diff --git a/tokio/src/io/mod.rs b/tokio/src/io/mod.rs
index b35a20dd35b..99cabde0ab8 100644
--- a/tokio/src/io/mod.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/io/mod.rs
@@ -271,8 +271,8 @@ cfg_io_util! {
     pub(crate) mod seek;
     pub(crate) mod util;
     pub use util::{
-        copy, copy_bidirectional, copy_bidirectional_with_sizes, copy_buf, duplex, empty, repeat, sink, AsyncBufReadExt, AsyncReadExt, AsyncSeekExt, AsyncWriteExt,
-        BufReader, BufStream, BufWriter, DuplexStream, Empty, Lines, Repeat, Sink, Split, Take,
+        copy, copy_bidirectional, copy_bidirectional_with_sizes, copy_buf, duplex, empty, repeat, sink, simplex, AsyncBufReadExt, AsyncReadExt, AsyncSeekExt, AsyncWriteExt,
+        BufReader, BufStream, BufWriter, DuplexStream, Empty, Lines, Repeat, Sink, Split, Take, SimplexStream,
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/tokio/src/io/util/mem.rs b/tokio/src/io/util/mem.rs
index 96676e64cff..15916cc0052 100644
--- a/tokio/src/io/util/mem.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/io/util/mem.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 //! In-process memory IO types.
 
-use crate::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite, ReadBuf};
+use crate::io::{split, AsyncRead, AsyncWrite, ReadBuf, ReadHalf, WriteHalf};
 use crate::loom::sync::Mutex;
 
 use bytes::{Buf, BytesMut};
@@ -47,15 +47,34 @@ use std::{
 #[derive(Debug)]
 #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "io-util")))]
 pub struct DuplexStream {
-    read: Arc<Mutex<Pipe>>,
-    write: Arc<Mutex<Pipe>>,
+    read: Arc<Mutex<SimplexStream>>,
+    write: Arc<Mutex<SimplexStream>>,
 }
 
-/// A unidirectional IO over a piece of memory.
+/// A unidirectional pipe to read and write bytes in memory.
 ///
-/// Data can be written to the pipe, and reading will return that data.
+/// It can be constructed by [`simplex`] function which will create a pair of
+/// reader and writer or by calling [`SimplexStream::new_unsplit`] that will
+/// create a handle for both reading and writing.
+///
+/// # Example
+///
+/// ```
+/// # async fn ex() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+/// # use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
+/// let (mut receiver, mut sender) = tokio::io::simplex(64);
+///
+/// sender.write_all(b"ping").await?;
+///
+/// let mut buf = [0u8; 4];
+/// receiver.read_exact(&mut buf).await?;
+/// assert_eq!(&buf, b"ping");
+/// # Ok(())
+/// # }
+/// ```
 #[derive(Debug)]
-struct Pipe {
+#[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "io-util")))]
+pub struct SimplexStream {
     /// The buffer storing the bytes written, also read from.
     ///
     /// Using a `BytesMut` because it has efficient `Buf` and `BufMut`
@@ -83,8 +102,8 @@ struct Pipe {
 /// written to a side before the write returns `Poll::Pending`.
 #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "io-util")))]
 pub fn duplex(max_buf_size: usize) -> (DuplexStream, DuplexStream) {
-    let one = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Pipe::new(max_buf_size)));
-    let two = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Pipe::new(max_buf_size)));
+    let one = Arc::new(Mutex::new(SimplexStream::new_unsplit(max_buf_size)));
+    let two = Arc::new(Mutex::new(SimplexStream::new_unsplit(max_buf_size)));
 
     (
         DuplexStream {
@@ -161,11 +180,47 @@ impl Drop for DuplexStream {
     }
 }
 
-// ===== impl Pipe =====
+// ===== impl SimplexStream =====
+
+/// Creates unidirectional buffer that acts like in memory pipe.
+///
+/// The `max_buf_size` argument is the maximum amount of bytes that can be
+/// written to a buffer before the it returns `Poll::Pending`.
+///
+/// # Unify reader and writer
+///
+/// The reader and writer half can be unified into a single structure
+/// of `SimplexStream` that supports both reading and writing or
+/// the `SimplexStream` can be already created as unified structure
+/// using [`SimplexStream::new_unsplit()`].
+///
+/// ```
+/// # async fn ex() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+/// # use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
+/// let (writer, reader) = tokio::io::simplex(64);
+/// let mut simplex_stream = writer.unsplit(reader);
+/// simplex_stream.write_all(b"hello").await?;
+///
+/// let mut buf = [0u8; 5];
+/// simplex_stream.read_exact(&mut buf).await?;
+/// assert_eq!(&buf, b"hello");
+/// # Ok(())
+/// # }
+/// ```
+#[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "io-util")))]
+pub fn simplex(max_buf_size: usize) -> (ReadHalf<SimplexStream>, WriteHalf<SimplexStream>) {
+    split(SimplexStream::new_unsplit(max_buf_size))
+}
 
-impl Pipe {
-    fn new(max_buf_size: usize) -> Self {
-        Pipe {
+impl SimplexStream {
+    /// Creates unidirectional buffer that acts like in memory pipe. To create split
+    /// version with separate reader and writer you can use [`simplex`] function.
+    ///
+    /// The `max_buf_size` argument is the maximum amount of bytes that can be
+    /// written to a buffer before the it returns `Poll::Pending`.
+    #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "io-util")))]
+    pub fn new_unsplit(max_buf_size: usize) -> SimplexStream {
+        SimplexStream {
             buffer: BytesMut::new(),
             is_closed: false,
             max_buf_size,
@@ -269,7 +324,7 @@ impl Pipe {
     }
 }
 
-impl AsyncRead for Pipe {
+impl AsyncRead for SimplexStream {
     cfg_coop! {
         fn poll_read(
             self: Pin<&mut Self>,
@@ -299,7 +354,7 @@ impl AsyncRead for Pipe {
     }
 }
 
-impl AsyncWrite for Pipe {
+impl AsyncWrite for SimplexStream {
     cfg_coop! {
         fn poll_write(
             self: Pin<&mut Self>,
diff --git a/tokio/src/io/util/mod.rs b/tokio/src/io/util/mod.rs
index 5010fc01d29..b2f8618c7ee 100644
--- a/tokio/src/io/util/mod.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/io/util/mod.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ cfg_io_util! {
     pub use lines::Lines;
 
     mod mem;
-    pub use mem::{duplex, DuplexStream};
+    pub use mem::{duplex, simplex, DuplexStream, SimplexStream};
 
     mod read;
     mod read_buf;