diff --git a/tokio-util/src/io/mod.rs b/tokio-util/src/io/mod.rs
index eec74448890..0444a7421ec 100644
--- a/tokio-util/src/io/mod.rs
+++ b/tokio-util/src/io/mod.rs
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 //! Helpers for IO related tasks.
 //!
-//! These types are often used in combination with hyper or reqwest, as they
+//! The stream types are often used in combination with hyper or reqwest, as they
 //! allow converting between a hyper [`Body`] and [`AsyncRead`].
 //!
+//! The [`ReadBridge`] and [`WriteBridge`] convert from the world of async I/O
+//! to synchronous I/O; this may often come up when using synchronous APIs
+//! inside [`tokio::task::spawn_blocking`].
+//!
 //! [`Body`]: https://docs.rs/hyper/0.13/hyper/struct.Body.html
 //! [`AsyncRead`]: tokio::io::AsyncRead
 
 mod read_buf;
 mod reader_stream;
 mod stream_reader;
+mod sync_bridge;
 
 pub use self::read_buf::read_buf;
 pub use self::reader_stream::ReaderStream;
 pub use self::stream_reader::StreamReader;
+pub use self::sync_bridge::{ReadBridge, WriteBridge};
 pub use crate::util::{poll_read_buf, poll_write_buf};
diff --git a/tokio-util/src/io/sync_bridge.rs b/tokio-util/src/io/sync_bridge.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..73ee2363466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokio-util/src/io/sync_bridge.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+use std::io::{Read, Write};
+use std::pin::Pin;
+use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncReadExt, AsyncWrite, AsyncWriteExt};
+
+/// A [`std::io::Read`] implementation backed by an asynchronous source.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ReadBridge<T> {
+    reader: Pin<Box<T>>,
+    rt: tokio::runtime::Handle,
+}
+
+impl<T: AsyncRead> Read for ReadBridge<T> {
+    fn read(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
+        let reader = &mut self.reader;
+        self.rt.block_on(async { reader.read(buf).await })
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: AsyncRead> ReadBridge<T> {
+    /// Create a [`std::io::Read`] implementation backed by an asynchronous source.
+    ///
+    /// This is useful with e.g. [`tokio::task::spawn_blocking`].
+    pub fn new(reader: T) -> Self {
+        let reader = Box::pin(reader);
+        let rt = tokio::runtime::Handle::current();
+        ReadBridge { reader, rt }
+    }
+}
+
+/// A [`std::io::Write`] implementation backed by an asynchronous source.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct WriteBridge<T> {
+    w: Pin<Box<T>>,
+    rt: tokio::runtime::Handle,
+}
+
+impl<T: AsyncWrite> Write for WriteBridge<T> {
+    fn write(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
+        let w = &mut self.w;
+        self.rt.block_on(async { w.write(buf).await })
+    }
+
+    fn flush(&mut self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+        let w = &mut self.w;
+        self.rt.block_on(async { w.flush().await })
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: AsyncWrite> WriteBridge<T> {
+    /// Create a [`std::io::Write`] implementation backed by an asynchronous source.
+    ///
+    /// This is useful with e.g. [`tokio::task::spawn_blocking`].
+    pub fn new(reader: T) -> Self {
+        let w = Box::pin(reader);
+        let rt = tokio::runtime::Handle::current();
+        WriteBridge { w, rt }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tokio-util/tests/io_sync_bridge.rs b/tokio-util/tests/io_sync_bridge.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1df1d0aab95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokio-util/tests/io_sync_bridge.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+use std::io::{Cursor, Read, Result as IoResult};
+use tokio::io::AsyncRead;
+use tokio_util::io::ReadBridge;
+
+async fn test_reader_len(
+    r: impl AsyncRead + Unpin + Send + 'static,
+    expected_len: usize,
+) -> IoResult<()> {
+    let mut r = ReadBridge::new(r);
+    let res = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+        let mut buf = Vec::new();
+        r.read_to_end(&mut buf)?;
+        Ok::<_, std::io::Error>(buf)
+    })
+    .await?;
+    assert_eq!(res?.len(), expected_len);
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_async_read_to_sync() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    test_reader_len(tokio::io::empty(), 0).await?;
+    let buf = b"hello world";
+    test_reader_len(Cursor::new(buf), buf.len()).await?;
+    Ok(())
+}