diff --git a/mesonbuild/mtest.py b/mesonbuild/mtest.py
index f36f1d147..2caa3678d 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/mtest.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/mtest.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from ._pathlib import Path
 from collections import namedtuple
 from copy import deepcopy
 import argparse
+import asyncio
 import concurrent.futures as conc
 import datetime
 import enum
@@ -605,6 +606,17 @@ def load_tests(build_dir: str) -> T.List[TestSerialisation]:
         objs = check_testdata(pickle.load(f))
     return objs
 
+# Custom waiting primitives for asyncio
+
+async def complete_all(futures: T.Iterable[asyncio.Future]) -> None:
+    """Wait for completion of all the given futures, ignoring cancellation."""
+    while futures:
+        done, futures = await asyncio.wait(futures, return_when=asyncio.FIRST_EXCEPTION)
+        # Raise exceptions if needed for all the "done" futures
+        for f in done:
+            if not f.cancelled():
+                f.result()
+
 
 class SingleTestRunner:
 
@@ -1135,8 +1147,13 @@ class TestHarness:
             return test.name
 
     def run_tests(self, tests: T.List[TestSerialisation]) -> None:
-        executor = None
-        futures = []  # type: T.List[T.Tuple[conc.Future[TestRun], int, int, T.List[TestSerialisation], str, int]]
+        # Replace with asyncio.run once we can require Python 3.7
+        loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
+        loop.run_until_complete(self._run_tests(tests))
+
+    async def _run_tests(self, tests: T.List[TestSerialisation]) -> None:
+        executor = conc.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=self.options.num_processes)
+        futures = []  # type: T.List[asyncio.Future]
         test_count = len(tests)
         name_max_len = max([len(self.get_pretty_suite(test)) for test in tests])
         self.open_log_files()
@@ -1145,29 +1162,36 @@ class TestHarness:
             os.chdir(self.options.wd)
         self.build_data = build.load(os.getcwd())
 
+        async def run_test(test: SingleTestRunner,
+                           name: str, index: int) -> None:
+            if self.options.repeat > 1 and self.fail_count:
+                return
+            res = await asyncio.get_event_loop().run_in_executor(executor, test.run)
+            self.process_test_result(res)
+            self.print_stats(test_count, name_max_len, tests, name, res, index)
+
+        def test_done(f: asyncio.Future) -> None:
+            if not f.cancelled():
+                f.result()
+            futures.remove(f)
+
         try:
             for _ in range(self.options.repeat):
                 for i, test in enumerate(tests, 1):
                     visible_name = self.get_pretty_suite(test)
                     single_test = self.get_test_runner(test)
 
-                    if not test.is_parallel or self.options.num_processes == 1 or single_test.options.gdb:
-                        self.drain_futures(futures)
-                        futures = []
-                        res = single_test.run()
-                        self.process_test_result(res)
-                        self.print_stats(test_count, name_max_len, tests, visible_name, res, i)
+                    if not test.is_parallel or single_test.options.gdb:
+                        await complete_all(futures)
+                        await run_test(single_test, visible_name, i)
                     else:
-                        if not executor:
-                            executor = conc.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=self.options.num_processes)
-                        f = executor.submit(single_test.run)
-                        futures.append((f, test_count, name_max_len, tests, visible_name, i))
-                    if self.options.repeat > 1 and self.fail_count:
-                        break
+                        future = asyncio.ensure_future(run_test(single_test, visible_name, i))
+                        futures.append(future)
+                        future.add_done_callback(test_done)
                 if self.options.repeat > 1 and self.fail_count:
                     break
 
-            self.drain_futures(futures)
+            await complete_all(futures)
             self.print_collected_logs()
             self.print_summary()
 
@@ -1176,17 +1200,6 @@ class TestHarness:
         finally:
             os.chdir(startdir)
 
-    def drain_futures(self, futures: T.List[T.Tuple['conc.Future[TestRun]', int, int, T.List[TestSerialisation], str, int]]) -> None:
-        for x in futures:
-            (result, test_count, name_max_len, tests, name, i) = x
-            if self.options.repeat > 1 and self.fail_count:
-                result.cancel()
-            if self.options.verbose:
-                result.result()
-            self.process_test_result(result.result())
-            self.print_stats(test_count, name_max_len, tests, name, result.result(), i)
-
-
 def list_tests(th: TestHarness) -> bool:
     tests = th.get_tests()
     for t in tests: