#34](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/34)) Continue timer even if input or output is blocking (Martin Probst - Jun 2017)
  * ([#35](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/35)) Allow decimal values for "`-s`", "`-L`", "`-B`" (Thomas Watson - Aug 2020)
  * ([#38](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/38)) Reset ETA on *SIGUSR1* (Jacek Wielemborek - Jan 2019)
  * ([#40](https://codeberg.org/a-j-wood/pv/issues/40)) Permit "`-c`" with "`-d PID:FD`", reject "`-N`" with "`-d PID`" (Norman Rasmussen - Nov 2020)
diff --git a/src/include/config.h.in b/src/include/config.h.in
index f55b9fb..4d0980c 100644
--- a/src/include/config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/config.h.in
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `select' function. */
 #undef HAVE_SELECT
 
+/* Define to 1 if you have the `setitimer' function. */
+#undef HAVE_SETITIMER
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `setlocale' function. */
 #undef HAVE_SETLOCALE
 
diff --git a/src/include/pv-internal.h b/src/include/pv-internal.h
index e9778d5..b769a72 100644
--- a/src/include/pv-internal.h
+++ b/src/include/pv-internal.h
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ struct pvstate_s {
 #ifdef SA_SIGINFO
 		struct sigaction old_sigusr2;
 #endif
+		struct sigaction old_sigalrm;
 	} signal;
 
 	/*******************
diff --git a/src/pv/signal.c b/src/pv/signal.c
index 8d79a8e..b519833 100644
--- a/src/pv/signal.c
+++ b/src/pv/signal.c
@@ -244,6 +244,22 @@ bool pv_sigusr2_received(pvstate_t state, pid_t * pid)
 #endif
 
 
+/*
+ * Handle alarm signals by doing nothing.
+ *
+ * Note that we have to use a signal handler like this, instead of using
+ * SIG_IGN, because if we ignore the signal entirely, it does nothing,
+ * including not interrupting blocking write() calls - which is what we're
+ * using alarm signals for in the first place.
+ */
+static void pv_sig_alrm( /*@unused@ */  __attribute__((unused))
+			int s)
+{
+	debug("%s", "SIGALRM received");
+	/* Do nothing. */
+}
+
+
 /*
  * Initialise signal handling.
  */
@@ -360,6 +376,15 @@ void pv_sig_init(pvstate_t state)
 	 * while backgrounded (see the SIGTTOU handler above).
 	 */
 	pv_sig_ensure_tty_tostop();
+
+	/*
+	 * Handle SIGALRM by doing nothing, so we can use alarms or interval
+	 * timers to interrupt blocking writes (returning EINTR).
+	 */
+	sa.sa_handler = pv_sig_alrm;
+	(void) sigemptyset(&(sa.sa_mask));
+	sa.sa_flags = 0;
+	(void) sigaction(SIGALRM, &sa, &(pv_sig_state->signal.old_sigalrm));
 }
 
 
@@ -389,6 +414,7 @@ void pv_sig_fini( /*@unused@ */  __attribute__((unused)) pvstate_t state)
 #ifdef SA_SIGINFO
 	(void) sigaction(SIGUSR2, &(pv_sig_state->signal.old_sigusr2), NULL);
 #endif
+	(void) sigaction(SIGALRM, &(pv_sig_state->signal.old_sigalrm), NULL);
 
 	need_to_clear_tostop = pv_sig_state->signal.pv_tty_tostop_added;
 
diff --git a/src/pv/transfer.c b/src/pv/transfer.c
index 2dfc9d5..ef8a07e 100644
--- a/src/pv/transfer.c
+++ b/src/pv/transfer.c
@@ -231,8 +231,8 @@ static ssize_t pv__transfer_write_repeated(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, bool
 			if ((EINTR == errno) || (EAGAIN == errno)) {
 				/*
 				 * Interrupted by a signal - probably our
-				 * alarm() - so just return what we've
-				 * written so far.
+				 * alarm or interval timer - so just return
+				 * what we've written so far.
 				 */
 				return total_written;
 			} else {
@@ -267,8 +267,9 @@ static ssize_t pv__transfer_write_repeated(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, bool
 		/*
 		 * Running the select() here seems to make PV eat a lot of
 		 * CPU in some cases, so instead we just go round the loop
-		 * again and rely on our alarm() to interrupt us if we run
-		 * out of time - also on our elapsed time check.
+		 * again and rely on our alarm or interval timer to
+		 * interrupt us if we run out of time - also on our elapsed
+		 * time check.
 		 */
 		if (count > 0) {
 			debug("%s %d: %s (%ld %s, %ld %s)", "fd", fd,
@@ -643,17 +644,60 @@ static int pv__transfer_write(pvstate_t state, bool *eof_in, bool *eof_out, long
 	if (state->control.discard_input) {
 		nwritten = state->transfer.to_write;
 	} else if (state->transfer.to_write > 0) {
-		if (signal(SIGALRM, SIG_IGN) == SIG_ERR) {
-			pv_error(state, "%s: %s", _("failed to set alarm signal handler"), strerror(errno));
-		} else {
-			(void) alarm(1);
+
+		/*
+		 * Set an interval timer or an alarm to interrupt the write
+		 * with a signal if the write takes too long, so we can
+		 * continue producing progress information.
+		 */
+#if HAVE_SETITIMER
+		struct itimerval new_timer;
+
+		/*@-unrecog@ */
+		/* splint doesn't know setitimer or ITIMER_REAL */
+		memset(&new_timer, 0, sizeof(new_timer));
+		new_timer.it_value.tv_sec = (time_t) (state->control.interval);
+		new_timer.it_value.tv_usec = (suseconds_t) (((long) (state->control.interval * 1000000.0)) % 1000000);
+
+		/*
+		 * We have to set the interval so that the timer continues
+		 * to repeat while writes are attempted, especially as it's
+		 * possible that the initial timer run will expire
+		 * immediately if the period is less than 1 second.
+		 */
+
+		new_timer.it_interval.tv_sec = new_timer.it_value.tv_sec;
+		new_timer.it_interval.tv_usec = new_timer.it_value.tv_usec;
+
+		debug("%s: [%lds,%ldus]", "setting interval timer", (long) (new_timer.it_value.tv_sec),
+		      (long) (new_timer.it_value.tv_usec));
+
+		if (0 != setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &new_timer, NULL)) {
+			pv_error(state, "%s: %s", _("failed to set interval timer"), strerror(errno));
 		}
+
+#else				/* ! HAVE_SETITIMER */
+		(void) alarm(1);
+#endif				/* HAVE_SETITIMER */
 		nwritten = pv__transfer_write_repeated(STDOUT_FILENO,
 						       state->transfer.transfer_buffer +
 						       state->transfer.write_position,
 						       (size_t) (state->transfer.to_write),
 						       state->control.sync_after_write);
+#if HAVE_SETITIMER
+		memset(&new_timer, 0, sizeof(new_timer));
+		new_timer.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
+		new_timer.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
+		new_timer.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
+		new_timer.it_value.tv_usec = 0;
+		if (0 != setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &new_timer, NULL)) {
+			pv_error(state, "%s: %s", _("failed to clear interval timer"), strerror(errno));
+		}
+
+		/*@+unrecog@ */
+#else				/* ! HAVE_SETITIMER */
 		(void) alarm(0);
+#endif				/* HAVE_SETITIMER */
 	}
 
 	if (0 == nwritten) {