diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 9324de065c..cd6ee22e57 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -1289,9 +1289,22 @@ virDomainDiskDefNew(void)
 
     if (VIR_ALLOC(ret) < 0)
         return NULL;
+
     if (VIR_ALLOC(ret->src) < 0)
-        VIR_FREE(ret);
+        goto error;
+
+    if (virCondInit(&ret->blockJobSyncCond) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s", _("Failed to initialize condition"));
+        goto error;
+    }
+
     return ret;
+
+ error:
+    virStorageSourceFree(ret->src);
+    VIR_FREE(ret);
+
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 
@@ -1310,6 +1323,7 @@ virDomainDiskDefFree(virDomainDiskDefPtr def)
     VIR_FREE(def->product);
     VIR_FREE(def->domain_name);
     virDomainDeviceInfoClear(&def->info);
+    virCondDestroy(&def->blockJobSyncCond);
 
     VIR_FREE(def);
 }
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 608f61f0e3..84e880a6d7 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -685,6 +685,12 @@ struct _virDomainDiskDef {
     int mirrorState; /* enum virDomainDiskMirrorState */
     int mirrorJob; /* virDomainBlockJobType */
 
+    /* for some synchronous block jobs, we need to notify the owner */
+    virCond blockJobSyncCond;
+    int blockJobType;   /* type of the block job from the event */
+    int blockJobStatus; /* status of the finished block job */
+    bool blockJobSync; /* the block job needs synchronized termination */
+
     struct {
         unsigned int cylinders;
         unsigned int heads;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5a90dcde29..becf415b8b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -16276,6 +16276,12 @@ qemuDomainBlockJobImpl(virDomainObjPtr vm,
         goto endjob;
 
     if (mode == BLOCK_JOB_ABORT) {
+        if (async && !(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_ABORT_ASYNC)) {
+            /* prepare state for event delivery */
+            disk->blockJobStatus = -1;
+            disk->blockJobSync = true;
+        }
+
         if ((flags & VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_ABORT_PIVOT) &&
             !(async && disk->mirror)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID,
@@ -16389,37 +16395,24 @@ qemuDomainBlockJobImpl(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                                      status);
             event2 = virDomainEventBlockJob2NewFromObj(vm, disk->dst, type,
                                                        status);
-        } else if (!(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_ABORT_ASYNC)) {
+        } else if (disk->blockJobSync) {
             /* XXX If the event reports failure, we should reflect
              * that back into the return status of this API call.  */
-            while (1) {
-                /* Poll every 50ms */
-                static struct timespec ts = {
-                    .tv_sec = 0,
-                    .tv_nsec = 50 * 1000 * 1000ull };
-                virDomainBlockJobInfo dummy;
 
-                qemuDomainObjEnterMonitor(driver, vm);
-                ret = qemuMonitorBlockJobInfo(priv->mon, device, &dummy, NULL);
-                if (qemuDomainObjExitMonitor(driver, vm) < 0)
-                    ret = -1;
-
-                if (ret <= 0)
-                    break;
-
-                virObjectUnlock(vm);
-
-                nanosleep(&ts, NULL);
-
-                virObjectLock(vm);
-
-                if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
-                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID, "%s",
-                                   _("domain is not running"));
-                    ret = -1;
-                    break;
+            while (disk->blockJobStatus == -1 && disk->blockJobSync) {
+                if (virCondWait(&disk->blockJobSyncCond, &vm->parent.lock) < 0) {
+                    virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
+                                         _("Unable to wait on block job sync "
+                                           "condition"));
+                    disk->blockJobSync = false;
+                    goto endjob;
                 }
             }
+
+            qemuBlockJobEventProcess(driver, vm, disk,
+                                     disk->blockJobType,
+                                     disk->blockJobStatus);
+            disk->blockJobSync = false;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 79f763e324..2d86eb8411 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -1020,28 +1020,40 @@ qemuProcessHandleBlockJob(qemuMonitorPtr mon ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 {
     virQEMUDriverPtr driver = opaque;
     struct qemuProcessEvent *processEvent = NULL;
-    char *data;
+    virDomainDiskDefPtr disk;
+    char *data = NULL;
 
     virObjectLock(vm);
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Block job for device %s (domain: %p,%s) type %d status %d",
               diskAlias, vm, vm->def->name, type, status);
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(processEvent) < 0)
+    if (!(disk = qemuProcessFindDomainDiskByAlias(vm, diskAlias)))
         goto error;
 
-    processEvent->eventType = QEMU_PROCESS_EVENT_BLOCK_JOB;
-    if (VIR_STRDUP(data, diskAlias) < 0)
-        goto error;
-    processEvent->data = data;
-    processEvent->vm = vm;
-    processEvent->action = type;
-    processEvent->status = status;
+    if (disk->blockJobSync) {
+        disk->blockJobType = type;
+        disk->blockJobStatus = status;
+        /* We have an SYNC API waiting for this event, dispatch it back */
+        virCondSignal(&disk->blockJobSyncCond);
+    } else {
+        /* there is no waiting SYNC API, dispatch the update to a thread */
+        if (VIR_ALLOC(processEvent) < 0)
+            goto error;
 
-    virObjectRef(vm);
-    if (virThreadPoolSendJob(driver->workerPool, 0, processEvent) < 0) {
-        ignore_value(virObjectUnref(vm));
-        goto error;
+        processEvent->eventType = QEMU_PROCESS_EVENT_BLOCK_JOB;
+        if (VIR_STRDUP(data, diskAlias) < 0)
+            goto error;
+        processEvent->data = data;
+        processEvent->vm = vm;
+        processEvent->action = type;
+        processEvent->status = status;
+
+        virObjectRef(vm);
+        if (virThreadPoolSendJob(driver->workerPool, 0, processEvent) < 0) {
+            ignore_value(virObjectUnref(vm));
+            goto error;
+        }
     }
 
  cleanup: