diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils.go b/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils.go
index 055acb9b09..5b6746ec97 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils.go
@@ -683,6 +683,22 @@ func addHypervisorBlockOverrides(ocispec specs.Spec, sbConfig *vc.SandboxConfig)
 		}
 	}
 
+	if value, ok := ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.BlockDeviceAIO]; ok {
+		supportedAIO := []string{config.AIONative, config.AIOThreads, config.AIOIOUring}
+
+		valid := false
+		for _, b := range supportedAIO {
+			if b == value {
+				sbConfig.HypervisorConfig.BlockDeviceAIO = value
+				valid = true
+			}
+		}
+
+		if !valid {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Invalid AIO mechanism  %v specified in annotation (supported IO mechanism : %v)", value, supportedAIO)
+		}
+	}
+
 	if err := newAnnotationConfiguration(ocispec, vcAnnotations.DisableBlockDeviceUse).setBool(func(disableBlockDeviceUse bool) {
 		sbConfig.HypervisorConfig.DisableBlockDeviceUse = disableBlockDeviceUse
 	}); err != nil {
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils_test.go b/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils_test.go
index b5e7440b0c..e7ed37fb33 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils_test.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/oci/utils_test.go
@@ -642,6 +642,7 @@ func TestAddHypervisorAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.HugePages] = "true"
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.IOMMU] = "true"
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.BlockDeviceDriver] = "virtio-scsi"
+	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.BlockDeviceAIO] = "io_uring"
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.DisableBlockDeviceUse] = "true"
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.EnableIOThreads] = "true"
 	ocispec.Annotations[vcAnnotations.BlockDeviceCacheSet] = "true"
@@ -679,6 +680,7 @@ func TestAddHypervisorAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.HugePages, true)
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.IOMMU, true)
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.BlockDeviceDriver, "virtio-scsi")
+	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.BlockDeviceAIO, "io_uring")
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.DisableBlockDeviceUse, true)
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.EnableIOThreads, true)
 	assert.Equal(config.HypervisorConfig.BlockDeviceCacheSet, true)
diff --git a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/pkg/annotations/annotations.go b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/pkg/annotations/annotations.go
index 6618d0acdf..d7919a0c8a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/pkg/annotations/annotations.go
+++ b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/pkg/annotations/annotations.go
@@ -203,6 +203,9 @@ const (
 	// BlockDeviceDriver specifies the driver to be used for block device either VirtioSCSI or VirtioBlock
 	BlockDeviceDriver = kataAnnotHypervisorPrefix + "block_device_driver"
 
+	// BlockDeviceAIO specifies I/O mechanism to be used with VirtioBlock for qemu
+	BlockDeviceAIO = kataAnnotHypervisorPrefix + "block_device_aio"
+
 	// DisableBlockDeviceUse  is a sandbox annotation that disallows a block device from being used.
 	DisableBlockDeviceUse = kataAnnotHypervisorPrefix + "disable_block_device_use"