diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index eeb414efc0..e37b068e9e 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -1757,6 +1757,7 @@ int do_drive_del(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict, QObject **ret_data)
 {
     const char *id = qdict_get_str(qdict, "id");
     BlockDriverState *bs;
+    AioContext *aio_context;
     Error *local_err = NULL;
 
     bs = bdrv_find(id);
@@ -1764,9 +1765,14 @@ int do_drive_del(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict, QObject **ret_data)
         error_report("Device '%s' not found", id);
         return -1;
     }
+
+    aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(bs);
+    aio_context_acquire(aio_context);
+
     if (bdrv_op_is_blocked(bs, BLOCK_OP_TYPE_DRIVE_DEL, &local_err)) {
         error_report("%s", error_get_pretty(local_err));
         error_free(local_err);
+        aio_context_release(aio_context);
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -1790,6 +1796,7 @@ int do_drive_del(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict, QObject **ret_data)
         drive_del(drive_get_by_blockdev(bs));
     }
 
+    aio_context_release(aio_context);
     return 0;
 }