diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h b/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
index 43101da..754192d 100644
--- a/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
+++ b/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
 #include "yaml-cpp/binary.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/emitterdef.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h"
-#include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/noncopyable.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/null.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h"
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <sstream>
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ namespace YAML
 	{
 	public:
 		Emitter();
+        explicit Emitter(std::ostream& stream);
 		~Emitter();
 		
 		// output
@@ -114,8 +115,8 @@ namespace YAML
 		bool CanEmitNewline() const;
 		
 	private:
-		ostream m_stream;
-		std::auto_ptr <EmitterState> m_pState;
+		std::auto_ptr<EmitterState> m_pState;
+		ostream_wrapper m_stream;
 	};
 	
 	template <typename T>
diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/ostream.h b/include/yaml-cpp/ostream.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f11ce6..0000000
--- a/include/yaml-cpp/ostream.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef OSTREAM_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
-#define OSTREAM_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
-
-#if defined(_MSC_VER) || (defined(__GNUC__) && (__GNUC__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 4) || (__GNUC__ >= 4)) // GCC supports "pragma once" correctly since 3.4
-#pragma once
-#endif
-
-
-#include <string>
-
-namespace YAML
-{
-	class ostream
-	{
-	public:
-		ostream();
-		~ostream();
-		
-		void reserve(unsigned size);
-		void put(char ch);
-        void set_comment() { m_comment = true; }
-		const char *str() const { return m_buffer; }
-		
-		unsigned row() const { return m_row; }
-		unsigned col() const { return m_col; }
-		unsigned pos() const { return m_pos; }
-        bool comment() const { return m_comment; }
-		
-	private:
-		char *m_buffer;
-		unsigned m_pos;
-		unsigned m_size;
-		
-		unsigned m_row, m_col;
-        bool m_comment;
-	};
-	
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const char *str);
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const std::string& str);
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, char ch);
-}
-
-#endif // OSTREAM_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h b/include/yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6d96c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#ifndef OSTREAM_WRAPPER_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
+#define OSTREAM_WRAPPER_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) || (defined(__GNUC__) && (__GNUC__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 4) || (__GNUC__ >= 4)) // GCC supports "pragma once" correctly since 3.4
+#pragma once
+#endif
+
+
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace YAML
+{
+	class ostream_wrapper
+	{
+	public:
+		ostream_wrapper();
+        explicit ostream_wrapper(std::ostream& stream);
+		~ostream_wrapper();
+		
+        void write(const std::string& str);
+        void write(const char *str, std::size_t size);
+        
+        void set_comment() { m_comment = true; }
+
+		const char *str() const {
+            if(m_pStream) {
+                return 0;
+            } else {
+                m_buffer[m_pos] = '\0';
+                return &m_buffer[0];
+            }
+        }
+		
+		std::size_t row() const { return m_row; }
+		std::size_t col() const { return m_col; }
+		std::size_t pos() const { return m_pos; }
+        bool comment() const { return m_comment; }
+        
+    private:
+        void update_pos(char ch);
+		
+	private:
+        mutable std::vector<char> m_buffer;
+        std::ostream *m_pStream;
+
+		std::size_t m_pos;
+		std::size_t m_row, m_col;
+        bool m_comment;
+	};
+	
+    template<std::size_t N>
+	inline ostream_wrapper& operator << (ostream_wrapper& stream, const char (&str)[N]) {
+        stream.write(str, N-1);
+        return stream;
+    }
+    
+	inline ostream_wrapper& operator << (ostream_wrapper& stream, const std::string& str) {
+        stream.write(str);
+        return stream;
+    }
+    
+	inline ostream_wrapper& operator << (ostream_wrapper& stream, char ch) {
+        stream.write(&ch, 1);
+        return stream;
+    }
+}
+
+#endif // OSTREAM_WRAPPER_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
diff --git a/src/emitter.cpp b/src/emitter.cpp
index ed5993a..7e0067a 100644
--- a/src/emitter.cpp
+++ b/src/emitter.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ namespace YAML
 	{
 	}
 	
+	Emitter::Emitter(std::ostream& stream): m_pState(new EmitterState), m_stream(stream)
+	{
+	}
+
 	Emitter::~Emitter()
 	{
 	}
diff --git a/src/emitterutils.cpp b/src/emitterutils.cpp
index 5dfaec9..09780d0 100644
--- a/src/emitterutils.cpp
+++ b/src/emitterutils.cpp
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ namespace YAML
 				return true;
 			}
 			
-			void WriteCodePoint(ostream& out, int codePoint) {
+			void WriteCodePoint(ostream_wrapper& out, int codePoint) {
 				if (codePoint < 0 || codePoint > 0x10FFFF) {
 					codePoint = REPLACEMENT_CHARACTER;
 				}
@@ -185,30 +185,28 @@ namespace YAML
                 return true;
             }
 			
-            void WriteDoubleQuoteEscapeSequence(ostream& out, int codePoint) {
+            void WriteDoubleQuoteEscapeSequence(ostream_wrapper& out, int codePoint) {
 				static const char hexDigits[] = "0123456789abcdef";
 
-				char escSeq[] = "\\U00000000";
+                out << "\\";
 				int digits = 8;
-				if (codePoint < 0xFF) {
-					escSeq[1] = 'x';
+				if(codePoint < 0xFF) {
+                    out << "x";
 					digits = 2;
-				} else if (codePoint < 0xFFFF) {
-					escSeq[1] = 'u';
+				} else if(codePoint < 0xFFFF) {
+                    out << "u";
 					digits = 4;
-				}
+				} else {
+                    out << "U";
+                    digits = 8;
+                }
 
 				// Write digits into the escape sequence
-				int i = 2;
-				for (; digits > 0; --digits, ++i) {
-					escSeq[i] = hexDigits[(codePoint >> (4 * (digits - 1))) & 0xF];
-				}
-
-				escSeq[i] = 0; // terminate with NUL character
-				out << escSeq;
+				for (; digits > 0; --digits)
+					out << hexDigits[(codePoint >> (4 * (digits - 1))) & 0xF];
 			}
 
-			bool WriteAliasName(ostream& out, const std::string& str) {
+			bool WriteAliasName(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str) {
 				int codePoint;
 				for(std::string::const_iterator i = str.begin();
 					GetNextCodePointAndAdvance(codePoint, i, str.end());
@@ -247,7 +245,7 @@ namespace YAML
             return StringFormat::DoubleQuoted;
         }
 
-		bool WriteSingleQuotedString(ostream& out, const std::string& str)
+		bool WriteSingleQuotedString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str)
 		{
 			out << "'";
 			int codePoint;
@@ -267,7 +265,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 		
-		bool WriteDoubleQuotedString(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool escapeNonAscii)
+		bool WriteDoubleQuotedString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, bool escapeNonAscii)
 		{
 			out << "\"";
 			int codePoint;
@@ -297,7 +295,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteLiteralString(ostream& out, const std::string& str, int indent)
+		bool WriteLiteralString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, int indent)
 		{
 			out << "|\n";
 			out << IndentTo(indent);
@@ -314,7 +312,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 		
-		bool WriteChar(ostream& out, char ch)
+		bool WriteChar(ostream_wrapper& out, char ch)
 		{
 			if(('a' <= ch && ch <= 'z') || ('A' <= ch && ch <= 'Z'))
 				out << ch;
@@ -334,7 +332,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteComment(ostream& out, const std::string& str, int postCommentIndent)
+		bool WriteComment(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, int postCommentIndent)
 		{
 			const unsigned curIndent = out.col();
 			out << "#" << Indentation(postCommentIndent);
@@ -354,19 +352,19 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteAlias(ostream& out, const std::string& str)
+		bool WriteAlias(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str)
 		{
 			out << "*";
 			return WriteAliasName(out, str);
 		}
 		
-		bool WriteAnchor(ostream& out, const std::string& str)
+		bool WriteAnchor(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str)
 		{
 			out << "&";
 			return WriteAliasName(out, str);
 		}
 
-		bool WriteTag(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool verbatim)
+		bool WriteTag(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, bool verbatim)
 		{
 			out << (verbatim ? "!<" : "!");
 			StringCharSource buffer(str.c_str(), str.size());
@@ -386,7 +384,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteTagWithPrefix(ostream& out, const std::string& prefix, const std::string& tag)
+		bool WriteTagWithPrefix(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& prefix, const std::string& tag)
 		{
 			out << "!";
 			StringCharSource prefixBuffer(prefix.c_str(), prefix.size());
@@ -416,7 +414,7 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const Binary& binary)
+		bool WriteBinary(ostream_wrapper& out, const Binary& binary)
 		{
             WriteDoubleQuotedString(out, EncodeBase64(binary.data(), binary.size()), false);
             return true;
diff --git a/src/emitterutils.h b/src/emitterutils.h
index 67200f8..50b37f0 100644
--- a/src/emitterutils.h
+++ b/src/emitterutils.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 #include "emitterstate.h"
-#include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h"
 #include <string>
 
 namespace YAML
@@ -20,16 +20,16 @@ namespace YAML
 	{
         StringFormat::value ComputeStringFormat(const std::string& str, EMITTER_MANIP strFormat, FlowType::value flowType, bool escapeNonAscii);
         
-		bool WriteSingleQuotedString(ostream& out, const std::string& str);
-		bool WriteDoubleQuotedString(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool escapeNonAscii);
-		bool WriteLiteralString(ostream& out, const std::string& str, int indent);
-		bool WriteChar(ostream& out, char ch);
-		bool WriteComment(ostream& out, const std::string& str, int postCommentIndent);
-		bool WriteAlias(ostream& out, const std::string& str);
-		bool WriteAnchor(ostream& out, const std::string& str);
-		bool WriteTag(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool verbatim);
-		bool WriteTagWithPrefix(ostream& out, const std::string& prefix, const std::string& tag);
-		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const Binary& binary);
+		bool WriteSingleQuotedString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str);
+		bool WriteDoubleQuotedString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, bool escapeNonAscii);
+		bool WriteLiteralString(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, int indent);
+		bool WriteChar(ostream_wrapper& out, char ch);
+		bool WriteComment(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, int postCommentIndent);
+		bool WriteAlias(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str);
+		bool WriteAnchor(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str);
+		bool WriteTag(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& str, bool verbatim);
+		bool WriteTagWithPrefix(ostream_wrapper& out, const std::string& prefix, const std::string& tag);
+		bool WriteBinary(ostream_wrapper& out, const Binary& binary);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/indentation.h b/src/indentation.h
index 25f684f..426fcb5 100644
--- a/src/indentation.h
+++ b/src/indentation.h
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #endif
 
 
-#include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h"
 #include <iostream>
 
 namespace YAML
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		unsigned n;
 	};
 	
-	inline ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const Indentation& indent) {
+	inline ostream_wrapper& operator << (ostream_wrapper& out, const Indentation& indent) {
 		for(unsigned i=0;i<indent.n;i++)
 			out << ' ';
 		return out;
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		unsigned n;
 	};
 	
-	inline ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const IndentTo& indent) {
+	inline ostream_wrapper& operator << (ostream_wrapper& out, const IndentTo& indent) {
 		while(out.col() < indent.n)
 			out << ' ';
 		return out;
diff --git a/src/ostream.cpp b/src/ostream.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 9bcb5e5..0000000
--- a/src/ostream.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-#include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
-#include <cstring>
-
-namespace YAML
-{
-	ostream::ostream(): m_buffer(0), m_pos(0), m_size(0), m_row(0), m_col(0), m_comment(false)
-	{
-		reserve(1024);
-	}
-	
-	ostream::~ostream()
-	{
-		delete [] m_buffer;
-	}
-	
-	void ostream::reserve(unsigned size)
-	{
-		if(size <= m_size)
-			return;
-		
-		char *newBuffer = new char[size];
-		std::memset(newBuffer, 0, size * sizeof(char));
-		std::memcpy(newBuffer, m_buffer, m_size * sizeof(char));
-		delete [] m_buffer;
-		m_buffer = newBuffer;
-		m_size = size;
-	}
-	
-	void ostream::put(char ch)
-	{
-		if(m_pos >= m_size - 1)   // an extra space for the NULL terminator
-			reserve(m_size * 2);
-		
-		m_buffer[m_pos] = ch;
-		m_pos++;
-		
-		if(ch == '\n') {
-			m_row++;
-			m_col = 0;
-            m_comment = false;
-		} else
-			m_col++;
-	}
-
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const char *str)
-	{
-		std::size_t length = std::strlen(str);
-		for(std::size_t i=0;i<length;i++)
-			out.put(str[i]);
-		return out;
-	}
-	
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const std::string& str)
-	{
-		out << str.c_str();
-		return out;
-	}
-	
-	ostream& operator << (ostream& out, char ch)
-	{
-		out.put(ch);
-		return out;
-	}
-}
diff --git a/src/ostream_wrapper.cpp b/src/ostream_wrapper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15d9f0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostream_wrapper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#include "yaml-cpp/ostream_wrapper.h"
+#include <cstring>
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace YAML
+{
+	ostream_wrapper::ostream_wrapper(): m_pStream(0), m_pos(0), m_row(0), m_col(0), m_comment(false)
+	{
+	}
+	
+	ostream_wrapper::ostream_wrapper(std::ostream& stream): m_pStream(&stream), m_pos(0), m_row(0), m_col(0), m_comment(false)
+	{
+	}
+
+	ostream_wrapper::~ostream_wrapper()
+	{
+	}
+	
+    void ostream_wrapper::write(const std::string& str)
+    {
+        if(m_pStream) {
+            m_pStream->write(str.c_str(), str.size());
+        } else {
+            m_buffer.resize(std::max(m_buffer.size(), m_pos + str.size() + 1));
+            std::copy(str.begin(), str.end(), &m_buffer[m_pos]);
+        }
+        
+        for(std::size_t i=0;i<str.size();i++)
+            update_pos(str[i]);
+    }
+
+    void ostream_wrapper::write(const char *str, std::size_t size)
+    {
+        if(m_pStream) {
+            m_pStream->write(str, size);
+        } else {
+            m_buffer.resize(std::max(m_buffer.size(), m_pos + size + 1));
+            std::copy(str, str + size, &m_buffer[m_pos]);
+        }
+        
+        for(std::size_t i=0;i<size;i++)
+            update_pos(str[i]);
+    }
+	
+    void ostream_wrapper::update_pos(char ch)
+    {
+		m_pos++;
+        m_col++;
+		
+		if(ch == '\n') {
+			m_row++;
+			m_col = 0;
+            m_comment = false;
+		}
+    }
+}
diff --git a/util/sandbox.cpp b/util/sandbox.cpp
index be24ae1..6da95d0 100644
--- a/util/sandbox.cpp
+++ b/util/sandbox.cpp
@@ -3,11 +3,10 @@
 
 int main()
 {
-    YAML::Emitter out;
+    YAML::Emitter out(std::cout);
     out << YAML::BeginSeq;
-    out << ':';
+    out << "item 1";
+    out << YAML::BeginSeq << "foo 1" << "bar 2" << YAML::EndSeq;
     out << YAML::EndSeq;
-    
-    std::cout << out.c_str() << "\n";
     return 0;
 }