diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index 2cc68d2465..2fbed0c749 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ struct VirtQueue
     uint16_t vector;
     VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output;
     VirtIOHandleOutput handle_aio_output;
+    bool use_aio;
     VirtIODevice *vdev;
     EventNotifier guest_notifier;
     EventNotifier host_notifier;
@@ -1130,8 +1131,9 @@ void virtio_queue_set_vector(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n, uint16_t vector)
     }
 }
 
-VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
-                            VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output)
+static VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue_internal(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
+                                            VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output,
+                                            bool use_aio)
 {
     int i;
 
@@ -1148,10 +1150,28 @@ VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
     vdev->vq[i].vring.align = VIRTIO_PCI_VRING_ALIGN;
     vdev->vq[i].handle_output = handle_output;
     vdev->vq[i].handle_aio_output = NULL;
+    vdev->vq[i].use_aio = use_aio;
 
     return &vdev->vq[i];
 }
 
+/* Add a virt queue and mark AIO.
+ * An AIO queue will use the AioContext based event interface instead of the
+ * default IOHandler and EventNotifier interface.
+ */
+VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue_aio(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
+                                VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output)
+{
+    return virtio_add_queue_internal(vdev, queue_size, handle_output, true);
+}
+
+/* Add a normal virt queue (on the contrary to the AIO version above. */
+VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
+                            VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output)
+{
+    return virtio_add_queue_internal(vdev, queue_size, handle_output, false);
+}
+
 void virtio_del_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n)
 {
     if (n < 0 || n >= VIRTIO_QUEUE_MAX) {
@@ -1830,11 +1850,21 @@ static void virtio_queue_host_notifier_read(EventNotifier *n)
 void virtio_queue_set_host_notifier_fd_handler(VirtQueue *vq, bool assign,
                                                bool set_handler)
 {
+    AioContext *ctx = qemu_get_aio_context();
     if (assign && set_handler) {
-        event_notifier_set_handler(&vq->host_notifier, true,
+        if (vq->use_aio) {
+            aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &vq->host_notifier, true,
                                    virtio_queue_host_notifier_read);
+        } else {
+            event_notifier_set_handler(&vq->host_notifier, true,
+                                       virtio_queue_host_notifier_read);
+        }
     } else {
-        event_notifier_set_handler(&vq->host_notifier, true, NULL);
+        if (vq->use_aio) {
+            aio_set_event_notifier(ctx, &vq->host_notifier, true, NULL);
+        } else {
+            event_notifier_set_handler(&vq->host_notifier, true, NULL);
+        }
     }
     if (!assign) {
         /* Test and clear notifier before after disabling event,
diff --git a/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h b/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
index 3670829501..7a82f79a2a 100644
--- a/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
+++ b/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ typedef void (*VirtIOHandleOutput)(VirtIODevice *, VirtQueue *);
 VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
                             VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output);
 
+VirtQueue *virtio_add_queue_aio(VirtIODevice *vdev, int queue_size,
+                                VirtIOHandleOutput handle_output);
+
 void virtio_del_queue(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);
 
 void *virtqueue_alloc_element(size_t sz, unsigned out_num, unsigned in_num);