diff --git a/doc/api/errors.md b/doc/api/errors.md
index dcb2c77a7bf353..218aaff50ad09c 100644
--- a/doc/api/errors.md
+++ b/doc/api/errors.md
@@ -1555,18 +1555,6 @@ An attempt was made to operate on an already closed socket.
 
 A call was made and the UDP subsystem was not running.
 
-<a id="ERR_STDERR_CLOSE"></a>
-### ERR_STDERR_CLOSE
-
-An attempt was made to close the `process.stderr` stream. By design, Node.js
-does not allow `stdout` or `stderr` streams to be closed by user code.
-
-<a id="ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE"></a>
-### ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE
-
-An attempt was made to close the `process.stdout` stream. By design, Node.js
-does not allow `stdout` or `stderr` streams to be closed by user code.
-
 <a id="ERR_STREAM_CANNOT_PIPE"></a>
 ### ERR_STREAM_CANNOT_PIPE
 
@@ -1952,6 +1940,37 @@ removed: v10.0.0
 
 The `repl` module was unable to parse data from the REPL history file.
 
+
+<a id="ERR_STDERR_CLOSE"></a>
+### ERR_STDERR_CLOSE
+<!-- YAML
+removed: REPLACEME
+changes:
+  - version: REPLACEME
+    pr-url: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/23053
+    description: Rather than emitting an error, `process.stderr.end()` now
+                 only closes the stream side but not the underlying resource,
+                 making this error obsolete.
+-->
+
+An attempt was made to close the `process.stderr` stream. By design, Node.js
+does not allow `stdout` or `stderr` streams to be closed by user code.
+
+<a id="ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE"></a>
+### ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE
+<!-- YAML
+removed: REPLACEME
+changes:
+  - version: REPLACEME
+    pr-url: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/23053
+    description: Rather than emitting an error, `process.stderr.end()` now
+                 only closes the stream side but not the underlying resource,
+                 making this error obsolete.
+-->
+
+An attempt was made to close the `process.stdout` stream. By design, Node.js
+does not allow `stdout` or `stderr` streams to be closed by user code.
+
 <a id="ERR_STREAM_READ_NOT_IMPLEMENTED"></a>
 ### ERR_STREAM_READ_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
 <!-- YAML
diff --git a/doc/api/process.md b/doc/api/process.md
index 07d9b43b55b8c5..0eaeef8ba3e4f6 100644
--- a/doc/api/process.md
+++ b/doc/api/process.md
@@ -1907,9 +1907,7 @@ important ways:
 
 1. They are used internally by [`console.log()`][] and [`console.error()`][],
    respectively.
-2. They cannot be closed ([`end()`][] will throw).
-3. They will never emit the [`'finish'`][] event.
-4. Writes may be synchronous depending on what the stream is connected to
+2. Writes may be synchronous depending on what the stream is connected to
    and whether the system is Windows or POSIX:
    - Files: *synchronous* on Windows and POSIX
    - TTYs (Terminals): *asynchronous* on Windows, *synchronous* on POSIX
@@ -2134,7 +2132,6 @@ cases:
   code will be `128` + `6`, or `134`.
 
 [`'exit'`]: #process_event_exit
-[`'finish'`]: stream.html#stream_event_finish
 [`'message'`]: child_process.html#child_process_event_message
 [`'rejectionHandled'`]: #process_event_rejectionhandled
 [`'uncaughtException'`]: #process_event_uncaughtexception
@@ -2148,7 +2145,6 @@ cases:
 [`console.error()`]: console.html#console_console_error_data_args
 [`console.log()`]: console.html#console_console_log_data_args
 [`domain`]: domain.html
-[`end()`]: stream.html#stream_writable_end_chunk_encoding_callback
 [`net.Server`]: net.html#net_class_net_server
 [`net.Socket`]: net.html#net_class_net_socket
 [`NODE_OPTIONS`]: cli.html#cli_node_options_options
diff --git a/lib/internal/errors.js b/lib/internal/errors.js
index 6153f7e2994605..656c7e2c6c5a5b 100644
--- a/lib/internal/errors.js
+++ b/lib/internal/errors.js
@@ -817,8 +817,6 @@ E('ERR_SOCKET_BUFFER_SIZE',
 E('ERR_SOCKET_CANNOT_SEND', 'Unable to send data', Error);
 E('ERR_SOCKET_CLOSED', 'Socket is closed', Error);
 E('ERR_SOCKET_DGRAM_NOT_RUNNING', 'Not running', Error);
-E('ERR_STDERR_CLOSE', 'process.stderr cannot be closed', Error);
-E('ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE', 'process.stdout cannot be closed', Error);
 E('ERR_STREAM_CANNOT_PIPE', 'Cannot pipe, not readable', Error);
 E('ERR_STREAM_DESTROYED', 'Cannot call %s after a stream was destroyed', Error);
 E('ERR_STREAM_NULL_VALUES', 'May not write null values to stream', TypeError);
diff --git a/lib/internal/process/stdio.js b/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
index e4207a1aa768bd..ca09f4ff821a00 100644
--- a/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
+++ b/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const {
-  ERR_STDERR_CLOSE,
-  ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE,
   ERR_UNKNOWN_STDIN_TYPE,
   ERR_UNKNOWN_STREAM_TYPE
 } = require('internal/errors').codes;
@@ -10,6 +8,8 @@ const {
 exports.setupProcessStdio = setupProcessStdio;
 exports.getMainThreadStdio = getMainThreadStdio;
 
+function dummyDestroy(err, cb) { cb(err); }
+
 function getMainThreadStdio() {
   var stdin;
   var stdout;
@@ -19,11 +19,8 @@ function getMainThreadStdio() {
     if (stdout) return stdout;
     stdout = createWritableStdioStream(1);
     stdout.destroySoon = stdout.destroy;
-    stdout._destroy = function(er, cb) {
-      // Avoid errors if we already emitted
-      er = er || new ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE();
-      cb(er);
-    };
+    // Override _destroy so that the fd is never actually closed.
+    stdout._destroy = dummyDestroy;
     if (stdout.isTTY) {
       process.on('SIGWINCH', () => stdout._refreshSize());
     }
@@ -34,11 +31,8 @@ function getMainThreadStdio() {
     if (stderr) return stderr;
     stderr = createWritableStdioStream(2);
     stderr.destroySoon = stderr.destroy;
-    stderr._destroy = function(er, cb) {
-      // Avoid errors if we already emitted
-      er = er || new ERR_STDERR_CLOSE();
-      cb(er);
-    };
+    // Override _destroy so that the fd is never actually closed.
+    stdout._destroy = dummyDestroy;
     if (stderr.isTTY) {
       process.on('SIGWINCH', () => stderr._refreshSize());
     }
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-stdout-cannot-be-closed-child-process-pipe.js b/test/parallel/test-stdout-cannot-be-closed-child-process-pipe.js
index d19b522e290ba9..7cd4b90c008a2f 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-stdout-cannot-be-closed-child-process-pipe.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-stdout-cannot-be-closed-child-process-pipe.js
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ function parent() {
   });
 
   child.on('close', function(code, signal) {
-    assert(code);
+    assert.strictEqual(code, 0);
+    assert.strictEqual(err, '');
     assert.strictEqual(out, 'foo');
-    assert(/process\.stdout cannot be closed/.test(err));
     console.log('ok');
   });
 }
diff --git a/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.in b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..10ddd6d257e013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.in
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Hello!
diff --git a/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.js b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..90f017ed77b7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+process.stderr.on('data', common.mustCall(console.log));
diff --git a/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.out b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..3b7fda223d0e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pseudo-tty/test-stdout-read.out
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<Buffer 48 65 6c 6c 6f 21 0a>