diff --git a/csharp/.gitignore b/csharp/.gitignore
index 07ea90a..c88f741 100644
--- a/csharp/.gitignore
+++ b/csharp/.gitignore
@@ -33,3 +33,4 @@
 mono/*.exe
 mono/*.dll
 lib/protoc.exe
+*.ncrunch*
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedInputStreamTest.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedInputStreamTest.cs
index 0e7cf04..239d3c9 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedInputStreamTest.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedInputStreamTest.cs
@@ -572,5 +572,27 @@
             Assert.Throws<ArgumentOutOfRangeException>(() => CodedInputStream.CreateWithLimits(stream, 0, 1));
             Assert.Throws<ArgumentOutOfRangeException>(() => CodedInputStream.CreateWithLimits(stream, 1, 0));
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Dispose_DisposesUnderlyingStream()
+        {
+            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanRead);
+            using (var cis = new CodedInputStream(memoryStream))
+            {
+            }
+            Assert.IsFalse(memoryStream.CanRead); // Disposed
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Dispose_WithLeaveOpen()
+        {
+            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanRead);
+            using (var cos = new CodedOutputStream(memoryStream, true))
+            {
+            }
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanRead); // We left the stream open
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedOutputStreamTest.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedOutputStreamTest.cs
index 3297fe8..48bf6d6 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedOutputStreamTest.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/CodedOutputStreamTest.cs
@@ -387,5 +387,33 @@
                 Assert.IsTrue(cin.IsAtEnd);
             }
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Dispose_DisposesUnderlyingStream()
+        {
+            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanWrite);
+            using (var cos = new CodedOutputStream(memoryStream))
+            {
+                cos.WriteRawByte(0);
+                Assert.AreEqual(0, memoryStream.Position); // Not flushed yet
+            }
+            Assert.AreEqual(1, memoryStream.ToArray().Length); // Flushed data from CodedOutputStream to MemoryStream
+            Assert.IsFalse(memoryStream.CanWrite); // Disposed
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Dispose_WithLeaveOpen()
+        {
+            var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanWrite);
+            using (var cos = new CodedOutputStream(memoryStream, true))
+            {
+                cos.WriteRawByte(0);
+                Assert.AreEqual(0, memoryStream.Position); // Not flushed yet
+            }
+            Assert.AreEqual(1, memoryStream.Position); // Flushed data from CodedOutputStream to MemoryStream
+            Assert.IsTrue(memoryStream.CanWrite); // We left the stream open
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedInputStream.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedInputStream.cs
index 1c02d95..ce6856d 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedInputStream.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedInputStream.cs
@@ -51,9 +51,15 @@
     /// and <see cref="MapField{TKey, TValue}"/> to serialize such fields.
     /// </para>
     /// </remarks>
-    public sealed class CodedInputStream
+    public sealed class CodedInputStream : IDisposable
     {
         /// <summary>
+        /// Whether to leave the underlying stream open when disposing of this stream.
+        /// This is always true when there's no stream.
+        /// </summary>
+        private readonly bool leaveOpen;
+
+        /// <summary>
         /// Buffer of data read from the stream or provided at construction time.
         /// </summary>
         private readonly byte[] buffer;
@@ -120,7 +126,7 @@
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Creates a new CodedInputStream that reads from the given byte array slice.
+        /// Creates a new <see cref="CodedInputStream"/> that reads from the given byte array slice.
         /// </summary>
         public CodedInputStream(byte[] buffer, int offset, int length)
             : this(null, ProtoPreconditions.CheckNotNull(buffer, "buffer"), offset, offset + length)
@@ -136,14 +142,28 @@
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Creates a new CodedInputStream reading data from the given stream.
+        /// Creates a new <see cref="CodedInputStream"/> reading data from the given stream, which will be disposed
+        /// when the returned object is disposed.
         /// </summary>
-        public CodedInputStream(Stream input) : this(input, new byte[BufferSize], 0, 0)
+        /// <param name="input">The stream to read from.</param>
+        public CodedInputStream(Stream input) : this(input, false)
         {
-            ProtoPreconditions.CheckNotNull(input, "input");
         }
 
         /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a new <see cref="CodedInputStream"/> reading data from the given stream.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="input">The stream to read from.</param>
+        /// <param name="leaveOpen"><c>true</c> to leave <paramref name="input"/> open when the returned
+        /// <c cref="CodedInputStream"/> is disposed; <c>false</c> to dispose of the given stream when the
+        /// returned object is disposed.</param>
+        public CodedInputStream(Stream input, bool leaveOpen)
+            : this(ProtoPreconditions.CheckNotNull(input, "input"), new byte[BufferSize], 0, 0)
+        {
+            this.leaveOpen = leaveOpen;
+        }
+        
+        /// <summary>
         /// Creates a new CodedInputStream reading data from the given
         /// stream and buffer, using the default limits.
         /// </summary>
@@ -246,6 +266,22 @@
         /// </value>
         public int RecursionLimit { get { return recursionLimit; } }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Disposes of this instance, potentially closing any underlying stream.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// As there is no flushing to perform here, disposing of a <see cref="CodedInputStream"/> which
+        /// was constructed with the <c>leaveOpen</c> option parameter set to <c>true</c> (or one which
+        /// was constructed to read from a byte array) has no effect.
+        /// </remarks>
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            if (!leaveOpen)
+            {
+                input.Dispose();
+            }
+        }
+
         #region Validation
         /// <summary>
         /// Verifies that the last call to ReadTag() returned tag 0 - in other words,
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedOutputStream.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedOutputStream.cs
index d6355f0..6211aac 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedOutputStream.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/CodedOutputStream.cs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
     /// and <c>MapField&lt;TKey, TValue&gt;</c> to serialize such fields.
     /// </para>
     /// </remarks>
-    public sealed partial class CodedOutputStream
+    public sealed partial class CodedOutputStream : IDisposable
     {
         // "Local" copy of Encoding.UTF8, for efficiency. (Yes, it makes a difference.)
         internal static readonly Encoding Utf8Encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
         /// </summary>
         public static readonly int DefaultBufferSize = 4096;
 
+        private readonly bool leaveOpen;
         private readonly byte[] buffer;
         private readonly int limit;
         private int position;
@@ -91,20 +92,24 @@
             this.buffer = buffer;
             this.position = offset;
             this.limit = offset + length;
+            leaveOpen = true; // Simple way of avoiding trying to dispose of a null reference
         }
 
-        private CodedOutputStream(Stream output, byte[] buffer)
+        private CodedOutputStream(Stream output, byte[] buffer, bool leaveOpen)
         {
-            this.output = output;
+            this.output = ProtoPreconditions.CheckNotNull(output, nameof(output));
             this.buffer = buffer;
             this.position = 0;
             this.limit = buffer.Length;
+            this.leaveOpen = leaveOpen;
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Creates a new CodedOutputStream which write to the given stream.
+        /// Creates a new <see cref="CodedOutputStream" /> which write to the given stream, and disposes of that
+        /// stream when the returned <c>CodedOutputStream</c> is disposed.
         /// </summary>
-        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output) : this(output, DefaultBufferSize)
+        /// <param name="output">The stream to write to. It will be disposed when the returned <c>CodedOutputStream is disposed.</c></param>
+        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output) : this(output, DefaultBufferSize, false)
         {
         }
 
@@ -112,9 +117,33 @@
         /// Creates a new CodedOutputStream which write to the given stream and uses
         /// the specified buffer size.
         /// </summary>
-        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output, int bufferSize) : this(output, new byte[bufferSize])
+        /// <param name="output">The stream to write to. It will be disposed when the returned <c>CodedOutputStream is disposed.</c></param>
+        /// <param name="bufferSize">The size of buffer to use internally.</param>
+        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output, int bufferSize) : this(output, new byte[bufferSize], false)
         {
-        }    
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a new CodedOutputStream which write to the given stream.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="output">The stream to write to.</param>
+        /// <param name="leaveOpen">If <c>true</c>, <paramref name="output"/> is left open when the returned <c>CodedOutputStream</c> is disposed;
+        /// if <c>false</c>, the provided stream is disposed as well.</param>
+        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output, bool leaveOpen) : this(output, DefaultBufferSize, leaveOpen)
+        {
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a new CodedOutputStream which write to the given stream and uses
+        /// the specified buffer size.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="output">The stream to write to.</param>
+        /// <param name="bufferSize">The size of buffer to use internally.</param>
+        /// <param name="leaveOpen">If <c>true</c>, <paramref name="output"/> is left open when the returned <c>CodedOutputStream</c> is disposed;
+        /// if <c>false</c>, the provided stream is disposed as well.</param>
+        public CodedOutputStream(Stream output, int bufferSize, bool leaveOpen) : this(output, new byte[bufferSize], leaveOpen)
+        {
+        }
         #endregion
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -660,6 +689,30 @@
         }
 
         /// <summary>
+        /// Flushes any buffered data and optionally closes the underlying stream, if any.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// <para>
+        /// By default, any underlying stream is closed by this method. To configure this behaviour,
+        /// use a constructor overload with a <c>leaveOpen</c> parameter. If this instance does not
+        /// have an underlying stream, this method does nothing.
+        /// </para>
+        /// <para>
+        /// For the sake of efficiency, calling this method does not prevent future write calls - but
+        /// if a later write ends up writing to a stream which has been disposed, that is likely to
+        /// fail. It is recommend that you not call any other methods after this.
+        /// </para>
+        /// </remarks>
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            Flush();
+            if (!leaveOpen)
+            {
+                output.Dispose();
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
         /// Flushes any buffered data to the underlying stream (if there is one).
         /// </summary>
         public void Flush()
@@ -705,4 +758,4 @@
             }
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}