diff --git a/tests/test-thread-pool.c b/tests/test-thread-pool.c
index f40b7fc170..ed2b25b8eb 100644
--- a/tests/test-thread-pool.c
+++ b/tests/test-thread-pool.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ static int long_cb(void *opaque)
 static void done_cb(void *opaque, int ret)
 {
     WorkerTestData *data = opaque;
-    g_assert_cmpint(data->ret, ==, -EINPROGRESS);
+    g_assert(data->ret == -EINPROGRESS || data->ret == -ECANCELED);
     data->ret = ret;
     data->aiocb = NULL;
 
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ static void test_submit_many(void)
     }
 }
 
-static void test_cancel(void)
+static void do_test_cancel(bool sync)
 {
     WorkerTestData data[100];
     int num_canceled;
@@ -170,18 +170,25 @@ static void test_cancel(void)
     for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
         if (atomic_cmpxchg(&data[i].n, 0, 3) == 0) {
             data[i].ret = -ECANCELED;
-            bdrv_aio_cancel(data[i].aiocb);
-            active--;
+            if (sync) {
+                bdrv_aio_cancel(data[i].aiocb);
+            } else {
+                bdrv_aio_cancel_async(data[i].aiocb);
+            }
             num_canceled++;
         }
     }
     g_assert_cmpint(active, >, 0);
     g_assert_cmpint(num_canceled, <, 100);
 
-    /* Canceling the others will be a blocking operation.  */
     for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
         if (data[i].aiocb && data[i].n != 3) {
-            bdrv_aio_cancel(data[i].aiocb);
+            if (sync) {
+                /* Canceling the others will be a blocking operation.  */
+                bdrv_aio_cancel(data[i].aiocb);
+            } else {
+                bdrv_aio_cancel_async(data[i].aiocb);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -193,15 +200,25 @@ static void test_cancel(void)
     for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
         if (data[i].n == 3) {
             g_assert_cmpint(data[i].ret, ==, -ECANCELED);
-            g_assert(data[i].aiocb != NULL);
+            g_assert(data[i].aiocb == NULL);
         } else {
             g_assert_cmpint(data[i].n, ==, 2);
-            g_assert_cmpint(data[i].ret, ==, 0);
+            g_assert(data[i].ret == 0 || data[i].ret == -ECANCELED);
             g_assert(data[i].aiocb == NULL);
         }
     }
 }
 
+static void test_cancel(void)
+{
+    do_test_cancel(true);
+}
+
+static void test_cancel_async(void)
+{
+    do_test_cancel(false);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int ret;
@@ -217,6 +234,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     g_test_add_func("/thread-pool/submit-co", test_submit_co);
     g_test_add_func("/thread-pool/submit-many", test_submit_many);
     g_test_add_func("/thread-pool/cancel", test_cancel);
+    g_test_add_func("/thread-pool/cancel-async", test_cancel_async);
 
     ret = g_test_run();
 
diff --git a/thread-pool.c b/thread-pool.c
index bc07d7a1c9..bb1395cff8 100644
--- a/thread-pool.c
+++ b/thread-pool.c
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ enum ThreadState {
     THREAD_QUEUED,
     THREAD_ACTIVE,
     THREAD_DONE,
-    THREAD_CANCELED,
 };
 
 struct ThreadPoolElement {
@@ -58,7 +57,6 @@ struct ThreadPool {
     AioContext *ctx;
     QEMUBH *completion_bh;
     QemuMutex lock;
-    QemuCond check_cancel;
     QemuCond worker_stopped;
     QemuSemaphore sem;
     int max_threads;
@@ -73,7 +71,6 @@ struct ThreadPool {
     int idle_threads;
     int new_threads;     /* backlog of threads we need to create */
     int pending_threads; /* threads created but not running yet */
-    int pending_cancellations; /* whether we need a cond_broadcast */
     bool stopping;
 };
 
@@ -113,9 +110,6 @@ static void *worker_thread(void *opaque)
         req->state = THREAD_DONE;
 
         qemu_mutex_lock(&pool->lock);
-        if (pool->pending_cancellations) {
-            qemu_cond_broadcast(&pool->check_cancel);
-        }
 
         qemu_bh_schedule(pool->completion_bh);
     }
@@ -173,7 +167,7 @@ static void thread_pool_completion_bh(void *opaque)
 
 restart:
     QLIST_FOREACH_SAFE(elem, &pool->head, all, next) {
-        if (elem->state != THREAD_CANCELED && elem->state != THREAD_DONE) {
+        if (elem->state != THREAD_DONE) {
             continue;
         }
         if (elem->state == THREAD_DONE) {
@@ -217,22 +211,26 @@ static void thread_pool_cancel(BlockDriverAIOCB *acb)
          */
         qemu_sem_timedwait(&pool->sem, 0) == 0) {
         QTAILQ_REMOVE(&pool->request_list, elem, reqs);
-        elem->state = THREAD_CANCELED;
         qemu_bh_schedule(pool->completion_bh);
-    } else {
-        pool->pending_cancellations++;
-        while (elem->state != THREAD_CANCELED && elem->state != THREAD_DONE) {
-            qemu_cond_wait(&pool->check_cancel, &pool->lock);
-        }
-        pool->pending_cancellations--;
+
+        elem->state = THREAD_DONE;
+        elem->ret = -ECANCELED;
     }
+
     qemu_mutex_unlock(&pool->lock);
-    thread_pool_completion_bh(pool);
+}
+
+static AioContext *thread_pool_get_aio_context(BlockDriverAIOCB *acb)
+{
+    ThreadPoolElement *elem = (ThreadPoolElement *)acb;
+    ThreadPool *pool = elem->pool;
+    return pool->ctx;
 }
 
 static const AIOCBInfo thread_pool_aiocb_info = {
     .aiocb_size         = sizeof(ThreadPoolElement),
-    .cancel             = thread_pool_cancel,
+    .cancel_async       = thread_pool_cancel,
+    .get_aio_context    = thread_pool_get_aio_context,
 };
 
 BlockDriverAIOCB *thread_pool_submit_aio(ThreadPool *pool,
@@ -299,7 +297,6 @@ static void thread_pool_init_one(ThreadPool *pool, AioContext *ctx)
     pool->ctx = ctx;
     pool->completion_bh = aio_bh_new(ctx, thread_pool_completion_bh, pool);
     qemu_mutex_init(&pool->lock);
-    qemu_cond_init(&pool->check_cancel);
     qemu_cond_init(&pool->worker_stopped);
     qemu_sem_init(&pool->sem, 0);
     pool->max_threads = 64;
@@ -342,7 +339,6 @@ void thread_pool_free(ThreadPool *pool)
 
     qemu_bh_delete(pool->completion_bh);
     qemu_sem_destroy(&pool->sem);
-    qemu_cond_destroy(&pool->check_cancel);
     qemu_cond_destroy(&pool->worker_stopped);
     qemu_mutex_destroy(&pool->lock);
     g_free(pool);