diff --git a/doc/xml/release.xml b/doc/xml/release.xml
index 82875fec7..5b15b7c22 100644
--- a/doc/xml/release.xml
+++ b/doc/xml/release.xml
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@
                     <release-item>
                         <p>Replace <code>THROW_ON_SYS_ERROR()</code> with <code>THROW_SYS_ERROR()</code>.  The former macro was hiding missing branch coverage for critical error handling.</p>
                     </release-item>
+
+                    <release-item>
+                        <p>Start work on C handle io object and use it to output help.</p>
+                    </release-item>
                 </release-development-list>
             </release-core-list>
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 62319c9e6..6d15399da 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ SRCS = \
 	command/command.c \
 	common/error.c \
 	common/exit.c \
+	common/io/handle.c \
 	common/ini.c \
 	common/log.c \
 	common/memContext.c \
diff --git a/src/command/help/help.c b/src/command/help/help.c
index 265232174..18f647fc2 100644
--- a/src/command/help/help.c
+++ b/src/command/help/help.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Help Command
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include "common/io/handle.h"
 #include "common/memContext.h"
 #include "common/type.h"
 #include "config/config.h"
@@ -337,10 +338,7 @@ cmdHelp()
 {
     MEM_CONTEXT_TEMP_BEGIN()
     {
-        String *help = helpRender();
-
-        if (write(STDOUT_FILENO, strPtr(help), strSize(help)) != (int)strSize(help))            // {uncovered - write does not fail}
-            THROW_SYS_ERROR(FileWriteError, "unable to write help to stdout");                  // {uncovered+}
+        ioHandleWriteOneStr(STDOUT_FILENO, helpRender());
     }
     MEM_CONTEXT_TEMP_END();
 }
diff --git a/src/common/io/handle.c b/src/common/io/handle.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24feff3cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/io/handle.c
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Handle IO
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "common/error.h"
+#include "common/io/handle.h"
+
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Write a string to the specified handle
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+void
+ioHandleWriteOneStr(int handle, const String *string)
+{
+    if (write(handle, strPtr(string), strSize(string)) != (int)strSize(string))
+        THROW_SYS_ERROR(FileWriteError, "unable to write to %u byte(s) to handle", strSize(string));
+}
diff --git a/src/common/io/handle.h b/src/common/io/handle.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9bd140a5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/io/handle.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Handle IO
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+#ifndef COMMON_IO_HANDLE_H
+#define COMMON_IO_HANDLE_H
+
+#include "common/type.h"
+
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Functions
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+void ioHandleWriteOneStr(int handle, const String *string);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Common/DefineTest.pm b/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Common/DefineTest.pm
index bb14e6c8b..2d316bc01 100644
--- a/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Common/DefineTest.pm
+++ b/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Common/DefineTest.pm
@@ -176,6 +176,16 @@ my $oTestDef =
                         'common/debug' => TESTDEF_COVERAGE_NOCODE,
                     },
                 },
+                {
+                    &TESTDEF_NAME => 'io-handle',
+                    &TESTDEF_TOTAL => 1,
+                    &TESTDEF_C => true,
+
+                    &TESTDEF_COVERAGE =>
+                    {
+                        'common/io/handle' => TESTDEF_COVERAGE_FULL,
+                    },
+                },
                 {
                     &TESTDEF_NAME => 'exit',
                     &TESTDEF_TOTAL => 1,
@@ -320,7 +330,7 @@ my $oTestDef =
                     },
                 },
                 {
-                    &TESTDEF_NAME => 'io-handle',
+                    &TESTDEF_NAME => 'io-handle-perl',
                     &TESTDEF_TOTAL => 6,
 
                     &TESTDEF_COVERAGE =>
diff --git a/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandleTest.pm b/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandlePerlTest.pm
similarity index 98%
rename from test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandleTest.pm
rename to test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandlePerlTest.pm
index e2f4fbf4c..a61d92c41 100644
--- a/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandleTest.pm
+++ b/test/lib/pgBackRestTest/Module/Common/CommonIoHandlePerlTest.pm
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ####################################################################################################################################
-# CommonIoHandleTest.pm - tests for Common::Io::Handle module
+# Tests for Common::Io::Handle module
 ####################################################################################################################################
-package pgBackRestTest::Module::Common::CommonIoHandleTest;
+package pgBackRestTest::Module::Common::CommonIoHandlePerlTest;
 use parent 'pgBackRestTest::Common::RunTest';
 
 ####################################################################################################################################
diff --git a/test/src/module/common/ioHandleTest.c b/test/src/module/common/ioHandleTest.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e716ee073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/module/common/ioHandleTest.c
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Test Handle IO
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+#include <fcntl.h>
+
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Test Run
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+void
+testRun()
+{
+    // *****************************************************************************************************************************
+    if (testBegin("ioHandleWriteOneStr()"))
+    {
+        TEST_ERROR(
+            ioHandleWriteOneStr(999999, strNew("test")), FileWriteError,
+            "unable to write to 4 byte(s) to handle: [9] Bad file descriptor");
+
+        // -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        String *fileName = strNewFmt("%s/test.txt", testPath());
+        int fileHandle = open(strPtr(fileName), O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_WRONLY, 0700);
+
+        TEST_RESULT_VOID(ioHandleWriteOneStr(fileHandle, strNew("test1\ntest2")), "write string to file");
+    }
+}