diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index d37d8c3..cf4b3c2 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ API
    :members:
 .. autoclass:: LRU
    :members:
+.. autoclass:: SharedMemory
+   :members:
 .. autoclass:: Sieve
    :members:
 .. autoclass:: Zip
diff --git a/zict/__init__.py b/zict/__init__.py
index fcdc44b..1d79ec2 100644
--- a/zict/__init__.py
+++ b/zict/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from zict.func import Func as Func
 from zict.lmdb import LMDB as LMDB
 from zict.lru import LRU as LRU
+from zict.shared_memory import SharedMemory as SharedMemory
 from zict.sieve import Sieve as Sieve
 from zict.utils import InsertionSortedSet as InsertionSortedSet
 from zict.zip import Zip as Zip
diff --git a/zict/shared_memory/__init__.py b/zict/shared_memory/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d03b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zict/shared_memory/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from zict.shared_memory.shared_memory import SharedMemory
diff --git a/zict/shared_memory/_linux.py b/zict/shared_memory/_linux.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29b4394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zict/shared_memory/_linux.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+"""Linux implementation of :class:`zict.SharedMemory`.
+
+Wraps around glibc ``memfd_create``.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ctypes
+import mmap
+import os
+from collections.abc import Iterable
+
+_memfd_create = None
+
+
+def _setitem(safe_key: str, value: Iterable[bytes | bytearray | memoryview]) -> int:
+    global _memfd_create
+    if _memfd_create is None:
+        libc = ctypes.CDLL("libc.so.6")
+        _memfd_create = libc.memfd_create
+
+    fd = _memfd_create(safe_key.encode("ascii"), 0)
+    if fd == -1:
+        raise OSError("Call to memfd_create failed")  # pragma: nocover
+
+    with os.fdopen(fd, "wb", closefd=False) as fh:
+        fh.writelines(value)
+
+    return fd
+
+
+def _getitem(fd: int) -> memoryview:
+    # This opens a second fd for as long as the memory map is referenced.
+    # Sadly there does not seem a way to extract the fd from the mmap, so we have to
+    # keep the original fd open for the purpose of exporting.
+    return memoryview(mmap.mmap(fd, 0))
+
+
+def _delitem(fd: int) -> None:
+    # Close the original fd. There may be other fd's still open if the shared memory is
+    # referenced somewhere else.
+    # This is also called by SharedMemory.__del__.
+    os.close(fd)
+
+
+def _export(safe_key: str, fd: int) -> tuple:
+    return safe_key, os.getpid(), fd
+
+
+def _import(safe_key: str, pid: int, fd: int) -> int:
+    # if fd has been closed, raise FileNotFoundError
+    # if fd has been closed and reopened to something else, this may also raise a
+    # generic OSError, e.g. if this is now a socket
+    new_fd = os.open(f"/proc/{pid}/fd/{fd}", os.O_RDWR)
+
+    expect = f"/memfd:{safe_key} (deleted)"
+    actual = os.readlink(f"/proc/{os.getpid()}/fd/{new_fd}")
+    if actual != expect:
+        # fd has been closed and reopened to something else
+        os.close(new_fd)
+        raise OSError()
+
+    return new_fd
diff --git a/zict/shared_memory/_windows.py b/zict/shared_memory/_windows.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57e4181
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zict/shared_memory/_windows.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+"""Windows implementation of :class:`zict.SharedMemory`.
+
+Conveniently, :class:`multiprocessing.shared_memory.SharedMemory` already wraps around
+the Windows API we want to use, so this is implemented as a hack on top of it.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import mmap
+import multiprocessing.shared_memory
+from collections.abc import Collection
+from typing import cast
+
+
+class _PySharedMemoryNoClose(multiprocessing.shared_memory.SharedMemory):
+    def __del__(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+
+def _setitem(
+    safe_key: str, value: Collection[bytes | bytearray | memoryview]
+) -> memoryview:
+    nbytes = sum(v.nbytes if isinstance(v, memoryview) else len(v) for v in value)
+    shm = _PySharedMemoryNoClose(safe_key, create=True, size=nbytes)
+    mm = cast(mmap.mmap, shm.buf.obj)
+    for v in value:
+        mm.write(v)
+    # This dereferences shm; if we hadn't overridden the __del__ method, it would cause
+    # it to automatically close the memory map and deallocate the shared memory.
+    return shm.buf
+
+
+def _getitem(mm: memoryview) -> memoryview:
+    # Nothing to do. This is just for compatibility with the Linux implementation, which
+    # instead creates a memory map on the fly.
+    return mm
+
+
+def _delitem(mm: memoryview) -> None:
+    # Nothing to do. The shared memory is released as soon as the last memory map
+    # referencing it is destroyed.
+    pass
+
+
+def _export(safe_key: str, mm: memoryview) -> tuple:
+    return (safe_key,)
+
+
+def _import(safe_key: str) -> memoryview:
+    # Raises OSError in case of invalid key
+    shm = _PySharedMemoryNoClose(safe_key)
+    return shm.buf
diff --git a/zict/shared_memory/shared_memory.py b/zict/shared_memory/shared_memory.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e61d7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zict/shared_memory/shared_memory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import secrets
+import sys
+from collections.abc import Iterator, KeysView
+from typing import Any
+from urllib.parse import quote, unquote
+
+from zict.common import ZictBase
+
+if sys.platform == "linux":
+    from zict.shared_memory._linux import _delitem, _export, _getitem, _import, _setitem
+elif sys.platform == "win32":
+    from zict.shared_memory._windows import (
+        _delitem,
+        _export,
+        _getitem,
+        _import,
+        _setitem,
+    )
+
+
+class SharedMemory(ZictBase[str, memoryview]):
+    """Mutable Mapping interface to shared memory.
+
+    **Supported OSs:** Linux, Windows
+
+    Keys must be strings, values must be buffers.
+    Keys are stored in private memory, and other SharedMemory objects by default won't
+    see them - even in case of key collision, the two pieces of data remain separate.
+
+    In order to share the same buffer, one SharedMemory object must call
+    :meth:`export` and the other :meth:`import_`.
+
+    **Resources usage**
+
+    On Linux, you will hold 1 file descriptor open for every key in the SharedMemory
+    mapping, plus 1 file descriptor for every returned memoryview that is referenced
+    somewhere else. Please ensure that your ``ulimit`` is high enough to cope with this.
+
+    If you expect to call ``__getitem__`` multiple times on the same key while the
+    return value from the previous call is still in use, you should wrap this mapping in
+    a :class:`~zict.Cache`:
+
+    >>> import zict
+    >>> shm = zict.Cache(
+    ...     zict.SharedMemory(),
+    ...     zict.WeakValueMapping(),
+    ...     update_on_set=False,
+    ... ) # doctest: +SKIP
+
+    The above will cap the amount of open file descriptors per key to 2.
+
+    **Lifecycle**
+
+    Memory is released when all the SharedMemory objects that were sharing the key have
+    deleted it *and* the buffer returned by ``__getitem__`` is no longer referenced
+    anywhere else.
+    Process termination, including ungraceful termination (SIGKILL, SIGSEGV), also
+    releases the memory; in other words you don't risk leaking memory to the
+    OS if all processes that were sharing it crash or are killed.
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    In process 1:
+
+    >>> import pickle, numpy, zict  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> shm = zict.SharedMemory()  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> a = numpy.random.random(2**27)  # 1 GiB  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> buffers = []  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> pik = pickle.dumps(a, protocol=5, buffer_callback=buffers.append)
+    ... # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> # This deep-copies the buffer, resulting in 1 GiB private + 1 GiB shared memory.
+    >>> shm["a"] = buffers  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> # Release private memory, leaving only the shared memory allocated
+    >>> del a, buffers  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> # Recreate array from shared memory. This requires no extra memory.
+    >>> a = pickle.loads(pik, buffers=[shm["a"]])  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> # Send trivially-sized metadata (<1 kiB) to the peer process somehow.
+    >>> send_to_process_2((pik, shm.export("a")))  # doctest: +SKIP
+
+    In process 2:
+
+    >>> import pickle, zict  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> shm = zict.SharedMemory()  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> pik, metadata = receive_from_process_1()  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> key = shm.import_(metadata)  # returns "a"  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> a = pickle.loads(pik, buffers=[shm[key]])  # doctest: +SKIP
+
+    Now process 1 and 2 hold a reference to the same memory; in-place changes on one
+    process are reflected onto the other. The shared memory is released after you delete
+    the key and dereference the buffer returned by ``__getitem__`` on *both* processes:
+
+    >>> del shm["a"]  # doctest: +SKIP
+    >>> del a  # doctest: +SKIP
+
+    or alternatively when both processes are terminated.
+
+    **Implementation notes**
+
+    This mapping uses OS-specific shared memory, which
+
+    1. can be shared among already existing processes, e.g. unlike ``mmap(fd=-1)``, and
+    2. is automatically cleaned up by the OS in case of ungraceful process termination,
+       e.g. unlike ``shm_open`` (which is used by :mod:`multiprocessing.shared_memory`
+       on all POSIX OS'es)
+
+    It is implemented on top of ``memfd_create`` on Linux and ``CreateFileMapping`` on
+    Windows. Notably, there is no POSIX equivalent for these API calls, as it only
+    implements ``shm_open`` which would inevitably cause memory leaks in case of
+    ungraceful process termination.
+    """
+
+    # {key: (unique safe key, implementation-specific data)}
+    _data: dict[str, tuple[str, Any]]
+
+    def __init__(self):  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
+        if sys.platform not in ("linux", "win32"):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "SharedMemory is only available on Linux and Windows"
+            )
+
+        self._data = {}
+
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        return f"<SharedMemory: {len(self)} elements>"
+
+    __repr__ = __str__
+
+    def __setitem__(
+        self,
+        key: str,
+        value: bytes
+        | bytearray
+        | memoryview
+        | list[bytes | bytearray | memoryview]
+        | tuple[bytes | bytearray | memoryview, ...],
+    ) -> None:
+        try:
+            del self[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+
+        if not isinstance(value, (tuple, list)):
+            value = [value]
+        safe_key = quote(key, safe="") + "#" + secrets.token_bytes(8).hex()
+        impl_data = _setitem(safe_key, value)
+        self._data[key] = safe_key, impl_data
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key: str) -> memoryview:
+        _, impl_data = self._data[key]
+        return _getitem(impl_data)
+
+    def __delitem__(self, key: str) -> None:
+        _, impl_data = self._data.pop(key)
+        _delitem(impl_data)
+
+    def __del__(self) -> None:
+        try:
+            data_values = self._data.values()
+        except Exception:
+            # Interpreter shutdown
+            return  # pragma: nocover
+
+        for _, impl_data in data_values:
+            try:
+                _delitem(impl_data)
+            except Exception:
+                pass  # pragma: nocover
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        # Implements ZictBase.close(). Also triggered by __exit__.
+        self.clear()
+
+    def __contains__(self, key: object) -> bool:
+        return key in self._data
+
+    def keys(self) -> KeysView[str]:
+        return self._data.keys()
+
+    def __iter__(self) -> Iterator[str]:
+        return iter(self._data)
+
+    def __len__(self) -> int:
+        return len(self._data)
+
+    def export(self, key: str) -> tuple:
+        """Export metadata for a key, which can be fed into :meth:`import_` on
+        another process.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Opaque metadata object (implementation-specific) to be passed to
+        :meth:`import_`. It is serializable with JSON, YAML, and msgpack.
+
+        See Also
+        --------
+        import_
+        """
+        return _export(*self._data[key])
+
+    def import_(self, metadata: tuple | list) -> str:
+        """Import a key from another process, starting to share the memory area.
+
+        You should treat parameters as implementation details and just unpack the tuple
+        that was generated by :meth:`export`.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Key that was just added to the mapping
+
+        Raises
+        ------
+        FileNotFoundError
+            Either the key or the whole SharedMemory object were deleted on the process
+            where you ran :meth:`export`, or the process was terminated.
+
+        Notes
+        -----
+        On Windows, this method will raise FileNotFoundError if the key has been deleted
+        from the other SharedMemory mapping *and* it is no longer referenced anywhere.
+        On Linux, this method will raise as soon as the key is deleted from the other
+        SharedMemory mapping, even if it's still referenced.
+
+        e.g. this code is not portable, as it will work on Windows but not on Linux:
+
+        >>> buf = shm["x"] = buf  # doctest: +SKIP
+        >>> meta = shm.export("x")  # doctest: +SKIP
+        >>> del shm["x"]  # doctest: +SKIP
+
+        See Also
+        --------
+        export
+        """
+        safe_key = metadata[0]
+        key = unquote(safe_key.split("#")[0])
+
+        try:
+            del self[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+
+        try:
+            impl_data = _import(*metadata)
+        except OSError:
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"Peer process no longer holds the key: {key!r}")
+        self._data[key] = safe_key, impl_data
+        return key