diff --git a/block/monitor/block-hmp-cmds.c b/block/monitor/block-hmp-cmds.c
index ebf1033f31..3e6670c963 100644
--- a/block/monitor/block-hmp-cmds.c
+++ b/block/monitor/block-hmp-cmds.c
@@ -557,8 +557,10 @@ void hmp_eject(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
 void hmp_qemu_io(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 {
-    BlockBackend *blk;
+    BlockBackend *blk = NULL;
+    BlockDriverState *bs = NULL;
     BlockBackend *local_blk = NULL;
+    AioContext *ctx = NULL;
     bool qdev = qdict_get_try_bool(qdict, "qdev", false);
     const char *device = qdict_get_str(qdict, "device");
     const char *command = qdict_get_str(qdict, "command");
@@ -573,20 +575,24 @@ void hmp_qemu_io(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     } else {
         blk = blk_by_name(device);
         if (!blk) {
-            BlockDriverState *bs = bdrv_lookup_bs(NULL, device, &err);
-            if (bs) {
-                blk = local_blk = blk_new(bdrv_get_aio_context(bs),
-                                          0, BLK_PERM_ALL);
-                ret = blk_insert_bs(blk, bs, &err);
-                if (ret < 0) {
-                    goto fail;
-                }
-            } else {
+            bs = bdrv_lookup_bs(NULL, device, &err);
+            if (!bs) {
                 goto fail;
             }
         }
     }
 
+    ctx = blk ? blk_get_aio_context(blk) : bdrv_get_aio_context(bs);
+    aio_context_acquire(ctx);
+
+    if (bs) {
+        blk = local_blk = blk_new(bdrv_get_aio_context(bs), 0, BLK_PERM_ALL);
+        ret = blk_insert_bs(blk, bs, &err);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            goto fail;
+        }
+    }
+
     /*
      * Notably absent: Proper permission management. This is sad, but it seems
      * almost impossible to achieve without changing the semantics and thereby
@@ -616,6 +622,11 @@ void hmp_qemu_io(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
 fail:
     blk_unref(local_blk);
+
+    if (ctx) {
+        aio_context_release(ctx);
+    }
+
     hmp_handle_error(mon, err);
 }
 
diff --git a/qemu-io-cmds.c b/qemu-io-cmds.c
index 97611969cb..998b67186d 100644
--- a/qemu-io-cmds.c
+++ b/qemu-io-cmds.c
@@ -2457,9 +2457,12 @@ static const cmdinfo_t help_cmd = {
     .oneline    = "help for one or all commands",
 };
 
+/*
+ * Called with aio context of blk acquired. Or with qemu_get_aio_context()
+ * context acquired if blk is NULL.
+ */
 int qemuio_command(BlockBackend *blk, const char *cmd)
 {
-    AioContext *ctx;
     char *input;
     const cmdinfo_t *ct;
     char **v;
@@ -2471,10 +2474,7 @@ int 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);
             ret = command(blk, ct, c, v);
-            aio_context_release(ctx);
         } else {
             fprintf(stderr, "command \"%s\" not found\n", v[0]);
             ret = -EINVAL;
diff --git a/qemu-io.c b/qemu-io.c
index bf902302e9..57f07501df 100644
--- a/qemu-io.c
+++ b/qemu-io.c
@@ -411,6 +411,19 @@ static void prep_fetchline(void *opaque)
     *fetchable= 1;
 }
 
+static int do_qemuio_command(const char *cmd)
+{
+    int ret;
+    AioContext *ctx =
+        qemuio_blk ? blk_get_aio_context(qemuio_blk) : qemu_get_aio_context();
+
+    aio_context_acquire(ctx);
+    ret = qemuio_command(qemuio_blk, cmd);
+    aio_context_release(ctx);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
 static int command_loop(void)
 {
     int i, fetchable = 0, prompted = 0;
@@ -418,7 +431,7 @@ static int command_loop(void)
     char *input;
 
     for (i = 0; !quit_qemu_io && i < ncmdline; i++) {
-        ret = qemuio_command(qemuio_blk, cmdline[i]);
+        ret = do_qemuio_command(cmdline[i]);
         if (ret < 0) {
             last_error = ret;
         }
@@ -446,7 +459,7 @@ static int command_loop(void)
         if (input == NULL) {
             break;
         }
-        ret = qemuio_command(qemuio_blk, input);
+        ret = do_qemuio_command(input);
         g_free(input);
 
         if (ret < 0) {