diff --git a/tokio/src/runtime/blocking/pool.rs b/tokio/src/runtime/blocking/pool.rs
index daf1f63fac3..ef366239072 100644
--- a/tokio/src/runtime/blocking/pool.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/runtime/blocking/pool.rs
@@ -240,17 +240,29 @@ impl Spawner {
             if shared.num_th == self.inner.thread_cap {
                 // At max number of threads
             } else {
-                shared.num_th += 1;
                 assert!(shared.shutdown_tx.is_some());
                 let shutdown_tx = shared.shutdown_tx.clone();
 
                 if let Some(shutdown_tx) = shutdown_tx {
                     let id = shared.worker_thread_index;
-                    shared.worker_thread_index += 1;
 
-                    let handle = self.spawn_thread(shutdown_tx, rt, id);
-
-                    shared.worker_threads.insert(id, handle);
+                    match self.spawn_thread(shutdown_tx, rt, id) {
+                        Ok(handle) => {
+                            shared.num_th += 1;
+                            shared.worker_thread_index += 1;
+                            shared.worker_threads.insert(id, handle);
+                        }
+                        Err(ref e) if is_temporary_os_thread_error(e) && shared.num_th > 0 => {
+                            // OS temporarily failed to spawn a new thread.
+                            // The task will be picked up eventually by a currently
+                            // busy thread.
+                        }
+                        Err(e) => {
+                            // The OS refused to spawn the thread and there is no thread
+                            // to pick up the task that has just been pushed to the queue.
+                            panic!("OS can't spawn worker thread: {}", e)
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
             }
         } else {
@@ -272,7 +284,7 @@ impl Spawner {
         shutdown_tx: shutdown::Sender,
         rt: &Handle,
         id: usize,
-    ) -> thread::JoinHandle<()> {
+    ) -> std::io::Result<thread::JoinHandle<()>> {
         let mut builder = thread::Builder::new().name((self.inner.thread_name)());
 
         if let Some(stack_size) = self.inner.stack_size {
@@ -281,17 +293,21 @@ impl Spawner {
 
         let rt = rt.clone();
 
-        builder
-            .spawn(move || {
-                // Only the reference should be moved into the closure
-                let _enter = crate::runtime::context::enter(rt.clone());
-                rt.blocking_spawner.inner.run(id);
-                drop(shutdown_tx);
-            })
-            .expect("OS can't spawn a new worker thread")
+        builder.spawn(move || {
+            // Only the reference should be moved into the closure
+            let _enter = crate::runtime::context::enter(rt.clone());
+            rt.blocking_spawner.inner.run(id);
+            drop(shutdown_tx);
+        })
     }
 }
 
+// Tells whether the error when spawning a thread is temporary.
+#[inline]
+fn is_temporary_os_thread_error(error: &std::io::Error) -> bool {
+    matches!(error.kind(), std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock)
+}
+
 impl Inner {
     fn run(&self, worker_thread_id: usize) {
         if let Some(f) = &self.after_start {