diff --git a/base/errorshow.jl b/base/errorshow.jl
index 3666c7daf7080..0433cedc164c0 100644
--- a/base/errorshow.jl
+++ b/base/errorshow.jl
@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@ function showerror(io::IO, ex::MethodError)
             f_is_function = true
         end
         print(io, "no method matching ")
-        iob = IOContext(IOBuffer(), io)     # for type abbreviation as in #49795; some, like `convert(T, x)`, should not abbreviate
+        buf = IOBuffer()
+        iob = IOContext(buf, io)     # for type abbreviation as in #49795; some, like `convert(T, x)`, should not abbreviate
         show_signature_function(iob, isa(f, Type) ? Type{f} : typeof(f))
         print(iob, "(")
         for (i, typ) in enumerate(arg_types_param)
@@ -293,7 +294,7 @@ function showerror(io::IO, ex::MethodError)
             end
         end
         print(iob, ")")
-        str = String(take!(unwrapcontext(iob)[1]))
+        str = String(take!(buf))
         str = type_limited_string_from_context(io, str)
         print(io, str)
     end
diff --git a/base/io.jl b/base/io.jl
index fd286297ec090..7d93bc3e6d9c8 100644
--- a/base/io.jl
+++ b/base/io.jl
@@ -414,7 +414,14 @@ end
 """
     AbstractPipe
 
-`AbstractPipe` is the abstract supertype for IO pipes that provide for communication between processes.
+`AbstractPipe` is an abstract supertype that exists for the convenience of creating
+pass-through wrappers for other IO objects, so that you only need to implement the
+additional methods relevant to your type. A subtype only needs to implement one or both of
+these methods:
+
+    struct P <: AbstractPipe; ...; end
+    pipe_reader(io::P) = io.out
+    pipe_writer(io::P) = io.in
 
 If `pipe isa AbstractPipe`, it must obey the following interface:
 
diff --git a/base/show.jl b/base/show.jl
index db0b429f3386f..c74e2789e26ed 100644
--- a/base/show.jl
+++ b/base/show.jl
@@ -294,27 +294,35 @@ struct IOContext{IO_t <: IO} <: AbstractPipe
     dict::ImmutableDict{Symbol, Any}
 
     function IOContext{IO_t}(io::IO_t, dict::ImmutableDict{Symbol, Any}) where IO_t<:IO
-        @assert !(IO_t <: IOContext) "Cannot create `IOContext` from another `IOContext`."
+        io isa IOContext && (io = io.io) # implicitly unwrap, since the io.dict field is not useful anymore, and could confuse pipe_reader consumers
         return new(io, dict)
     end
 end
 
-# (Note that TTY and TTYTerminal io types have a :color property.)
-unwrapcontext(io::IO) = io, get(io,:color,false) ? ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}(:color, true) : ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}()
-unwrapcontext(io::IOContext) = io.io, io.dict
+# (Note that TTY and TTYTerminal io types have an implied :color property.)
+ioproperties(io::IO) = get(io, :color, false) ? ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}(:color, true) : ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}()
+ioproperties(io::IOContext) = io.dict
+# these can probably be deprecated, but there is a use in the ecosystem for them
+unwrapcontext(io::IO) = (io,)
+unwrapcontext(io::IOContext) = (io.io,)
 
-function IOContext(io::IO, dict::ImmutableDict)
-    io0 = unwrapcontext(io)[1]
-    IOContext{typeof(io0)}(io0, dict)
+function IOContext(io::IO, dict::ImmutableDict{Symbol, Any})
+    return IOContext{typeof(io)}(io, dict)
 end
 
-convert(::Type{IOContext}, io::IO) = IOContext(unwrapcontext(io)...)::IOContext
+function IOContext(io::IOContext, dict::ImmutableDict{Symbol, Any})
+    return typeof(io)(io.io, dict)
+end
+
+
+convert(::Type{IOContext}, io::IOContext) = io
+convert(::Type{IOContext}, io::IO) = IOContext(io, ioproperties(io))::IOContext
 
 IOContext(io::IO) = convert(IOContext, io)
 
 function IOContext(io::IO, KV::Pair)
-    io0, d = unwrapcontext(io)
-    IOContext(io0, ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}(d, KV[1], KV[2]))
+    d = ioproperties(io)
+    return IOContext(io, ImmutableDict{Symbol,Any}(d, KV[1], KV[2]))
 end
 
 """
@@ -322,7 +330,7 @@ end
 
 Create an `IOContext` that wraps an alternate `IO` but inherits the properties of `context`.
 """
-IOContext(io::IO, context::IO) = IOContext(unwrapcontext(io)[1], unwrapcontext(context)[2])
+IOContext(io::IO, context::IO) = IOContext(io, ioproperties(context))
 
 """
     IOContext(io::IO, KV::Pair...)
@@ -2548,7 +2556,8 @@ function show_tuple_as_call(out::IO, name::Symbol, sig::Type;
         return
     end
     tv = Any[]
-    io = IOContext(IOBuffer(), out)
+    buf = IOBuffer()
+    io = IOContext(buf, out)
     env_io = io
     while isa(sig, UnionAll)
         push!(tv, sig.var)
@@ -2591,7 +2600,7 @@ function show_tuple_as_call(out::IO, name::Symbol, sig::Type;
     end
     print_within_stacktrace(io, ")", bold=true)
     show_method_params(io, tv)
-    str = String(take!(unwrapcontext(io)[1]))
+    str = String(take!(buf))
     str = type_limited_string_from_context(out, str)
     print(out, str)
     nothing
diff --git a/base/stream.jl b/base/stream.jl
index 3124b8b0c0a24..542e77ec81cdd 100644
--- a/base/stream.jl
+++ b/base/stream.jl
@@ -743,19 +743,28 @@ mutable struct Pipe <: AbstractPipe
 end
 
 """
-Construct an uninitialized Pipe object.
+    Pipe()
 
-The appropriate end of the pipe will be automatically initialized if
-the object is used in process spawning. This can be useful to easily
-obtain references in process pipelines, e.g.:
+Construct an uninitialized Pipe object, especially for IO communication between multiple processes.
+
+The appropriate end of the pipe will be automatically initialized if the object is used in
+process spawning. This can be useful to easily obtain references in process pipelines, e.g.:
 
 ```
 julia> err = Pipe()
 
 # After this `err` will be initialized and you may read `foo`'s
-# stderr from the `err` pipe.
+# stderr from the `err` pipe, or pass `err` to other pipelines.
 julia> run(pipeline(pipeline(`foo`, stderr=err), `cat`), wait=false)
+
+# Now destroy the write half of the pipe, so that the read half will get EOF
+julia> closewrite(err)
+
+julia> read(err, String)
+"stderr messages"
 ```
+
+See also `Base.link_pipe!`.
 """
 Pipe() = Pipe(PipeEndpoint(), PipeEndpoint())
 pipe_reader(p::Pipe) = p.out