diff --git a/qemu-io-cmds.c b/qemu-io-cmds.c
index dbe04136f3..4750e9ab93 100644
--- a/qemu-io-cmds.c
+++ b/qemu-io-cmds.c
@@ -2216,6 +2216,7 @@ static const cmdinfo_t help_cmd = {
 
 bool qemuio_command(BlockBackend *blk, const char *cmd)
 {
+    AioContext *ctx;
     char *input;
     const cmdinfo_t *ct;
     char **v;
@@ -2227,7 +2228,10 @@ bool qemuio_command(BlockBackend *blk, const char *cmd)
     if (c) {
         ct = find_command(v[0]);
         if (ct) {
+            ctx = blk ? blk_get_aio_context(blk) : qemu_get_aio_context();
+            aio_context_acquire(ctx);
             done = command(blk, ct, c, v);
+            aio_context_release(ctx);
         } else {
             fprintf(stderr, "command \"%s\" not found\n", v[0]);
         }