diff --git a/base/file.jl b/base/file.jl
index 94f753d8b93d8..73ba66cc46071 100644
--- a/base/file.jl
+++ b/base/file.jl
@@ -260,3 +260,62 @@ function readdir(path::AbstractString)
 end
 
 readdir() = readdir(".")
+
+"""
+    walkdir(dir; topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
+
+The walkdir method return an iterator that walks the directory tree of a directory. The iterator returns a tuple containing
+`(rootpath, dirs, files)`. The directory tree can be transversed top-down or bottom-up. If walkdir encounters a SystemError
+it will raise the error. A custom error handling function can be provided through `onerror` keyword argument, the function
+is called with a SystemError as argument.
+
+    for (root, dirs, files) in walkdir(".")
+        println("Directories in \$root")
+        for dir in dirs
+            println(joinpath(root, dir)) # path to directories
+        end
+        println("Files in \$root")
+        for file in files
+            println(joinpath(root, file)) # path to files
+        end
+    end
+
+"""
+function walkdir(root; topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
+    content = nothing
+    try
+        content = readdir(root)
+    catch err
+        isa(SystemError) || throw(err)
+        onerror(err)
+        return
+    end
+    dirs = Array(eltype(content), 0)
+    files = Array(eltype(content), 0)
+    for name in content
+        if isdir(joinpath(root, name))
+            push!(dirs, name)
+        else
+            push!(files, name)
+        end
+    end
+
+    function _it()
+        if topdown
+            produce(root, dirs, files)
+        end
+        for dir in dirs
+            path = joinpath(root,dir)
+            if follow_symlinks || !islink(path)
+                for (root_l, dirs_l, files_l) in walkdir(path, topdown=topdown, follow_symlinks=follow_symlinks, onerror=onerror)
+                    produce(root_l, dirs_l, files_l)
+                end
+            end
+        end
+        if !topdown
+            produce(root, dirs, files)
+        end
+    end
+    Task(_it)
+end
+
diff --git a/test/file.jl b/test/file.jl
index bd08ef3215f49..4aff56a8a6fce 100644
--- a/test/file.jl
+++ b/test/file.jl
@@ -855,6 +855,86 @@ end
 @test_throws ArgumentError download("good", "ba\0d")
 @test_throws ArgumentError download("ba\0d", "good")
 
+###################
+#     walkdir     #
+###################
+
+dir = mktempdir()
+cd(dir) do
+    for i=1:2
+        mkdir("sub_dir$i")
+        open("file$i", "w") do f end
+
+        mkdir(joinpath("sub_dir1", "subsub_dir$i"))
+        open(joinpath("sub_dir1", "file$i"), "w") do f end
+    end
+    open(joinpath("sub_dir2", "file_dir2"), "w")
+    has_symlinks = @unix? true : (Base.windows_version() >= Base.WINDOWS_VISTA_VER)
+    follow_symlink_vec = has_symlinks ? [true, false] : [false]
+    has_symlinks && symlink("sub_dir2", joinpath("sub_dir1", "link"))
+    for follow_symlinks in follow_symlink_vec
+        task = walkdir(".", follow_symlinks=follow_symlinks)
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        @test root == "."
+        @test dirs == ["sub_dir1", "sub_dir2"]
+        @test files == ["file1", "file2"]
+
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1")
+        @test dirs == (has_symlinks ? ["link", "subsub_dir1", "subsub_dir2"] : ["subsub_dir1", "subsub_dir2"])
+        @test files == ["file1", "file2"]
+
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        if follow_symlinks
+            @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1", "link")
+            @test dirs == []
+            @test files == ["file_dir2"]
+            root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        end
+        for i=1:2
+            @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1", "subsub_dir$i")
+            @test dirs == []
+            @test files == []
+            root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        end
+
+        @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir2")
+        @test dirs == []
+        @test files == ["file_dir2"]
+    end
+
+    for follow_symlinks in follow_symlink_vec
+        task = walkdir(".", follow_symlinks=follow_symlinks, topdown=false)
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        if follow_symlinks
+            @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1", "link")
+            @test dirs == []
+            @test files == ["file_dir2"]
+            root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        end
+        for i=1:2
+            @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1", "subsub_dir$i")
+            @test dirs == []
+            @test files == []
+            root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        end
+        @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir1")
+        @test dirs ==  (has_symlinks ? ["link", "subsub_dir1", "subsub_dir2"] : ["subsub_dir1", "subsub_dir2"])
+        @test files == ["file1", "file2"]
+
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        @test root == joinpath(".", "sub_dir2")
+        @test dirs == []
+        @test files == ["file_dir2"]
+
+        root, dirs, files = consume(task)
+        @test root == "."
+        @test dirs == ["sub_dir1", "sub_dir2"]
+        @test files == ["file1", "file2"]
+    end
+end
+rm(dir, recursive=true)
+
 ############
 # Clean up #
 ############