diff --git a/docs/examples/fopen.c b/docs/examples/fopen.c
index c26c0de04..3d2a81773 100644
--- a/docs/examples/fopen.c
+++ b/docs/examples/fopen.c
@@ -168,20 +168,24 @@ static int fill_buffer(URL_FILE *file, size_t want)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/imap-multi.c b/docs/examples/imap-multi.c
index c8c67ff87..c7dc13071 100644
--- a/docs/examples/imap-multi.c
+++ b/docs/examples/imap-multi.c
@@ -120,20 +120,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/multi-app.c b/docs/examples/multi-app.c
index bf0f11ad5..b8258975e 100644
--- a/docs/examples/multi-app.c
+++ b/docs/examples/multi-app.c
@@ -109,20 +109,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/multi-debugcallback.c b/docs/examples/multi-debugcallback.c
index 31dec5472..5fb86bea1 100644
--- a/docs/examples/multi-debugcallback.c
+++ b/docs/examples/multi-debugcallback.c
@@ -183,20 +183,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/multi-double.c b/docs/examples/multi-double.c
index df0922a1c..0d8d0de4f 100644
--- a/docs/examples/multi-double.c
+++ b/docs/examples/multi-double.c
@@ -98,20 +98,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/multi-post.c b/docs/examples/multi-post.c
index a6cc8683c..f511d66fd 100644
--- a/docs/examples/multi-post.c
+++ b/docs/examples/multi-post.c
@@ -119,20 +119,24 @@ int main(void)
       }
 
       /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-         select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-         select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-         Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-         we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+         select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+         no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+         to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
          curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
       if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
         Sleep(100);
         rc = 0;
-      }
-      else
+#else
+        /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+        struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+        rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-      {
+      }
+      else {
+        /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+           If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
         rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
       }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/multi-single.c b/docs/examples/multi-single.c
index 3d80c655f..1c62f1b26 100644
--- a/docs/examples/multi-single.c
+++ b/docs/examples/multi-single.c
@@ -96,20 +96,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/pop3-multi.c b/docs/examples/pop3-multi.c
index 42142f954..435308623 100644
--- a/docs/examples/pop3-multi.c
+++ b/docs/examples/pop3-multi.c
@@ -120,20 +120,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/smtp-multi.c b/docs/examples/smtp-multi.c
index 998f69e3f..4098c7d18 100644
--- a/docs/examples/smtp-multi.c
+++ b/docs/examples/smtp-multi.c
@@ -187,20 +187,24 @@ int main(void)
     }
 
     /* On success the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be >= -1. We call
-       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) we call
-       select(0, ...), which is basically equal to sleeping the timeout. On
-       Windows we can't sleep via select without a dummy socket and instead
-       we Sleep() for 100ms which is the minimum suggested value in the
+       select(maxfd + 1, ...); specially in case of (maxfd == -1) there are
+       no fds ready yet so we call select(0, ...) --or Sleep() on Windows--
+       to sleep 100ms, which is the minimum suggested value in the
        curl_multi_fdset() doc. */
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
     if(maxfd == -1) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
       Sleep(100);
       rc = 0;
-    }
-    else
+#else
+      /* Portable sleep for platforms other than Windows. */
+      struct timeval wait = { 0, 100 * 1000 }; /* 100ms */
+      rc = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &wait);
 #endif
-    {
+    }
+    else {
+      /* Note that on some platforms 'timeout' may be modified by select().
+         If you need access to the original value save a copy beforehand. */
       rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
     }