diff --git a/virtcontainers/hypervisor.go b/virtcontainers/hypervisor.go
index cfbd885fae..b5d0d3d8ce 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/hypervisor.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/hypervisor.go
@@ -201,6 +201,10 @@ type HypervisorConfig struct {
 	// DisableBlockDeviceUse disallows a block device from being used.
 	DisableBlockDeviceUse bool
 
+	// EnableIOThreads enables IO to be processed in a separate thread.
+	// Supported currently for virtio-scsi driver.
+	EnableIOThreads bool
+
 	// Debug changes the default hypervisor and kernel parameters to
 	// enable debug output where available.
 	Debug bool
diff --git a/virtcontainers/qemu.go b/virtcontainers/qemu.go
index 93bcf2136e..1eca297402 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/qemu.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/qemu.go
@@ -379,8 +379,9 @@ func (q *qemu) createPod(podConfig PodConfig) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	var ioThread *govmmQemu.IOThread
 	if q.config.BlockDeviceDriver == VirtioSCSI {
-		devices = q.arch.appendSCSIController(devices)
+		devices, ioThread = q.arch.appendSCSIController(devices, q.config.EnableIOThreads)
 	}
 
 	cpuModel := q.arch.cpuModel()
@@ -414,6 +415,10 @@ func (q *qemu) createPod(podConfig PodConfig) error {
 		Bios:        firmwarePath,
 	}
 
+	if ioThread != nil {
+		qemuConfig.IOThreads = []govmmQemu.IOThread{*ioThread}
+	}
+
 	q.qemuConfig = qemuConfig
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go b/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
index c377755a45..81fcf8a8eb 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ type qemuArch interface {
 	appendImage(devices []govmmQemu.Device, path string) ([]govmmQemu.Device, error)
 
 	// appendSCSIController appens a SCSI controller to devices
-	appendSCSIController(devices []govmmQemu.Device) []govmmQemu.Device
+	appendSCSIController(devices []govmmQemu.Device, enableIOThreads bool) ([]govmmQemu.Device, *govmmQemu.IOThread)
 
 	// appendBridges appends bridges to devices
 	appendBridges(devices []govmmQemu.Device, bridges []Bridge) []govmmQemu.Device
@@ -300,15 +300,27 @@ func (q *qemuArchBase) appendImage(devices []govmmQemu.Device, path string) ([]g
 	return q.appendBlockDevice(devices, drive), nil
 }
 
-func (q *qemuArchBase) appendSCSIController(devices []govmmQemu.Device) []govmmQemu.Device {
+func (q *qemuArchBase) appendSCSIController(devices []govmmQemu.Device, enableIOThreads bool) ([]govmmQemu.Device, *govmmQemu.IOThread) {
 	scsiController := govmmQemu.SCSIController{
 		ID:            scsiControllerID,
 		DisableModern: q.nestedRun,
 	}
 
+	var t *govmmQemu.IOThread
+
+	if enableIOThreads {
+		randBytes, _ := generateRandomBytes(8)
+
+		t = &govmmQemu.IOThread{
+			ID: fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", "iothread", hex.EncodeToString(randBytes)),
+		}
+
+		scsiController.IOThread = t.ID
+	}
+
 	devices = append(devices, scsiController)
 
-	return devices
+	return devices, t
 }
 
 // appendBridges appends to devices the given bridges
diff --git a/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base_test.go b/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base_test.go
index a91a06a586..451e01a68c 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base_test.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base_test.go
@@ -470,6 +470,10 @@ func TestQemuArchBaseAppendSCSIController(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	devices = qemuArchBase.appendSCSIController(devices)
+	devices, ioThread := qemuArchBase.appendSCSIController(devices, false)
 	assert.Equal(expectedOut, devices)
+	assert.Nil(ioThread)
+
+	_, ioThread = qemuArchBase.appendSCSIController(devices, true)
+	assert.NotNil(ioThread)
 }