Summary: The mechanisms by which turbulent shear flow causes waves on a gas-liquid interface are studied analytically, with a critical assessment of the possible role played by wave-induced Reynolds stresses (WIRSs). First, turbulent flow past a corrugated surface of a small slope is analysed; the surface can either be stationary or support a travelling wave. This problem serves as a useful model because direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data are available to test the analysis, and because this picture is itself a model for the fully coupled two-layer problem. It is demonstrated that the WIRSs play no significant role in shear-driven turbulent flow past a moving wavy wall, and that they alter the structure of the flow only in a quantitative fashion in the pressure-driven case. In the shear-driven case in particular, excellent agreement is obtained with previously reported DNS results. Two closure assumptions are made in our model: the first concerns the wave-induced dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy; the second concerns the importance of rapid distortion. The results of our calculations are sensitive to the assumptions used to close the wave-induced dissipation but are insensitive to the details of the rapid-distortion modelling. Finally, the fully coupled two-layer problem is addressed in the setting of waves of small amplitude, where it is demonstrated that the WIRSs do not play a significant role in the growth of interfacial waves, even at relatively high Reynolds numbers. Again, good agreement is obtained between data from experiments and DNS.