diff --git a/include/grpc++/completion_queue.h b/include/grpc++/completion_queue.h
index 72f6253f8e8..4e8c1071c03 100644
--- a/include/grpc++/completion_queue.h
+++ b/include/grpc++/completion_queue.h
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 #ifndef __GRPCPP_COMPLETION_QUEUE_H__
 #define __GRPCPP_COMPLETION_QUEUE_H__
 
+#include <functional>
+
 struct grpc_completion_queue;
 
 namespace grpc {
@@ -44,41 +46,37 @@ class CompletionQueue {
   CompletionQueue();
   ~CompletionQueue();
 
-  enum CompletionType {
-    QUEUE_CLOSED = 0,       // Shutting down.
-    RPC_END = 1,            // An RPC finished. Either at client or server.
-    CLIENT_READ_OK = 2,     // A client-side read has finished successfully.
-    CLIENT_READ_ERROR = 3,  // A client-side read has finished with error.
-    CLIENT_WRITE_OK = 4,
-    CLIENT_WRITE_ERROR = 5,
-    SERVER_RPC_NEW = 6,     // A new RPC just arrived at the server.
-    SERVER_READ_OK = 7,     // A server-side read has finished successfully.
-    SERVER_READ_ERROR = 8,  // A server-side read has finished with error.
-    SERVER_WRITE_OK = 9,
-    SERVER_WRITE_ERROR = 10,
-    // Client or server has sent half close successfully.
-    HALFCLOSE_OK = 11,
-    // New CompletionTypes may be added in the future, so user code should
-    // always
-    // handle the default case of a CompletionType that appears after such code
-    // was
-    // written.
-    DO_NOT_USE = 20,
-  };
-
   // Blocking read from queue.
-  // For QUEUE_CLOSED, *tag is not changed.
-  // For SERVER_RPC_NEW, *tag will be a newly allocated AsyncServerContext.
-  // For others, *tag will be the AsyncServerContext of this rpc.
-  CompletionType Next(void** tag);
+  // Returns true if an event was received, false if the queue is ready
+  // for destruction.
+  bool Next(void** tag);
+
+  // Prepare a tag for the C api
+  // Given a tag we'd like to receive from Next, what tag should we pass
+  // down to the C api?
+  // Usage example:
+  //   grpc_call_start_batch(..., cq.PrepareTagForC(tag));
+  // Allows attaching some work to be executed before the original tag
+  // is returned.
+  // MUST be used for all events that could be surfaced through this
+  // wrapping API
+  template <class F>
+  void *PrepareTagForC(void *user_tag, F on_ready) {
+    return new std::function<void*()>([user_tag, on_ready]() {
+      on_ready();
+      return user_tag;
+    });
+  }
 
   // Shutdown has to be called, and the CompletionQueue can only be
-  // destructed when the QUEUE_CLOSED message has been read with Next().
+  // destructed when false is returned from Next().
   void Shutdown();
 
   grpc_completion_queue* cq() { return cq_; }
 
  private:
+  typedef std::function<void*()> FinishFunc;
+
   grpc_completion_queue* cq_;  // owned
 };
 
diff --git a/src/cpp/common/completion_queue.cc b/src/cpp/common/completion_queue.cc
index f06da9b04fe..a1a858ae2e0 100644
--- a/src/cpp/common/completion_queue.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/common/completion_queue.cc
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 
 #include <grpc++/completion_queue.h>
 
+#include <memory>
+
 #include <grpc/grpc.h>
 #include <grpc/support/log.h>
 #include <grpc/support/time.h>
@@ -47,66 +49,26 @@ CompletionQueue::~CompletionQueue() { grpc_completion_queue_destroy(cq_); }
 
 void CompletionQueue::Shutdown() { grpc_completion_queue_shutdown(cq_); }
 
-CompletionQueue::CompletionType CompletionQueue::Next(void **tag) {
-  grpc_event *ev;
-  CompletionType return_type;
-  bool success;
+// Helper class so we can declare a unique_ptr with grpc_event
+class EventDeleter {
+ public:
+  void operator()(grpc_event *ev) { if (ev) grpc_event_finish(ev); }
+};
+
+bool CompletionQueue::Next(void **tag) {
+  std::unique_ptr<grpc_event, EventDeleter> ev;
 
-  ev = grpc_completion_queue_next(cq_, gpr_inf_future);
+  ev.reset(grpc_completion_queue_next(cq_, gpr_inf_future));
   if (!ev) {
     gpr_log(GPR_ERROR, "no next event in queue");
     abort();
   }
-  switch (ev->type) {
-    case GRPC_QUEUE_SHUTDOWN:
-      return_type = QUEUE_CLOSED;
-      break;
-    case GRPC_READ:
-      *tag = ev->tag;
-      if (ev->data.read) {
-        success = static_cast<AsyncServerContext *>(ev->tag)
-                      ->ParseRead(ev->data.read);
-        return_type = success ? SERVER_READ_OK : SERVER_READ_ERROR;
-      } else {
-        return_type = SERVER_READ_ERROR;
-      }
-      break;
-    case GRPC_WRITE_ACCEPTED:
-      *tag = ev->tag;
-      if (ev->data.write_accepted != GRPC_OP_ERROR) {
-        return_type = SERVER_WRITE_OK;
-      } else {
-        return_type = SERVER_WRITE_ERROR;
-      }
-      break;
-    case GRPC_SERVER_RPC_NEW:
-      GPR_ASSERT(!ev->tag);
-      // Finishing the pending new rpcs after the server has been shutdown.
-      if (!ev->call) {
-        *tag = nullptr;
-      } else {
-        *tag = new AsyncServerContext(
-            ev->call, ev->data.server_rpc_new.method,
-            ev->data.server_rpc_new.host,
-            Timespec2Timepoint(ev->data.server_rpc_new.deadline));
-      }
-      return_type = SERVER_RPC_NEW;
-      break;
-    case GRPC_FINISHED:
-      *tag = ev->tag;
-      return_type = RPC_END;
-      break;
-    case GRPC_FINISH_ACCEPTED:
-      *tag = ev->tag;
-      return_type = HALFCLOSE_OK;
-      break;
-    default:
-      // We do not handle client side messages now
-      gpr_log(GPR_ERROR, "client-side messages aren't supported yet");
-      abort();
+  if (ev->type == GRPC_QUEUE_SHUTDOWN) {
+    return false;
   }
-  grpc_event_finish(ev);
-  return return_type;
+  std::unique_ptr<FinishFunc> func(static_cast<FinishFunc*>(ev->tag));
+  *tag = (*func)();
+  return true;
 }
 
 }  // namespace grpc