diff --git a/binding.gyp b/binding.gyp
index a2a400ed..c57935ed 100644
--- a/binding.gyp
+++ b/binding.gyp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
               'VCCLCompilerTool': {
                 'ExceptionHandling': 1,
                 'Optimization': 1,
+                'RuntimeLibrary': '2', # /MD
                 'WholeProgramOptimization': 'true'
               },
               'VCLibrarianTool': {
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@
               'VCCLCompilerTool': {
                 'ExceptionHandling': 1,
                 'Optimization': 1,
+                'RuntimeLibrary': '2', # /MD
                 'WholeProgramOptimization': 'true'
               },
               'VCLibrarianTool': {
diff --git a/src/sharp.cc b/src/sharp.cc
index f76a5cb0..f83e7be0 100644
--- a/src/sharp.cc
+++ b/src/sharp.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 #include <napi.h>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <vips/vips8>
 
 #include "common.h"
@@ -21,6 +22,14 @@
 #include "utilities.h"
 #include "stats.h"
 
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER >= 1400  // MSVC 2005/8
+static void empty_invalid_parameter_handler(const wchar_t* expression,
+  const wchar_t* function, const wchar_t* file, unsigned int line,
+  uintptr_t reserved) {
+  // No-op.
+}
+#endif
+
 static void* sharp_vips_init(void*) {
   g_setenv("VIPS_MIN_STACK_SIZE", "2m", FALSE);
   vips_init("sharp");
@@ -34,6 +43,13 @@ Napi::Object init(Napi::Env env, Napi::Object exports) {
   g_log_set_handler("VIPS", static_cast<GLogLevelFlags>(G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING),
     static_cast<GLogFunc>(sharp::VipsWarningCallback), nullptr);
 
+  // Tell the CRT to not exit the application when an invalid parameter is
+  // passed. The main issue is that invalid FDs will trigger this behaviour.
+  // See: https://github.com/libvips/libvips/pull/2571.
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER >= 1400  // MSVC 2005/8
+  _set_invalid_parameter_handler(empty_invalid_parameter_handler);
+#endif
+
   // Methods available to JavaScript
   exports.Set("metadata", Napi::Function::New(env, metadata));
   exports.Set("pipeline", Napi::Function::New(env, pipeline));
diff --git a/test/unit/io.js b/test/unit/io.js
index e0266316..258b42b4 100644
--- a/test/unit/io.js
+++ b/test/unit/io.js
@@ -797,6 +797,19 @@ describe('Input/output', function () {
     });
   });
 
+  it('Fails when writing to missing directory', async () => {
+    const create = {
+      width: 8,
+      height: 8,
+      channels: 3,
+      background: { r: 0, g: 0, b: 0 }
+    };
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () => sharp({ create }).toFile('does-not-exist/out.jpg'),
+      /unable to open for write/
+    );
+  });
+
   describe('create new image', function () {
     it('RGB', function (done) {
       const create = {