diff --git a/async.c b/async.c
index 5fb3fa61df..6930185e64 100644
--- a/async.c
+++ b/async.c
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ aio_ctx_finalize(GSource     *source)
     thread_pool_free(ctx->thread_pool);
     aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &ctx->notifier, NULL);
     event_notifier_cleanup(&ctx->notifier);
+    rfifolock_destroy(&ctx->lock);
     qemu_mutex_destroy(&ctx->bh_lock);
     g_array_free(ctx->pollfds, TRUE);
     timerlistgroup_deinit(&ctx->tlg);
@@ -250,6 +251,12 @@ static void aio_timerlist_notify(void *opaque)
     aio_notify(opaque);
 }
 
+static void aio_rfifolock_cb(void *opaque)
+{
+    /* Kick owner thread in case they are blocked in aio_poll() */
+    aio_notify(opaque);
+}
+
 AioContext *aio_context_new(void)
 {
     AioContext *ctx;
@@ -257,6 +264,7 @@ AioContext *aio_context_new(void)
     ctx->pollfds = g_array_new(FALSE, FALSE, sizeof(GPollFD));
     ctx->thread_pool = NULL;
     qemu_mutex_init(&ctx->bh_lock);
+    rfifolock_init(&ctx->lock, aio_rfifolock_cb, ctx);
     event_notifier_init(&ctx->notifier, false);
     aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &ctx->notifier, 
                            (EventNotifierHandler *)
@@ -275,3 +283,13 @@ void aio_context_unref(AioContext *ctx)
 {
     g_source_unref(&ctx->source);
 }
+
+void aio_context_acquire(AioContext *ctx)
+{
+    rfifolock_lock(&ctx->lock);
+}
+
+void aio_context_release(AioContext *ctx)
+{
+    rfifolock_unlock(&ctx->lock);
+}
diff --git a/include/block/aio.h b/include/block/aio.h
index 2efdf416cf..a92511bd3b 100644
--- a/include/block/aio.h
+++ b/include/block/aio.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
 #include "qemu/event_notifier.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
+#include "qemu/rfifolock.h"
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 
 typedef struct BlockDriverAIOCB BlockDriverAIOCB;
@@ -47,6 +48,9 @@ typedef void IOHandler(void *opaque);
 struct AioContext {
     GSource source;
 
+    /* Protects all fields from multi-threaded access */
+    RFifoLock lock;
+
     /* The list of registered AIO handlers */
     QLIST_HEAD(, AioHandler) aio_handlers;
 
@@ -104,6 +108,20 @@ void aio_context_ref(AioContext *ctx);
  */
 void aio_context_unref(AioContext *ctx);
 
+/* Take ownership of the AioContext.  If the AioContext will be shared between
+ * threads, a thread must have ownership when calling aio_poll().
+ *
+ * Note that multiple threads calling aio_poll() means timers, BHs, and
+ * callbacks may be invoked from a different thread than they were registered
+ * from.  Therefore, code must use AioContext acquire/release or use
+ * fine-grained synchronization to protect shared state if other threads will
+ * be accessing it simultaneously.
+ */
+void aio_context_acquire(AioContext *ctx);
+
+/* Relinquish ownership of the AioContext. */
+void aio_context_release(AioContext *ctx);
+
 /**
  * aio_bh_new: Allocate a new bottom half structure.
  *
diff --git a/tests/test-aio.c b/tests/test-aio.c
index 592721ed3f..56f4288ca8 100644
--- a/tests/test-aio.c
+++ b/tests/test-aio.c
@@ -112,6 +112,64 @@ static void test_notify(void)
     g_assert(!aio_poll(ctx, false));
 }
 
+typedef struct {
+    QemuMutex start_lock;
+    bool thread_acquired;
+} AcquireTestData;
+
+static void *test_acquire_thread(void *opaque)
+{
+    AcquireTestData *data = opaque;
+
+    /* Wait for other thread to let us start */
+    qemu_mutex_lock(&data->start_lock);
+    qemu_mutex_unlock(&data->start_lock);
+
+    aio_context_acquire(ctx);
+    aio_context_release(ctx);
+
+    data->thread_acquired = true; /* success, we got here */
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static void dummy_notifier_read(EventNotifier *unused)
+{
+    g_assert(false); /* should never be invoked */
+}
+
+static void test_acquire(void)
+{
+    QemuThread thread;
+    EventNotifier notifier;
+    AcquireTestData data;
+
+    /* Dummy event notifier ensures aio_poll() will block */
+    event_notifier_init(&notifier, false);
+    aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &notifier, dummy_notifier_read);
+    g_assert(!aio_poll(ctx, false)); /* consume aio_notify() */
+
+    qemu_mutex_init(&data.start_lock);
+    qemu_mutex_lock(&data.start_lock);
+    data.thread_acquired = false;
+
+    qemu_thread_create(&thread, "test_acquire_thread",
+                       test_acquire_thread,
+                       &data, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+
+    /* Block in aio_poll(), let other thread kick us and acquire context */
+    aio_context_acquire(ctx);
+    qemu_mutex_unlock(&data.start_lock); /* let the thread run */
+    g_assert(!aio_poll(ctx, true));
+    aio_context_release(ctx);
+
+    qemu_thread_join(&thread);
+    aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &notifier, NULL);
+    event_notifier_cleanup(&notifier);
+
+    g_assert(data.thread_acquired);
+}
+
 static void test_bh_schedule(void)
 {
     BHTestData data = { .n = 0 };
@@ -775,6 +833,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     g_test_init(&argc, &argv, NULL);
     g_test_add_func("/aio/notify",                  test_notify);
+    g_test_add_func("/aio/acquire",                 test_acquire);
     g_test_add_func("/aio/bh/schedule",             test_bh_schedule);
     g_test_add_func("/aio/bh/schedule10",           test_bh_schedule10);
     g_test_add_func("/aio/bh/cancel",               test_bh_cancel);