diff --git a/effects/screenshot/screenshot.cpp b/effects/screenshot/screenshot.cpp
index 80091de824..9f7da1cd73 100644
--- a/effects/screenshot/screenshot.cpp
+++ b/effects/screenshot/screenshot.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <kwinglplatform.h>
 #include <kwinglutils.h>
 #include <kwinxrenderutils.h>
+#include <QtConcurrentRun>
+#include <QDataStream>
 #include <QtCore/QTemporaryFile>
 #include <QtCore/QDir>
 #include <QtDBus/QDBusConnection>
@@ -33,6 +35,8 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <KLocalizedString>
 #include <KNotification>
 
+#include <unistd.h>
+
 namespace KWin
 {
 
@@ -187,6 +191,20 @@ void ScreenShotEffect::postPaintScreen()
                 m_windowMode = WindowMode::NoCapture;
             } else if (m_windowMode == WindowMode::File) {
                 sendReplyImage(img);
+            } else if (m_windowMode == WindowMode::FileDescriptor) {
+                QtConcurrent::run(
+                    [] (int fd, const QImage &img) {
+                        QFile file;
+                        if (file.open(fd, QIODevice::WriteOnly, QFileDevice::AutoCloseHandle)) {
+                            QDataStream ds(&file);
+                            ds << img;
+                            file.close();
+                        } else {
+                            close(fd);
+                        }
+                    }, m_fd, img);
+                m_windowMode = WindowMode::NoCapture;
+                m_fd = -1;
             }
 #ifdef KWIN_HAVE_XRENDER_COMPOSITING
             if (xImage) {
@@ -306,7 +324,7 @@ QString ScreenShotEffect::interactive(int mask)
     setDelayedReply(true);
     effects->startInteractiveWindowSelection(
         [this] (EffectWindow *w) {
-            m_infoFrame.reset();
+            hideInfoMessage();
             if (!w) {
                 m_replyConnection.send(m_replyMessage.createErrorReply(QDBusError::Failed, "Screenshot got cancelled"));
                 m_windowMode = WindowMode::NoCapture;
@@ -317,20 +335,64 @@ QString ScreenShotEffect::interactive(int mask)
             }
     });
 
-
-    if (m_infoFrame.isNull()) {
-        m_infoFrame.reset(effects->effectFrame(EffectFrameStyled, false));
-        QFont font;
-        font.setBold(true);
-        m_infoFrame->setFont(font);
-        QRect area = effects->clientArea(ScreenArea, effects->activeScreen(), effects->currentDesktop());
-        m_infoFrame->setPosition(QPoint(area.x() + area.width() / 2, area.y() + area.height() / 3));
-        m_infoFrame->setText(i18n("Select window to screen shot with left click or enter.\nEscape or right click to cancel."));
-        effects->addRepaintFull();
-    }
+    showInfoMessage();
     return QString();
 }
 
+void ScreenShotEffect::interactive(QDBusUnixFileDescriptor fd, int mask)
+{
+    if (!calledFromDBus()) {
+        return;
+    }
+    if (!m_scheduledGeometry.isNull() || m_windowMode != WindowMode::NoCapture) {
+        sendErrorReply(QDBusError::Failed, "A screenshot is already been taken");
+        return;
+    }
+    m_fd = dup(fd.fileDescriptor());
+    if (m_fd == -1) {
+        sendErrorReply(QDBusError::Failed, "No valid file descriptor");
+        return;
+    }
+    m_type = (ScreenShotType) mask;
+    m_windowMode = WindowMode::FileDescriptor;
+
+    effects->startInteractiveWindowSelection(
+        [this] (EffectWindow *w) {
+            hideInfoMessage();
+            if (!w) {
+                close(m_fd);
+                m_fd = -1;
+                m_windowMode = WindowMode::NoCapture;
+                return;
+            } else {
+                m_scheduledScreenshot = w;
+                m_scheduledScreenshot->addRepaintFull();
+            }
+    });
+
+    showInfoMessage();
+}
+
+void ScreenShotEffect::showInfoMessage()
+{
+    if (!m_infoFrame.isNull()) {
+        return;
+    }
+    m_infoFrame.reset(effects->effectFrame(EffectFrameStyled, false));
+    QFont font;
+    font.setBold(true);
+    m_infoFrame->setFont(font);
+    QRect area = effects->clientArea(ScreenArea, effects->activeScreen(), effects->currentDesktop());
+    m_infoFrame->setPosition(QPoint(area.x() + area.width() / 2, area.y() + area.height() / 3));
+    m_infoFrame->setText(i18n("Select window to screen shot with left click or enter.\nEscape or right click to cancel."));
+    effects->addRepaintFull();
+}
+
+void ScreenShotEffect::hideInfoMessage()
+{
+    m_infoFrame.reset();
+}
+
 QString ScreenShotEffect::screenshotFullscreen(bool captureCursor)
 {
     if (!calledFromDBus()) {
diff --git a/effects/screenshot/screenshot.h b/effects/screenshot/screenshot.h
index 2323b9f9c6..8a54aa5639 100644
--- a/effects/screenshot/screenshot.h
+++ b/effects/screenshot/screenshot.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <QDBusContext>
 #include <QDBusConnection>
 #include <QDBusMessage>
+#include <QDBusUnixFileDescriptor>
 #include <QObject>
 #include <QImage>
 
@@ -64,6 +65,18 @@ public Q_SLOTS:
      * @param mask The mask for what to include in the screenshot
      **/
     Q_SCRIPTABLE QString interactive(int mask = 0);
+    /**
+     * Starts an interactive window screenshot session. The user can select a window to
+     * screenshot.
+     *
+     * Once the window is selected the screenshot is saved into the @p fd passed to the
+     * method. It is intended to be used with a pipe, so that the invoking side can just
+     * read from the pipe. The image gets written into the fd using a QDataStream.
+     *
+     * @param fd File descriptor into which the screenshot should be saved
+     * @param mask The mask for what to include in the screenshot
+     **/
+    Q_SCRIPTABLE void interactive(QDBusUnixFileDescriptor fd, int mask = 0);
     Q_SCRIPTABLE void screenshotWindowUnderCursor(int mask = 0);
     /**
      * Saves a screenshot of all screen into a file and returns the path to the file.
@@ -103,6 +116,8 @@ private:
     QImage blitScreenshot(const QRect &geometry);
     QString saveTempImage(const QImage &img);
     void sendReplyImage(const QImage &img);
+    void showInfoMessage();
+    void hideInfoMessage();
     EffectWindow *m_scheduledScreenshot;
     ScreenShotType m_type;
     QRect m_scheduledGeometry;
@@ -115,9 +130,11 @@ private:
     enum class WindowMode {
         NoCapture,
         Xpixmap,
-        File
+        File,
+        FileDescriptor
     };
     WindowMode m_windowMode = WindowMode::NoCapture;
+    int m_fd = -1;
     QScopedPointer<EffectFrame> m_infoFrame;
 };
 
diff --git a/main_wayland.cpp b/main_wayland.cpp
index 364f4ca725..ebc2c14a64 100644
--- a/main_wayland.cpp
+++ b/main_wayland.cpp
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ int main(int argc, char * argv[])
         signal(SIGHUP, SIG_IGN);
     signal(SIGABRT, KWin::unsetDumpable);
     signal(SIGSEGV, KWin::unsetDumpable);
+    signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
     // ensure that no thread takes SIGUSR
     sigset_t userSignals;
     sigemptyset(&userSignals);
diff --git a/main_x11.cpp b/main_x11.cpp
index da3c0452e7..923462f84e 100644
--- a/main_x11.cpp
+++ b/main_x11.cpp
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ KWIN_EXPORT int kdemain(int argc, char * argv[])
         signal(SIGINT, SIG_IGN);
     if (signal(SIGHUP, KWin::sighandler) == SIG_IGN)
         signal(SIGHUP, SIG_IGN);
+    signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
 
     // Disable the glib event loop integration, since it seems to be responsible
     // for several bug reports about high CPU usage (bug #239963)