diff --git a/postgresql-simple.cabal b/postgresql-simple.cabal
--- a/postgresql-simple.cabal
+++ b/postgresql-simple.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:                postgresql-simple
-Version:             0.3.3.0
+Version:             0.3.3.1
 Synopsis:            Mid-Level PostgreSQL client library
 Description:
     Mid-Level PostgreSQL client library, forked from mysql-simple.
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 Author:              Bryan O'Sullivan, Leon P Smith
 Maintainer:          Leon P Smith <leon@melding-monads.com>
 Copyright:           (c) 2011 MailRank, Inc.
-                     (c) 2011-2012 Leon P Smith
+                     (c) 2011-2013 Leon P Smith
 Category:            Database
 Build-type:          Simple
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 source-repository this
   type:     git
   location: http://github.com/lpsmith/postgresql-simple
-  tag:      v0.3.3.0
+  tag:      v0.3.3.1
 
 test-suite test
   type:           exitcode-stdio-1.0
diff --git a/src/Database/PostgreSQL/Simple/Notification.hs b/src/Database/PostgreSQL/Simple/Notification.hs
--- a/src/Database/PostgreSQL/Simple/Notification.hs
+++ b/src/Database/PostgreSQL/Simple/Notification.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards, NamedFieldPuns #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE NamedFieldPuns #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- |
@@ -14,6 +16,16 @@
 -- <http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/sql-notify.html> for more
 -- information.
 --
+-- Note that on Windows,  @getNotification@ currently uses a polling loop
+-- of 1 second to check for more notifications,  due to some inadequacies
+-- in GHC's IO implementation and interface on that platform.   See GHC 
+-- issue #7353 for more information.  While this workaround is less than
+-- ideal,  notifications are still better than polling the database directly.
+-- Notifications do not create any extra work for the backend,  and are 
+-- likely cheaper on the client side as well.
+--
+-- <http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/7353>
+--
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 module Database.PostgreSQL.Simple.Notification
@@ -22,7 +34,7 @@
      , getNotificationNonBlocking
      ) where
 
-import           Control.Concurrent ( threadWaitRead )
+import           Control.Concurrent
 import           Control.Monad ( when )
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
 import           Database.PostgreSQL.Simple.Internal
@@ -36,8 +48,7 @@
    }
 
 errfd :: String
-errfd   = "Database.PostgreSQL.Simple.Notification.getNotification: \
-          \failed to fetch file descriptor"
+errfd = "Database.PostgreSQL.Simple.Notification.getNotification: failed to fetch file descriptor"
 
 convertNotice :: PQ.Notify -> Notification
 convertNotice PQ.Notify{..}
@@ -49,9 +60,9 @@
 --   'getNotification' blocks until one arrives.
 
 getNotification :: Connection -> IO Notification
-getNotification = loop False
+getNotification conn = loop False
   where
-    loop doConsume conn = do
+    loop doConsume = do
         res <- withConnection conn $ \c -> do
                          when doConsume (PQ.consumeInput c >> return ())
                          mmsg <- PQ.notifies c
@@ -64,7 +75,16 @@
                            Just msg -> return (Right msg)
         -- FIXME? what happens if the connection is closed/reset right here?
         case res of
-          Left fd -> threadWaitRead fd >> loop True conn
+#if defined(mingw32_HOST_OS)
+          -- threadWaitRead doesn't work for sockets on Windows, so just poll
+          -- for input every second (PQconsumeInput is non-blocking).
+          --
+          -- We could call select(), but FFI calls can't be interrupted with
+          -- async exceptions, whereas threadDelay can.
+          Left _fd -> threadDelay 1000000 >> loop True
+#else
+          Left fd -> threadWaitRead fd >> loop True
+#endif
           Right msg -> return $! convertNotice msg
 
 -- | Non-blocking variant of 'getNotification'.   Returns a single notification,