diff --git a/app/main.c b/app/main.c
index 6ff266480c..39b0b3faed 100644
--- a/app/main.c
+++ b/app/main.c
@@ -955,8 +955,9 @@ gimp_attach_console_window (void)
   /* If run on native shell, attach to it */
   if (AttachConsole (ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS) != 0)
     {
-      freopen ("CONOUT$", "w", stdout);
-      freopen ("CONOUT$", "w", stderr);
+      /* 'r' is needed to prevent interleaving and '+' to support colors */
+      freopen ("CONOUT$", "r+", stdout);
+      freopen ("CONOUT$", "r+", stderr);
       _flushall ();
 
       {
diff --git a/libgimp/gimp.c b/libgimp/gimp.c
index 4eb73a996a..a21a99f3ca 100644
--- a/libgimp/gimp.c
+++ b/libgimp/gimp.c
@@ -204,8 +204,9 @@ gimp_main (GType  plug_in_type,
   /* Make plugins output available on console */
   if (AttachConsole (ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS) != 0 && ! g_getenv ("TERM") && ! g_getenv ("SHELL"))
     {
-      freopen ("CONOUT$", "w", stdout);
-      freopen ("CONOUT$", "w", stderr);
+      /* 'r' is needed to prevent interleaving and '+' to support colors */
+      freopen ("CONOUT$", "r+", stdout);
+      freopen ("CONOUT$", "r+", stderr);
       _flushall ();
     }