diff --git a/src/fs.c b/src/fs.c
index c7c69923..c0cf758e 100644
--- a/src/fs.c
+++ b/src/fs.c
@@ -25,11 +25,22 @@ typedef struct {
 #endif
 
 static uv_fs_t* luv_check_fs(lua_State* L, int index) {
+  if (luaL_testudata(L, index, "uv_fs") != NULL) {
+    return (uv_fs_t*)lua_touserdata(L, index);
+  }
   uv_fs_t* req = (uv_fs_t*)luaL_checkudata(L, index, "uv_req");
   luaL_argcheck(L, req->type == UV_FS && req->data, index, "Expected uv_fs_t");
   return req;
 }
 
+static int luv_fs_gc(lua_State* L) {
+  uv_fs_t* req = luv_check_fs(L, 1);
+  luv_cleanup_req(L, (luv_req_t*)req->data);
+  req->data = NULL;
+  uv_fs_req_cleanup(req);
+  return 0;
+}
+
 static void luv_push_timespec_table(lua_State* L, const uv_timespec_t* t) {
   lua_createtable(L, 0, 2);
   lua_pushinteger(L, t->tv_sec);
@@ -589,7 +600,7 @@ static int luv_fs_scandir(lua_State* L) {
   int flags = 0; // TODO: find out what these flags are.
   int ref = luv_check_continuation(L, 2);
   uv_fs_t* req = (uv_fs_t*)lua_newuserdata(L, uv_req_size(UV_FS));
-  req->data = luv_setup_req(L, ctx, ref);
+  req->data = luv_setup_req_with_mt(L, ctx, ref, "uv_fs");
   FS_CALL(scandir, req, path, flags);
 }
 
@@ -597,12 +608,7 @@ static int luv_fs_scandir_next(lua_State* L) {
   uv_fs_t* req = luv_check_fs(L, 1);
   uv_dirent_t ent;
   int ret = uv_fs_scandir_next(req, &ent);
-  if (ret == UV_EOF) {
-    luv_cleanup_req(L, (luv_req_t*)req->data);
-    req->data = NULL;
-    uv_fs_req_cleanup(req);
-    return 0;
-  }
+  if (ret == UV_EOF) return 0;
   if (ret < 0) return luv_error(L, ret);
   return luv_push_dirent(L, &ent, 0);
 }
diff --git a/src/lreq.c b/src/lreq.c
index 062c4fbf..2322dd0e 100644
--- a/src/lreq.c
+++ b/src/lreq.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ static int luv_check_continuation(lua_State* L, int index) {
 
 // Store a lua callback in a luv_req for the continuation.
 // The uv_req_t is assumed to be at the top of the stack
-static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int cb_ref) {
+static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req_with_mt(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int cb_ref, const char* mt_name) {
   luv_req_t* data;
 
   luaL_checktype(L, -1, LUA_TUSERDATA);
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int cb_ref) {
   data = (luv_req_t*)malloc(sizeof(*data));
   if (!data) luaL_error(L, "Problem allocating luv request");
 
-  luaL_getmetatable(L, "uv_req");
+  luaL_getmetatable(L, mt_name);
   lua_setmetatable(L, -2);
 
   lua_pushvalue(L, -1);
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int cb_ref) {
   return data;
 }
 
+static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int cb_ref) {
+  return luv_setup_req_with_mt(L, ctx, cb_ref, "uv_req");
+}
+
 
 static void luv_fulfill_req(lua_State* L, luv_req_t* data, int nargs) {
   if (data->callback_ref == LUA_NOREF) {
diff --git a/src/luv.c b/src/luv.c
index 6264262e..f708926d 100644
--- a/src/luv.c
+++ b/src/luv.c
@@ -648,6 +648,17 @@ static void luv_req_init(lua_State* L) {
   luaL_newlib(L, luv_req_methods);
   lua_setfield(L, -2, "__index");
   lua_pop(L, 1);
+
+  // Only used for things that need to be garbage collected
+  // (e.g. the req when using uv_fs_scandir)
+  luaL_newmetatable(L, "uv_fs");
+  lua_pushcfunction(L, luv_req_tostring);
+  lua_setfield(L, -2, "__tostring");
+  luaL_newlib(L, luv_req_methods);
+  lua_setfield(L, -2, "__index");
+  lua_pushcfunction(L, luv_fs_gc);
+  lua_setfield(L, -2, "__gc");
+  lua_pop(L, 1);
 }
 
 // Call lua function, will pop nargs values from top of vm stack and push some
diff --git a/src/private.h b/src/private.h
index 9224ccab..1e921a4a 100644
--- a/src/private.h
+++ b/src/private.h
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ static int luv_check_continuation(lua_State* L, int index);
    top of the stack.
 */
 static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int ref);
+static luv_req_t* luv_setup_req_with_mt(lua_State* L, luv_ctx_t* ctx, int ref, const char* mt_name);
 static void luv_fulfill_req(lua_State* L, luv_req_t* data, int nargs);
 static void luv_cleanup_req(lua_State* L, luv_req_t* data);
 
diff --git a/src/req.c b/src/req.c
index 77b86dea..affc8949 100644
--- a/src/req.c
+++ b/src/req.c
@@ -17,13 +17,16 @@
 #include "private.h"
 
 static uv_req_t* luv_check_req(lua_State* L, int index) {
+  if (luaL_testudata(L, index, "uv_fs") != NULL) {
+    return (uv_req_t*)lua_touserdata(L, index);
+  }
   uv_req_t* req = (uv_req_t*)luaL_checkudata(L, index, "uv_req");
   luaL_argcheck(L, req->data, index, "Expected uv_req_t");
   return req;
 }
 
 static int luv_req_tostring(lua_State* L) {
-  uv_req_t* req = (uv_req_t*)luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "uv_req");
+  uv_req_t* req = luv_check_req(L, 1);
   switch (req->type) {
 #define XX(uc, lc) case UV_##uc: lua_pushfstring(L, "uv_"#lc"_t: %p", req); break;
   UV_REQ_TYPE_MAP(XX)
diff --git a/tests/test-fs.lua b/tests/test-fs.lua
index 23942e21..e199b8e5 100644
--- a/tests/test-fs.lua
+++ b/tests/test-fs.lua
@@ -125,6 +125,14 @@ return require('lib/tap')(function (test)
     end
   end)
 
+  -- this test does nothing on its own, but when run with a leak checker,
+  -- it will check that the memory allocated by Libuv for req is cleaned up
+  -- even if its not iterated fully (or at all)
+  test("fs.scandir with no iteration", function(print, p, expect, uv)
+    local req = uv.fs_scandir('.')
+    assert(req)
+  end)
+
   test("fs.realpath", function (print, p, expect, uv)
     p(assert(uv.fs_realpath('.')))
     assert(uv.fs_realpath('.', expect(function (err, path)