diff --git a/core/reactor.cc b/core/reactor.cc
index 397d814ab6..2f17fa7ef5 100644
--- a/core/reactor.cc
+++ b/core/reactor.cc
@@ -447,6 +447,26 @@ int reactor::run() {
             _start_promise.set_value();
         });
     });
+
+    // Register smp queues poller
+    if (smp::count > 1) {
+        register_new_poller(
+            [&] {
+                smp::poll_queues();
+
+                if (_pending_tasks.empty()) {
+                    _idle.store(true, std::memory_order_seq_cst);
+
+                    if (smp::poll_queues() && !_pending_tasks.empty()) {
+                        _idle.store(false, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                return idle();
+            }
+        );
+    }
+
     complete_timers();
     while (true) {
         task_quota = _task_quota;
@@ -465,17 +485,9 @@ int reactor::run() {
             break;
         }
 
-        smp::poll_queues();
+        bool blocking_allowed = poll_once();
 
-        if (_pending_tasks.empty()) {
-            _idle.store(true, std::memory_order_seq_cst);
-
-            if (smp::poll_queues() && !_pending_tasks.empty()) {
-                _idle.store(false, std::memory_order_relaxed);
-            }
-        }
-
-        wait_and_process(_pending_tasks.empty(), [this] {
+        wait_and_process(_pending_tasks.empty() && blocking_allowed, [this] {
             if (_pending_tasks.empty()) {
                 _idle.store(false, std::memory_order_relaxed);
             }
diff --git a/core/reactor.hh b/core/reactor.hh
index 9a8972f3b1..49596bf58a 100644
--- a/core/reactor.hh
+++ b/core/reactor.hh
@@ -533,6 +533,7 @@ private:
 #else
     reactor_backend_epoll _backend;
 #endif
+    std::vector<std::function<bool()>> _pollers;
     static constexpr size_t max_aio = 128;
     promise<> _exit_promise;
     future<> _exit_future;
@@ -556,6 +557,22 @@ private:
 private:
     void abort_on_error(int ret);
     void complete_timers();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns TRUE if all pollers allow blocking.
+     *
+     * @return FALSE if at least one of the blockers requires a non-blocking
+     *         execution.
+     */
+    bool poll_once() {
+        bool allow_blocking = true;
+        for (auto c : _pollers) {
+            allow_blocking = c() && allow_blocking;
+        }
+
+        return allow_blocking;
+    }
+
 public:
     static boost::program_options::options_description get_options_description();
     reactor();
@@ -596,6 +613,18 @@ public:
     network_stack& net() { return *_network_stack; }
     unsigned cpu_id() const { return _id; }
     bool idle() { return _idle.load(std::memory_order_relaxed); }
+
+    /**
+     * Add a new "poller" - a non-blocking function returning a boolean, that
+     * will be called every iteration of a main loop.
+     * If it returns FALSE then reactor's main loop is forbidden to block in the
+     * current iteration.
+     *
+     * @param fn a new "poller" function to register
+     */
+    void register_new_poller(std::function<bool()>&& fn) {
+        _pollers.push_back(std::move(fn));
+    }
 private:
     future<size_t> write_all_part(pollable_fd_state& fd, const void* buffer, size_t size, size_t completed);
 
@@ -617,6 +646,7 @@ public:
     void wait_and_process(bool block, std::function<void()> &&pre_process) {
         _backend.wait_and_process(block, std::move(pre_process));
     }
+
     future<> readable(pollable_fd_state& fd) {
         return _backend.readable(fd);
     }