diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/main.cc b/gtk2_ardour/main.cc
index 9c010eca09..70458cf51b 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/main.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/main.cc
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 #include "pbd/failed_constructor.h"
 #include "pbd/pathexpand.h"
 #include "pbd/pthread_utils.h"
+#include "pbd/win_console.h"
 #ifdef BOOST_SP_ENABLE_DEBUG_HOOKS
 #include "pbd/boost_debug.h"
 #endif
@@ -186,71 +187,10 @@ sigpipe_handler (int /*signal*/)
 
 #if (!defined COMPILER_MSVC && defined PLATFORM_WINDOWS)
 
-static FILE* pStdOut = 0;
-static FILE* pStdErr = 0;
-static BOOL  bConsole;
-static HANDLE hStdOut;
-
-static bool
-IsAConsolePort (HANDLE handle)
-{
-	DWORD mode;
-	return (GetConsoleMode(handle, &mode) != 0);
-}
-
-static void
-console_madness_begin ()
-{
-	bConsole = AttachConsole(ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS);
-	hStdOut = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
-
-	/* re-attach to the console so we can see 'printf()' output etc.
-	 * for MSVC see  gtk2_ardour/msvc/winmain.cc
-	 */
-
-	if ((bConsole) && (IsAConsolePort(hStdOut))) {
-		pStdOut = freopen( "CONOUT$", "w", stdout );
-		pStdErr = freopen( "CONOUT$", "w", stderr );
-	}
-}
-
-static void
-console_madness_end ()
-{
-	if (pStdOut) {
-		fclose (pStdOut);
-	}
-	if (pStdErr) {
-		fclose (pStdErr);
-	}
-
-	if (bConsole) {
-		// Detach and free the console from our application
-		INPUT_RECORD input_record;
-
-		input_record.EventType = KEY_EVENT;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.bKeyDown = TRUE;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.dwControlKeyState = 0;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.uChar.UnicodeChar = VK_RETURN;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.wRepeatCount      = 1;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualKeyCode   = VK_RETURN;
-		input_record.Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualScanCode  = MapVirtualKey( VK_RETURN, 0 );
-
-		DWORD written = 0;
-		WriteConsoleInput( GetStdHandle( STD_INPUT_HANDLE ), &input_record, 1, &written );
-
-		FreeConsole();
-	}
-}
-
 static void command_line_parse_error (int *argc, char** argv[]) {}
 
 #elif (defined(COMPILER_MSVC) && defined(NDEBUG) && !defined(RDC_BUILD))
 
-// these are not used here. for MSVC see  gtk2_ardour/msvc/winmain.cc
-static void console_madness_begin () {}
-static void console_madness_end () {}
-
 static void command_line_parse_error (int *argc, char** argv[]) {
 	// Since we don't ordinarily have access to stdout and stderr with
 	// an MSVC app, let the user know we encountered a parsing error.
@@ -263,8 +203,6 @@ static void command_line_parse_error (int *argc, char** argv[]) {
 }
 
 #else
-static void console_madness_begin () {}
-static void console_madness_end () {}
 static void command_line_parse_error (int *argc, char** argv[]) {}
 #endif