diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index f14254c6c6..f9f1763c05 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -4555,14 +4555,16 @@ Input
     .. admonition:: Example
 
         ``--input-ipc-client=fd://123``
+        ``--input-ipc-client=handle://123``
 
     .. note::
 
         To use this option on Windows, the fd must refer to a wrapped
         (created by ``_open_osfhandle``) named pipe server handle with a client
-        already connected. The named pipe must be created duplex with overlapped
-        IO and inheritable handles. The program communicates with mpv through
-        the client handle.
+        already connected. Alternatively, the Windows HANDLE can be passed by
+        prefixing it with handle:// if mpv inherited it from the parent. The
+        named pipe must be created duplex with overlapped IO and inheritable
+        handles. The program communicates with mpv through the client handle.
 
     .. warning::
 
diff --git a/input/ipc-win.c b/input/ipc-win.c
index 5ed8347fb9..ba1544514d 100644
--- a/input/ipc-win.c
+++ b/input/ipc-win.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <sddl.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
 
 #include "osdep/io.h"
 #include "osdep/threads.h"
@@ -471,21 +472,23 @@ struct mp_ipc_ctx *mp_init_ipc(struct mp_client_api *client_api,
     };
 
     if (opts->ipc_client && opts->ipc_client[0]) {
-        int fd = -1;
+        HANDLE h = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
+
         bstr str = bstr0(opts->ipc_client);
         if (bstr_eatstart0(&str, "fd://") && str.len) {
-            long long ll = bstrtoll(str, &str, 0);
-            if (!str.len && ll >= 0 && ll <= INT_MAX)
-                fd = ll;
+            long long fd = bstrtoll(str, &str, 0);
+            if (!str.len && fd >= 0 && fd <= INT_MAX)
+                h = (HANDLE)_get_osfhandle(fd);
+        } else if (bstr_eatstart0(&str, "handle://") && str.len) {
+            long long handle = bstrtoll(str, &str, 0);
+            if (!str.len && handle >= 0 && handle <= UINT32_MAX)
+                h = (HANDLE)(uintptr_t)handle;
         }
-        if (fd < 0) {
-            MP_ERR(arg, "Invalid IPC client argument: '%s'\n", opts->ipc_client);
+
+        if (h && h != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE && (intptr_t)h != -2) {
+            ipc_start_client_json(arg, -1, h);
         } else {
-            HANDLE h = (HANDLE)_get_osfhandle(fd);
-            if (h && h != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE && (intptr_t)h != -2)
-                ipc_start_client_json(arg, -1, h);
-            else
-                MP_ERR(arg, "Invalid IPC client fd: '%d'\n", fd);
+            MP_ERR(arg, "Invalid IPC client argument: '%s'\n", opts->ipc_client);
         }
     }