diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 9d4c22cf3..7ddd26db8 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ endif
 
 REDIS_SERVER_NAME=keydb-server
 REDIS_SENTINEL_NAME=keydb-sentinel
-REDIS_SERVER_OBJ=adlist.o quicklist.o ae.o anet.o dict.o server.o sds.o zmalloc.o lzf_c.o lzf_d.o pqsort.o zipmap.o sha1.o ziplist.o release.o networking.o util.o object.o db.o replication.o rdb.o t_string.o t_list.o t_set.o t_zset.o t_hash.o config.o aof.o pubsub.o multi.o debug.o sort.o intset.o syncio.o cluster.o crc16.o endianconv.o slowlog.o scripting.o bio.o rio.o rand.o memtest.o crc64.o bitops.o sentinel.o notify.o setproctitle.o blocked.o hyperloglog.o latency.o sparkline.o redis-check-rdb.o redis-check-aof.o geo.o lazyfree.o module.o evict.o expire.o geohash.o geohash_helper.o childinfo.o defrag.o siphash.o rax.o t_stream.o listpack.o localtime.o acl.o storage.o rdb-s3.o fastlock.o new.o tracking.o $(ASM_OBJ)
+REDIS_SERVER_OBJ=adlist.o quicklist.o ae.o anet.o dict.o server.o sds.o zmalloc.o lzf_c.o lzf_d.o pqsort.o zipmap.o sha1.o ziplist.o release.o networking.o util.o object.o db.o replication.o rdb.o t_string.o t_list.o t_set.o t_zset.o t_hash.o config.o aof.o pubsub.o multi.o debug.o sort.o intset.o syncio.o cluster.o crc16.o endianconv.o slowlog.o scripting.o bio.o rio.o rand.o memtest.o crc64.o bitops.o sentinel.o notify.o setproctitle.o blocked.o hyperloglog.o latency.o sparkline.o redis-check-rdb.o redis-check-aof.o geo.o lazyfree.o module.o evict.o expire.o geohash.o geohash_helper.o childinfo.o defrag.o siphash.o rax.o t_stream.o listpack.o localtime.o acl.o storage.o rdb-s3.o fastlock.o new.o tracking.o AsyncWorkQueue.o $(ASM_OBJ)
 REDIS_CLI_NAME=keydb-cli
 REDIS_CLI_OBJ=anet.o adlist.o dict.o redis-cli.o redis-cli-cpphelper.o zmalloc.o release.o anet.o ae.o crc64.o siphash.o crc16.o storage-lite.o fastlock.o new.o $(ASM_OBJ)
 REDIS_BENCHMARK_NAME=keydb-benchmark
diff --git a/src/blocked.cpp b/src/blocked.cpp
index 19d7f2fb6..13cc2347f 100644
--- a/src/blocked.cpp
+++ b/src/blocked.cpp
@@ -190,6 +190,8 @@ void unblockClient(client *c) {
         unblockClientWaitingReplicas(c);
     } else if (c->btype == BLOCKED_MODULE) {
         unblockClientFromModule(c);
+    } else if (c->btype == BLOCKED_ASYNC) {
+
     } else {
         serverPanic("Unknown btype in unblockClient().");
     }
diff --git a/src/db.cpp b/src/db.cpp
index 9cba03a2a..f76edb2af 100644
--- a/src/db.cpp
+++ b/src/db.cpp
@@ -704,20 +704,25 @@ bool redisDbPersistentData::iterate(std::function<bool(const char*)> fn)
     return fResult;
 }
 
-void keysCommand(client *c) {
-    sds pattern = szFromObj(c->argv[1]);
+void keysCommandCore(client *c, redisDbPersistentData *db, sds pattern)
+{
     int plen = sdslen(pattern), allkeys;
     unsigned long numkeys = 0;
-    void *replylen = addReplyDeferredLen(c);
+
+    aeAcquireLock();
+    void *replylen = addReplyDeferredLenAsync(c);
+    aeReleaseLock();
 
     allkeys = (pattern[0] == '*' && pattern[1] == '\0');
-    c->db->iterate([&](const char *key)->bool {
+    db->iterate([&](const char *key)->bool {
         robj *keyobj;
 
         if (allkeys || stringmatchlen(pattern,plen,key,sdslen(key),0)) {
             keyobj = createStringObject(key,sdslen(key));
             if (!keyIsExpired(c->db,keyobj)) {
-                addReplyBulk(c,keyobj);
+                aeAcquireLock();
+                addReplyBulkAsync(c,keyobj);
+                aeReleaseLock();
                 numkeys++;
             }
             decrRefCount(keyobj);
@@ -725,7 +730,42 @@ void keysCommand(client *c) {
         return true;
     });
     
-    setDeferredArrayLen(c,replylen,numkeys);
+    setDeferredArrayLenAsync(c,replylen,numkeys);
+}
+
+int prepareClientToWrite(client *c, bool fAsync);
+void keysCommand(client *c) {
+    sds pattern = szFromObj(c->argv[1]);
+
+    redisDbPersistentData *snapshot = nullptr;
+    if (!(c->flags & (CLIENT_MULTI | CLIENT_BLOCKED)))
+        snapshot = c->db->createSnapshot(c->mvccCheckpoint);
+    if (snapshot != nullptr)
+    {
+        sds patternCopy = sdsdup(pattern);
+        aeEventLoop *el = serverTL->el;
+        blockClient(c, BLOCKED_ASYNC);
+        redisDb *db = c->db;
+        g_pserver->asyncworkqueue->AddWorkFunction([el, c, db, patternCopy, snapshot]{
+            keysCommandCore(c, snapshot, patternCopy);
+            sdsfree(patternCopy);
+            aePostFunction(el, [c, db, snapshot]{
+                aeReleaseLock();    // we need to lock with coordination of the client
+
+                std::unique_lock<decltype(c->lock)> lock(c->lock);
+                AeLocker locker;
+                locker.arm(c);
+
+                unblockClient(c);
+                db->endSnapshot(snapshot);
+                aeAcquireLock();
+            });
+        });
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        keysCommandCore(c, c->db, pattern);
+    }
 }
 
 /* This callback is used by scanGenericCommand in order to collect elements
diff --git a/src/networking.cpp b/src/networking.cpp
index 905a64693..bf08c74a6 100644
--- a/src/networking.cpp
+++ b/src/networking.cpp
@@ -530,6 +530,7 @@ void *addReplyDeferredLenAsync(client *c) {
     if (FCorrectThread(c))
         return addReplyDeferredLen(c);
         
+    prepareClientToWrite(c, true);
     return (void*)((ssize_t)c->bufposAsync);
 }
 
@@ -1316,7 +1317,11 @@ bool freeClient(client *c) {
     c->querybuf = NULL;
 
     /* Deallocate structures used to block on blocking ops. */
-    if (c->flags & CLIENT_BLOCKED) unblockClient(c);
+    if (c->flags & CLIENT_BLOCKED)
+    {
+        serverAssert(c->btype != BLOCKED_ASYNC);
+        unblockClient(c);
+    }
     dictRelease(c->bpop.keys);
 
     /* UNWATCH all the keys */
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 20a91a763..51ca9530d 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -3076,6 +3076,8 @@ void initServer(void) {
     latencyMonitorInit();
     bioInit();
     g_pserver->initial_memory_usage = zmalloc_used_memory();
+
+    g_pserver->asyncworkqueue = new (MALLOC_LOCAL) AsyncWorkQueue(cserver.cthreads);
 }
 
 /* Parse the flags string description 'strflags' and set them to the
@@ -3831,6 +3833,7 @@ int prepareForShutdown(int flags) {
 
     /* Close the listening sockets. Apparently this allows faster restarts. */
     closeListeningSockets(1);
+
     serverLog(LL_WARNING,"%s is now ready to exit, bye bye...",
         g_pserver->sentinel_mode ? "Sentinel" : "KeyDB");
     return C_OK;
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 77455228c..2e8bc3f73 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ typedef long long mstime_t; /* millisecond time type. */
 #include "endianconv.h"
 #include "crc64.h"
 #include "IStorage.h"
+#include "AsyncWorkQueue.h"
 
 extern int g_fTestMode;
 
@@ -389,7 +390,8 @@ public:
 #define BLOCKED_MODULE 3  /* Blocked by a loadable module. */
 #define BLOCKED_STREAM 4  /* XREAD. */
 #define BLOCKED_ZSET 5    /* BZPOP et al. */
-#define BLOCKED_NUM 6     /* Number of blocked states. */
+#define BLOCKED_ASYNC 6
+#define BLOCKED_NUM 7     /* Number of blocked states. */
 
 /* Client request types */
 #define PROTO_REQ_INLINE 1
@@ -2060,6 +2062,8 @@ struct redisServer {
     //  Upper 44 bits: mstime (least significant 44-bits) enough for ~500 years before rollover from date of addition
     uint64_t mvcc_tstamp;
 
+    AsyncWorkQueue *asyncworkqueue;
+
     /* System hardware info */
     size_t system_memory_size;  /* Total memory in system as reported by OS */