diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index 0bf5bfc1b6..bb93c6abb9 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -444,6 +444,11 @@ sc_prohibit_nonreentrant:
 	done ; \
 	exit $$fail
 
+sc_prohibit_select:
+	@prohibit="\\<select *\\("					\
+	halt="use poll(), not se""lect()"				\
+	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
+
 # Prohibit the inclusion of <ctype.h>.
 sc_prohibit_ctype_h:
 	@prohibit='^# *include  *<ctype\.h>'				\
diff --git a/src/phyp/phyp_driver.c b/src/phyp/phyp_driver.c
index f0007c08a0..4594cbf22e 100644
--- a/src/phyp/phyp_driver.c
+++ b/src/phyp/phyp_driver.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <domain_event.h>
+#include <poll.h>
 
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "virauth.h"
@@ -72,29 +73,22 @@ static unsigned const int PHYP_MAC_SIZE= 12;
 static int
 waitsocket(int socket_fd, LIBSSH2_SESSION * session)
 {
-    struct timeval timeout;
-    fd_set fd;
-    fd_set *writefd = NULL;
-    fd_set *readfd = NULL;
+    struct pollfd fds[1];
     int dir;
 
-    timeout.tv_sec = 0;
-    timeout.tv_usec = 1000;
-
-    FD_ZERO(&fd);
-
-    FD_SET(socket_fd, &fd);
+    memset(fds, 0, sizeof(fds));
+    fds[0].fd = socket_fd;
 
     /* now make sure we wait in the correct direction */
     dir = libssh2_session_block_directions(session);
 
     if (dir & LIBSSH2_SESSION_BLOCK_INBOUND)
-        readfd = &fd;
+        fds[0].events |= POLLIN;
 
     if (dir & LIBSSH2_SESSION_BLOCK_OUTBOUND)
-        writefd = &fd;
+        fds[0].events |= POLLOUT;
 
-    return select(socket_fd + 1, readfd, writefd, NULL, &timeout);
+    return poll(fds, ARRAY_CARDINALITY(fds), -1);
 }
 
 /* this function is the layer that manipulates the ssh channel itself
diff --git a/src/util/virnetlink.c b/src/util/virnetlink.c
index d340eda39a..b2ba9df548 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetlink.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetlink.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NET
 
-#define NETLINK_ACK_TIMEOUT_S  2
+#define NETLINK_ACK_TIMEOUT_S  (2*1000)
 
 #if defined(__linux__) && defined(HAVE_LIBNL)
 /* State for a single netlink event handle */
@@ -185,10 +185,7 @@ int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg,
             .nl_groups = 0,
     };
     ssize_t nbytes;
-    struct timeval tv = {
-        .tv_sec = NETLINK_ACK_TIMEOUT_S,
-    };
-    fd_set readfds;
+    struct pollfd fds[1];
     int fd;
     int n;
     struct nlmsghdr *nlmsg = nlmsg_hdr(nl_msg);
@@ -242,14 +239,15 @@ int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg,
         goto error;
     }
 
-    FD_ZERO(&readfds);
-    FD_SET(fd, &readfds);
+    memset(fds, 0, sizeof(fds));
+    fds[0].fd = fd;
+    fds[0].events = POLLIN;
 
-    n = select(fd + 1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &tv);
+    n = poll(fds, ARRAY_CARDINALITY(fds), NETLINK_ACK_TIMEOUT_S);
     if (n <= 0) {
         if (n < 0)
             virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
-                                 _("error in select call"));
+                                 _("error in poll call"));
         if (n == 0)
             virReportSystemError(ETIMEDOUT, "%s",
                                  _("no valid netlink response was received"));