diff --git a/core/Cargo.toml b/core/Cargo.toml
index 8796c1b3d5..24f73dd016 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/Cargo.toml
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ solana-vote-signer = { path = "../vote-signer", version = "1.4.0" }
 spl-token-v1-0 = { package = "spl-token", version = "1.0.6", features = ["skip-no-mangle"] }
 tempfile = "3.1.0"
 thiserror = "1.0"
+tokio = { version = "0.2.22", features = ["full"] }
 tokio_01 = { version = "0.1", package = "tokio" }
 tokio_fs_01 = { version = "0.1", package = "tokio-fs" }
 tokio_io_01 = { version = "0.1", package = "tokio-io" }
diff --git a/core/src/rpc.rs b/core/src/rpc.rs
index b6782f3ed1..ebe40538a4 100644
--- a/core/src/rpc.rs
+++ b/core/src/rpc.rs
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ use std::{
         Arc, Mutex, RwLock,
     },
 };
+use tokio::runtime;
 
 fn new_response<T>(bank: &Bank, value: T) -> RpcResponse<T> {
     let context = RpcResponseContext { slot: bank.slot() };
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ pub struct JsonRpcRequestProcessor {
     cluster_info: Arc<ClusterInfo>,
     genesis_hash: Hash,
     transaction_sender: Arc<Mutex<Sender<TransactionInfo>>>,
+    runtime_handle: runtime::Handle,
 }
 impl Metadata for JsonRpcRequestProcessor {}
 
@@ -166,6 +168,7 @@ impl JsonRpcRequestProcessor {
         health: Arc<RpcHealth>,
         cluster_info: Arc<ClusterInfo>,
         genesis_hash: Hash,
+        runtime: &runtime::Runtime,
     ) -> (Self, Receiver<TransactionInfo>) {
         let (sender, receiver) = channel();
         (
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ impl JsonRpcRequestProcessor {
             cluster_info,
             genesis_hash,
             transaction_sender: Arc::new(Mutex::new(sender)),
+            runtime_handle: runtime.handle().clone(),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/core/src/rpc_service.rs b/core/src/rpc_service.rs
index 009d5f5601..be8d40efcb 100644
--- a/core/src/rpc_service.rs
+++ b/core/src/rpc_service.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ use std::{
     sync::{mpsc::channel, Arc, RwLock},
     thread::{self, Builder, JoinHandle},
 };
+use tokio::runtime;
 
 pub struct JsonRpcService {
     thread_hdl: JoinHandle<()>,
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ pub struct JsonRpcService {
     pub request_processor: JsonRpcRequestProcessor, // Used only by test_rpc_new()...
 
     close_handle: Option<CloseHandle>,
+    runtime: runtime::Runtime,
 }
 
 struct RpcRequestMiddleware {
@@ -251,6 +253,12 @@ impl JsonRpcService {
         ));
 
         let tpu_address = cluster_info.my_contact_info().tpu;
+        let runtime = runtime::Builder::new()
+            .threaded_scheduler()
+            .thread_name("rpc-runtime")
+            .enable_all()
+            .build()
+            .expect("Runtime");
         let (request_processor, receiver) = JsonRpcRequestProcessor::new(
             config,
             bank_forks.clone(),
@@ -260,6 +268,7 @@ impl JsonRpcService {
             health.clone(),
             cluster_info,
             genesis_hash,
+            &runtime,
         );
 
         let exit_send_transaction_service = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
@@ -327,6 +336,7 @@ impl JsonRpcService {
             .register_exit(Box::new(move || close_handle_.close()));
         Self {
             thread_hdl,
+            runtime,
             #[cfg(test)]
             request_processor: test_request_processor,
             close_handle: Some(close_handle),
@@ -340,6 +350,7 @@ impl JsonRpcService {
     }
 
     pub fn join(self) -> thread::Result<()> {
+        self.runtime.shutdown_background();
         self.thread_hdl.join()
     }
 }