diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0fb1400..d0719c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ Let's take these projects to the next level together! 🚀
 Once [installed](#install), you can use the following code to present a prompt in a CLI program:
 
 ```php
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 
 $stdio->setPrompt('Input > ');
 
@@ -64,8 +63,6 @@ $stdio->on('data', function ($line) use ($stdio) {
         $stdio->end();
     }
 });
-
-$loop->run();
 ```
 
 See also the [examples](examples).
@@ -77,13 +74,17 @@ See also the [examples](examples).
 The `Stdio` is the main interface to this library.
 It is responsible for orchestrating the input and output streams
 by registering and forwarding the corresponding events.
-It also registers everything with the main [EventLoop](https://github.com/reactphp/event-loop#usage).
 
 ```php
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 ```
 
+This class takes an optional `LoopInterface|null $loop` parameter that can be used to
+pass the event loop instance to use for this object. You can use a `null` value
+here in order to use the [default loop](https://github.com/reactphp/event-loop#loop).
+This value SHOULD NOT be given unless you're sure you want to explicitly use a
+given event loop instance.
+
 See below for waiting for user input and writing output.
 The `Stdio` class is a well-behaving duplex stream
 (implementing ReactPHP's `DuplexStreamInterface`) that emits each complete
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 09eb64b..0e86dcb 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -14,24 +14,24 @@
         "php": ">=5.3",
         "clue/term-react": "^1.0 || ^0.1.1",
         "clue/utf8-react": "^1.0 || ^0.1",
-        "react/event-loop": "^1.0 || ^0.5 || ^0.4 || ^0.3",
-        "react/stream": "^1.0 || ^0.7 || ^0.6"
+        "react/event-loop": "^1.2",
+        "react/stream": "^1.2"
+    },
+    "require-dev": {
+        "clue/arguments": "^2.0",
+        "clue/commander": "^1.2",
+        "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.3 || ^5.7 || ^4.8.35"
     },
     "suggest": {
         "ext-mbstring": "Using ext-mbstring should provide slightly better performance for handling I/O"
     },
+    "config": {
+        "sort-packages": true
+    },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-4": { "Clue\\React\\Stdio\\": "src/" }
     },
     "autoload-dev": {
         "psr-4": { "Clue\\Tests\\React\\Stdio\\": "tests/" }
-    },
-    "require-dev": {
-        "clue/arguments": "^2.0",
-        "clue/commander": "^1.2",
-        "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.3 || ^5.7 || ^4.8.35"
-    },
-    "config": {
-        "sort-packages": true
     }
 }
diff --git a/examples/01-periodic.php b/examples/01-periodic.php
index 9b74ad3..cbf8a58 100644
--- a/examples/01-periodic.php
+++ b/examples/01-periodic.php
@@ -1,38 +1,35 @@
 <?php
 
 use Clue\React\Stdio\Stdio;
+use React\EventLoop\Loop;
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 
 $stdio->write('Will print periodic messages until you submit anything' . PHP_EOL);
 
 // add some periodic noise
-$timer = $loop->addPeriodicTimer(0.5, function () use ($stdio) {
+$timer = Loop::addPeriodicTimer(0.5, function () use ($stdio) {
     $stdio->write(date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . ' hello' . PHP_EOL);
 });
 
 // react to commands the user entered
-$stdio->on('data', function ($line) use ($stdio, $loop, $timer) {
+$stdio->on('data', function ($line) use ($stdio, $timer) {
     $stdio->write('you just said: ' . addcslashes($line, "\0..\37") . ' (' . strlen($line) . ')' . PHP_EOL);
 
-    $loop->cancelTimer($timer);
+    Loop::cancelTimer($timer);
     $stdio->end();
 });
 
 // cancel periodic timer if STDIN closed
-$stdio->on('end', function () use ($stdio, $loop, $timer) {
-    $loop->cancelTimer($timer);
+$stdio->on('end', function () use ($stdio, $timer) {
+    Loop::cancelTimer($timer);
     $stdio->end();
 });
 
 // input already closed on program start, exit immediately
 if (!$stdio->isReadable()) {
-    $loop->cancelTimer($timer);
+    Loop::cancelTimer($timer);
     $stdio->end();
 }
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/examples/02-interactive.php b/examples/02-interactive.php
index b0ca923..2e55093 100644
--- a/examples/02-interactive.php
+++ b/examples/02-interactive.php
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 
 $stdio->setPrompt('> ');
 
@@ -44,5 +42,3 @@
         $stdio->end();
     }
 });
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/examples/03-commander.php b/examples/03-commander.php
index 33a9f8c..427f512 100644
--- a/examples/03-commander.php
+++ b/examples/03-commander.php
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 $stdio->setPrompt('> ');
 
 // limit history to HISTSIZE env
@@ -73,5 +71,3 @@
         $stdio->write('Error: Invalid command usage' . PHP_EOL);
     }
 });
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/examples/04-bindings.php b/examples/04-bindings.php
index 3b1bd53..0dbd0ce 100644
--- a/examples/04-bindings.php
+++ b/examples/04-bindings.php
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 $stdio->setPrompt('> ');
 
 // add some special key bindings
@@ -40,5 +38,3 @@
     $line = rtrim($line, "\r\n");
     $stdio->end('you just said: ' . $line . ' (' . strlen($line) . ')' . PHP_EOL);
 });
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/examples/05-cursor.php b/examples/05-cursor.php
index 5362b8b..22fd9b8 100644
--- a/examples/05-cursor.php
+++ b/examples/05-cursor.php
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 
 $value = 10;
 $stdio->on("\033[A", function () use (&$value, $stdio) {
@@ -40,5 +38,3 @@
 
 Use "q" to quit
 ');
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/examples/11-login.php b/examples/11-login.php
index 88bced8..b1a14f1 100644
--- a/examples/11-login.php
+++ b/examples/11-login.php
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 
 require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
-
-$stdio = new Stdio($loop);
+$stdio = new Stdio();
 $stdio->setPrompt('Username: ');
 
 $first = true;
@@ -33,5 +31,3 @@
         );
     }
 });
-
-$loop->run();
diff --git a/src/Stdio.php b/src/Stdio.php
index 4ef8cc9..aff2959 100644
--- a/src/Stdio.php
+++ b/src/Stdio.php
@@ -22,7 +22,20 @@ class Stdio extends EventEmitter implements DuplexStreamInterface
     private $incompleteLine = '';
     private $originalTtyMode = null;
 
-    public function __construct(LoopInterface $loop, ReadableStreamInterface $input = null, WritableStreamInterface $output = null, Readline $readline = null)
+    /**
+     *
+     * This class takes an optional `LoopInterface|null $loop` parameter that can be used to
+     * pass the event loop instance to use for this object. You can use a `null` value
+     * here in order to use the [default loop](https://github.com/reactphp/event-loop#loop).
+     * This value SHOULD NOT be given unless you're sure you want to explicitly use a
+     * given event loop instance.
+     *
+     * @param ?LoopInterface           $loop
+     * @param ?ReadableStreamInterface $input
+     * @param ?WritableStreamInterface $output
+     * @param ?Readline                $readline
+     */
+    public function __construct(LoopInterface $loop = null, ReadableStreamInterface $input = null, WritableStreamInterface $output = null, Readline $readline = null)
     {
         if ($input === null) {
             $input = $this->createStdin($loop); // @codeCoverageIgnore
@@ -529,11 +542,11 @@ private function restoreTtyMode()
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param LoopInterface $loop
+     * @param ?LoopInterface $loop
      * @return ReadableStreamInterface
      * @codeCoverageIgnore this is covered by functional tests with/without ext-readline
      */
-    private function createStdin(LoopInterface $loop)
+    private function createStdin(LoopInterface $loop = null)
     {
         // STDIN not defined ("php -a") or already closed (`fclose(STDIN)`)
         // also support starting program with closed STDIN ("example.php 0<&-")
@@ -569,11 +582,11 @@ private function createStdin(LoopInterface $loop)
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param LoopInterface $loop
+     * @param ?LoopInterface $loop
      * @return WritableStreamInterface
      * @codeCoverageIgnore this is covered by functional tests
      */
-    private function createStdout(LoopInterface $loop)
+    private function createStdout(LoopInterface $loop = null)
     {
         // STDOUT not defined ("php -a") or already closed (`fclose(STDOUT)`)
         // also support starting program with closed STDOUT ("example.php >&-")
diff --git a/tests/StdioTest.php b/tests/StdioTest.php
index 81ab37f..88d9480 100644
--- a/tests/StdioTest.php
+++ b/tests/StdioTest.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ public function setUpLoop()
      */
     public function testCtorDefaultArgs()
     {
-        $stdio = new Stdio($this->loop);
+        $stdio = new Stdio();
 
         // Closing STDIN/STDOUT is not a good idea for reproducible tests
         // $stdio->close();