diff --git a/lib/rackstash.rb b/lib/rackstash.rb
index e183c18..53965cb 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash.rb
@@ -54,3 +54,5 @@ module Rackstash
 end
 
 require 'rackstash/logger'
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters/io'
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb
index 5abbb3b..3d13978 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapters.rb
@@ -143,3 +143,4 @@ module Rackstash
     end
   end
 end
+
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapters/io.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapters/io.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1ce80d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapters/io.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'thread'
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters/adapter'
+
+module Rackstash
+  module Adapters
+    # This adapter allows to write logs to an existing `IO` object, e.g.,
+    # `STDOUT`, an open file, a `StringIO` object, ...
+    #
+    # When writing a [12factor](https://12factor.net/logs) app, you can use this
+    # adapter to write formatted logs to `STDOUT` of the process to be captured
+    # by the environment and eventually sent to a log collector.
+    #
+    # Concurrent writes to this adapter will be serialized to ensure there are
+    # no overlapping writes. You still have to ensure that there are no other
+    # writes to the IO object from outside this adapter to ensure there that
+    # is no overlapping data visible on the IO object.
+    #
+    # Note that with some deployment models involving pre-forked application
+    # servers, e.g., Unicorn or Puma servers with multiple worker processes, the
+    # combined `STDOUT` stream of multiple processes can cause interleaved data
+    # when writing large log lines (typically > 4 KB). If you are using such a
+    # deployment model and expect large log lines, you should consider using a
+    # different adapter to ensure consistent logs.
+    #
+    # Suitable adapters include:
+    #
+    # * {Rackstash::Adapters::File} - When writing to a file, we ensure with
+    #   explicit file locks that all data is written consistently.
+    # * {Rackstash::Adapters::TCP} - With a single TCP connection per adapter
+    #   instance, the receiver can handle the log lines separately.
+    class IO < Adapter
+      register_for ->(o) { o.respond_to?(:write) && o.respond_to?(:close) }
+
+      # @param io [#write, #close] an IO object. It must at least respond to
+      #   `write` and `close`.
+      def initialize(io)
+        unless io.respond_to?(:write) && io.respond_to?(:close)
+          raise TypeError, "#{io.inspect} does not look like an IO object"
+        end
+
+        @io = io
+        @mutex = Mutex.new
+      end
+
+      # Write a single log line with a trailing newline character to the IO
+      # object.
+      #
+      # @param log [#to_s] the encoded log event
+      # @return [nil]
+      def write_single(log)
+        @mutex.synchronize do
+          @io.write normalize_line(log)
+        end
+        nil
+      end
+
+      # Close the IO object.
+      #
+      # After closing, no further writes are possible. Further attempts to
+      # {#write} will result in an exception being thrown.
+      #
+      # @return [nil]
+      def close
+        @mutex.synchronize do
+          @io.close
+        end
+        nil
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/adapters/io_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/adapters/io_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f77f220
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rackstash/adapters/io_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+require 'stringio'
+require 'tempfile'
+
+require 'rackstash/adapters/io'
+
+describe Rackstash::Adapters::IO do
+  let(:io) { StringIO.new }
+  let(:adapter) { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new(io) }
+
+  describe '#initialize' do
+    it 'accepts an IO object' do
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new($stdout) }.not_to raise_error
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new(StringIO.new) }.not_to raise_error
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new(Tempfile.new('foo')) }.not_to raise_error
+    end
+
+    it 'rejects non-IO objects' do
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new(nil) }.to raise_error TypeError
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new('hello') }.to raise_error TypeError
+      expect { Rackstash::Adapters::IO.new(Object.new) }.to raise_error TypeError
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '.default_encoder' do
+    it 'returns a JSON encoder' do
+      expect(adapter.default_encoder).to be_instance_of Rackstash::Encoders::JSON
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#close' do
+    it 'closes the IO object' do
+      expect(io).to receive(:close).and_call_original
+      adapter.close
+      expect { adapter.write('hello') }.to raise_error IOError
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#reopen' do
+    it 'does nothing' do
+      expect(io).not_to receive(:close)
+      adapter.reopen
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#write_single' do
+    it 'writes the log line to the IO object' do
+      adapter.write('a log line')
+      expect(io.tap(&:rewind).read).to eql "a log line\n"
+    end
+
+    it 'always writes a string' do
+      adapter.write([123, 'hello'])
+      expect(io.tap(&:rewind).read).to eql "[123, \"hello\"]\n"
+    end
+
+    it 'appends a trailing newline if necessary' do
+      adapter.write("a full line.\n")
+      expect(io.tap(&:rewind).read).to eql "a full line.\n"
+    end
+  end
+end