diff --git a/django/conf/project_template/project_name/asgi.py-tpl b/django/conf/project_template/project_name/asgi.py-tpl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a827238196
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django/conf/project_template/project_name/asgi.py-tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+"""
+ASGI config for {{ project_name }} project.
+
+It exposes the ASGI callable as a module-level variable named ``application``.
+
+For more information on this file, see
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/{{ docs_version }}/howto/deployment/asgi/
+"""
+
+import os
+
+from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
+
+os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', '{{ project_name }}.settings')
+
+application = get_asgi_application()
diff --git a/django/contrib/staticfiles/handlers.py b/django/contrib/staticfiles/handlers.py
index b0aa66036d..711d8864ad 100644
--- a/django/contrib/staticfiles/handlers.py
+++ b/django/contrib/staticfiles/handlers.py
@@ -4,25 +4,20 @@ from urllib.request import url2pathname
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.staticfiles import utils
 from django.contrib.staticfiles.views import serve
+from django.core.handlers.asgi import ASGIHandler
 from django.core.handlers.exception import response_for_exception
 from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIHandler, get_path_info
 from django.http import Http404
 
 
-class StaticFilesHandler(WSGIHandler):
+class StaticFilesHandlerMixin:
     """
-    WSGI middleware that intercepts calls to the static files directory, as
-    defined by the STATIC_URL setting, and serves those files.
+    Common methods used by WSGI and ASGI handlers.
     """
     # May be used to differentiate between handler types (e.g. in a
     # request_finished signal)
     handles_files = True
 
-    def __init__(self, application):
-        self.application = application
-        self.base_url = urlparse(self.get_base_url())
-        super().__init__()
-
     def load_middleware(self):
         # Middleware are already loaded for self.application; no need to reload
         # them for self.
@@ -57,7 +52,37 @@ class StaticFilesHandler(WSGIHandler):
         except Http404 as e:
             return response_for_exception(request, e)
 
+
+class StaticFilesHandler(StaticFilesHandlerMixin, WSGIHandler):
+    """
+    WSGI middleware that intercepts calls to the static files directory, as
+    defined by the STATIC_URL setting, and serves those files.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, application):
+        self.application = application
+        self.base_url = urlparse(self.get_base_url())
+        super().__init__()
+
     def __call__(self, environ, start_response):
         if not self._should_handle(get_path_info(environ)):
             return self.application(environ, start_response)
         return super().__call__(environ, start_response)
+
+
+class ASGIStaticFilesHandler(StaticFilesHandlerMixin, ASGIHandler):
+    """
+    ASGI application which wraps another and intercepts requests for static
+    files, passing them off to Django's static file serving.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, application):
+        self.application = application
+        self.base_url = urlparse(self.get_base_url())
+
+    async def __call__(self, scope, receive, send):
+        # Only even look at HTTP requests
+        if scope['type'] == 'http' and self._should_handle(scope['path']):
+            # Serve static content
+            # (the one thing super() doesn't do is __call__, apparently)
+            return await super().__call__(scope, receive, send)
+        # Hand off to the main app
+        return await self.application(scope, receive, send)
diff --git a/django/core/asgi.py b/django/core/asgi.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d846ccd16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django/core/asgi.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import django
+from django.core.handlers.asgi import ASGIHandler
+
+
+def get_asgi_application():
+    """
+    The public interface to Django's ASGI support. Return an ASGI 3 callable.
+
+    Avoids making django.core.handlers.ASGIHandler a public API, in case the
+    internal implementation changes or moves in the future.
+    """
+    django.setup(set_prefix=False)
+    return ASGIHandler()
diff --git a/django/core/exceptions.py b/django/core/exceptions.py
index 0e85397b9c..dc084b8692 100644
--- a/django/core/exceptions.py
+++ b/django/core/exceptions.py
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ class RequestDataTooBig(SuspiciousOperation):
     pass
 
 
+class RequestAborted(Exception):
+    """The request was closed before it was completed, or timed out."""
+    pass
+
+
 class PermissionDenied(Exception):
     """The user did not have permission to do that"""
     pass
@@ -181,3 +186,8 @@ class ValidationError(Exception):
 class EmptyResultSet(Exception):
     """A database query predicate is impossible."""
     pass
+
+
+class SynchronousOnlyOperation(Exception):
+    """The user tried to call a sync-only function from an async context."""
+    pass
diff --git a/django/core/handlers/asgi.py b/django/core/handlers/asgi.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..021298e55d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django/core/handlers/asgi.py
@@ -0,0 +1,297 @@
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import traceback
+from io import BytesIO
+
+from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.core import signals
+from django.core.exceptions import RequestAborted, RequestDataTooBig
+from django.core.handlers import base
+from django.http import (
+    FileResponse, HttpRequest, HttpResponse, HttpResponseBadRequest,
+    HttpResponseServerError, QueryDict, parse_cookie,
+)
+from django.urls import set_script_prefix
+from django.utils.functional import cached_property
+
+logger = logging.getLogger('django.request')
+
+
+class ASGIRequest(HttpRequest):
+    """
+    Custom request subclass that decodes from an ASGI-standard request dict
+    and wraps request body handling.
+    """
+    # Number of seconds until a Request gives up on trying to read a request
+    # body and aborts.
+    body_receive_timeout = 60
+
+    def __init__(self, scope, body_file):
+        self.scope = scope
+        self._post_parse_error = False
+        self._read_started = False
+        self.resolver_match = None
+        self.script_name = self.scope.get('root_path', '')
+        if self.script_name and scope['path'].startswith(self.script_name):
+            # TODO: Better is-prefix checking, slash handling?
+            self.path_info = scope['path'][len(self.script_name):]
+        else:
+            self.path_info = scope['path']
+        # The Django path is different from ASGI scope path args, it should
+        # combine with script name.
+        if self.script_name:
+            self.path = '%s/%s' % (
+                self.script_name.rstrip('/'),
+                self.path_info.replace('/', '', 1),
+            )
+        else:
+            self.path = scope['path']
+        # HTTP basics.
+        self.method = self.scope['method'].upper()
+        # Ensure query string is encoded correctly.
+        query_string = self.scope.get('query_string', '')
+        if isinstance(query_string, bytes):
+            query_string = query_string.decode()
+        self.META = {
+            'REQUEST_METHOD': self.method,
+            'QUERY_STRING': query_string,
+            'SCRIPT_NAME': self.script_name,
+            'PATH_INFO': self.path_info,
+            # WSGI-expecting code will need these for a while
+            'wsgi.multithread': True,
+            'wsgi.multiprocess': True,
+        }
+        if self.scope.get('client'):
+            self.META['REMOTE_ADDR'] = self.scope['client'][0]
+            self.META['REMOTE_HOST'] = self.META['REMOTE_ADDR']
+            self.META['REMOTE_PORT'] = self.scope['client'][1]
+        if self.scope.get('server'):
+            self.META['SERVER_NAME'] = self.scope['server'][0]
+            self.META['SERVER_PORT'] = str(self.scope['server'][1])
+        else:
+            self.META['SERVER_NAME'] = 'unknown'
+            self.META['SERVER_PORT'] = '0'
+        # Headers go into META.
+        for name, value in self.scope.get('headers', []):
+            name = name.decode('latin1')
+            if name == 'content-length':
+                corrected_name = 'CONTENT_LENGTH'
+            elif name == 'content-type':
+                corrected_name = 'CONTENT_TYPE'
+            else:
+                corrected_name = 'HTTP_%s' % name.upper().replace('-', '_')
+            # HTTP/2 say only ASCII chars are allowed in headers, but decode
+            # latin1 just in case.
+            value = value.decode('latin1')
+            if corrected_name in self.META:
+                value = self.META[corrected_name] + ',' + value
+            self.META[corrected_name] = value
+        # Pull out request encoding, if provided.
+        self._set_content_type_params(self.META)
+        # Directly assign the body file to be our stream.
+        self._stream = body_file
+        # Other bits.
+        self.resolver_match = None
+
+    @cached_property
+    def GET(self):
+        return QueryDict(self.META['QUERY_STRING'])
+
+    def _get_scheme(self):
+        return self.scope.get('scheme') or super()._get_scheme()
+
+    def _get_post(self):
+        if not hasattr(self, '_post'):
+            self._load_post_and_files()
+        return self._post
+
+    def _set_post(self, post):
+        self._post = post
+
+    def _get_files(self):
+        if not hasattr(self, '_files'):
+            self._load_post_and_files()
+        return self._files
+
+    POST = property(_get_post, _set_post)
+    FILES = property(_get_files)
+
+    @cached_property
+    def COOKIES(self):
+        return parse_cookie(self.META.get('HTTP_COOKIE', ''))
+
+
+class ASGIHandler(base.BaseHandler):
+    """Handler for ASGI requests."""
+    request_class = ASGIRequest
+    # Size to chunk response bodies into for multiple response messages.
+    chunk_size = 2 ** 16
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(ASGIHandler, self).__init__()
+        self.load_middleware()
+
+    async def __call__(self, scope, receive, send):
+        """
+        Async entrypoint - parses the request and hands off to get_response.
+        """
+        # Serve only HTTP connections.
+        # FIXME: Allow to override this.
+        if scope['type'] != 'http':
+            raise ValueError(
+                'Django can only handle ASGI/HTTP connections, not %s'
+                % scope['type']
+            )
+        # Receive the HTTP request body as a stream object.
+        try:
+            body_file = await self.read_body(receive)
+        except RequestAborted:
+            return
+        # Request is complete and can be served.
+        set_script_prefix(self.get_script_prefix(scope))
+        await sync_to_async(signals.request_started.send)(sender=self.__class__, scope=scope)
+        # Get the request and check for basic issues.
+        request, error_response = self.create_request(scope, body_file)
+        if request is None:
+            await self.send_response(error_response, send)
+            return
+        # Get the response, using a threadpool via sync_to_async, if needed.
+        if asyncio.iscoroutinefunction(self.get_response):
+            response = await self.get_response(request)
+        else:
+            # If get_response is synchronous, run it non-blocking.
+            response = await sync_to_async(self.get_response)(request)
+        response._handler_class = self.__class__
+        # Increase chunk size on file responses (ASGI servers handles low-level
+        # chunking).
+        if isinstance(response, FileResponse):
+            response.block_size = self.chunk_size
+        # Send the response.
+        await self.send_response(response, send)
+
+    async def read_body(self, receive):
+        """Reads a HTTP body from an ASGI connection."""
+        # Use the tempfile that auto rolls-over to a disk file as it fills up,
+        # if a maximum in-memory size is set. Otherwise use a BytesIO object.
+        if settings.FILE_UPLOAD_MAX_MEMORY_SIZE is None:
+            body_file = BytesIO()
+        else:
+            body_file = tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile(max_size=settings.FILE_UPLOAD_MAX_MEMORY_SIZE, mode='w+b')
+        while True:
+            message = await receive()
+            if message['type'] == 'http.disconnect':
+                # Early client disconnect.
+                raise RequestAborted()
+            # Add a body chunk from the message, if provided.
+            if 'body' in message:
+                body_file.write(message['body'])
+            # Quit out if that's the end.
+            if not message.get('more_body', False):
+                break
+        body_file.seek(0)
+        return body_file
+
+    def create_request(self, scope, body_file):
+        """
+        Create the Request object and returns either (request, None) or
+        (None, response) if there is an error response.
+        """
+        try:
+            return self.request_class(scope, body_file), None
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            logger.warning(
+                'Bad Request (UnicodeDecodeError)',
+                exc_info=sys.exc_info(),
+                extra={'status_code': 400},
+            )
+            return None, HttpResponseBadRequest()
+        except RequestDataTooBig:
+            return None, HttpResponse('413 Payload too large', status=413)
+
+    def handle_uncaught_exception(self, request, resolver, exc_info):
+        """Last-chance handler for exceptions."""
+        # There's no WSGI server to catch the exception further up
+        # if this fails, so translate it into a plain text response.
+        try:
+            return super().handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, exc_info)
+        except Exception:
+            return HttpResponseServerError(
+                traceback.format_exc() if settings.DEBUG else 'Internal Server Error',
+                content_type='text/plain',
+            )
+
+    async def send_response(self, response, send):
+        """Encode and send a response out over ASGI."""
+        # Collect cookies into headers. Have to preserve header case as there
+        # are some non-RFC compliant clients that require e.g. Content-Type.
+        response_headers = []
+        for header, value in response.items():
+            if isinstance(header, str):
+                header = header.encode('ascii')
+            if isinstance(value, str):
+                value = value.encode('latin1')
+            response_headers.append((bytes(header), bytes(value)))
+        for c in response.cookies.values():
+            response_headers.append(
+                (b'Set-Cookie', c.output(header='').encode('ascii').strip())
+            )
+        # Initial response message.
+        await send({
+            'type': 'http.response.start',
+            'status': response.status_code,
+            'headers': response_headers,
+        })
+        # Streaming responses need to be pinned to their iterator.
+        if response.streaming:
+            # Access `__iter__` and not `streaming_content` directly in case
+            # it has been overridden in a subclass.
+            for part in response:
+                for chunk, _ in self.chunk_bytes(part):
+                    await send({
+                        'type': 'http.response.body',
+                        'body': chunk,
+                        # Ignore "more" as there may be more parts; instead,
+                        # use an empty final closing message with False.
+                        'more_body': True,
+                    })
+            # Final closing message.
+            await send({'type': 'http.response.body'})
+        # Other responses just need chunking.
+        else:
+            # Yield chunks of response.
+            for chunk, last in self.chunk_bytes(response.content):
+                await send({
+                    'type': 'http.response.body',
+                    'body': chunk,
+                    'more_body': not last,
+                })
+        response.close()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def chunk_bytes(cls, data):
+        """
+        Chunks some data up so it can be sent in reasonable size messages.
+        Yields (chunk, last_chunk) tuples.
+        """
+        position = 0
+        if not data:
+            yield data, True
+            return
+        while position < len(data):
+            yield (
+                data[position:position + cls.chunk_size],
+                (position + cls.chunk_size) >= len(data),
+            )
+            position += cls.chunk_size
+
+    def get_script_prefix(self, scope):
+        """
+        Return the script prefix to use from either the scope or a setting.
+        """
+        if settings.FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME:
+            return settings.FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME
+        return scope.get('root_path', '') or ''
diff --git a/django/core/signals.py b/django/core/signals.py
index 5d9618dd0c..c4288edeb5 100644
--- a/django/core/signals.py
+++ b/django/core/signals.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from django.dispatch import Signal
 
-request_started = Signal(providing_args=["environ"])
+request_started = Signal(providing_args=["environ", "scope"])
 request_finished = Signal()
 got_request_exception = Signal(providing_args=["request"])
 setting_changed = Signal(providing_args=["setting", "value", "enter"])
diff --git a/django/db/backends/base/base.py b/django/db/backends/base/base.py
index 057fe8ac43..6435f478dd 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/base/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/base/base.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from django.db.backends.signals import connection_created
 from django.db.transaction import TransactionManagementError
 from django.db.utils import DatabaseError, DatabaseErrorWrapper
 from django.utils import timezone
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
 
 NO_DB_ALIAS = '__no_db__'
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
 
     # ##### Backend-specific methods for creating connections #####
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def connect(self):
         """Connect to the database. Assume that the connection is closed."""
         # Check for invalid configurations.
@@ -210,6 +212,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
                     "Connection '%s' cannot set TIME_ZONE because its engine "
                     "handles time zones conversions natively." % self.alias)
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def ensure_connection(self):
         """Guarantee that a connection to the database is established."""
         if self.connection is None:
@@ -251,10 +254,12 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
 
     # ##### Generic wrappers for PEP-249 connection methods #####
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def cursor(self):
         """Create a cursor, opening a connection if necessary."""
         return self._cursor()
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def commit(self):
         """Commit a transaction and reset the dirty flag."""
         self.validate_thread_sharing()
@@ -264,6 +269,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
         self.errors_occurred = False
         self.run_commit_hooks_on_set_autocommit_on = True
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def rollback(self):
         """Roll back a transaction and reset the dirty flag."""
         self.validate_thread_sharing()
@@ -274,6 +280,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
         self.needs_rollback = False
         self.run_on_commit = []
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def close(self):
         """Close the connection to the database."""
         self.validate_thread_sharing()
@@ -313,6 +320,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
 
     # ##### Generic savepoint management methods #####
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def savepoint(self):
         """
         Create a savepoint inside the current transaction. Return an
@@ -333,6 +341,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
 
         return sid
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def savepoint_rollback(self, sid):
         """
         Roll back to a savepoint. Do nothing if savepoints are not supported.
@@ -348,6 +357,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
             (sids, func) for (sids, func) in self.run_on_commit if sid not in sids
         ]
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def savepoint_commit(self, sid):
         """
         Release a savepoint. Do nothing if savepoints are not supported.
@@ -358,6 +368,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper:
         self.validate_thread_sharing()
         self._savepoint_commit(sid)
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def clean_savepoints(self):
         """
         Reset the counter used to generate unique savepoint ids in this thread.
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
index 6613a85b1b..9b88c5ac25 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.db import utils
 from django.db.backends import utils as backend_utils
 from django.db.backends.base.base import BaseDatabaseWrapper
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
 
 try:
@@ -223,6 +224,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
         kwargs.update(options)
         return kwargs
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def get_new_connection(self, conn_params):
         return Database.connect(**conn_params)
 
@@ -242,6 +244,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
             with self.cursor() as cursor:
                 cursor.execute('; '.join(assignments))
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def create_cursor(self, name=None):
         cursor = self.connection.cursor()
         return CursorWrapper(cursor)
diff --git a/django/db/backends/oracle/base.py b/django/db/backends/oracle/base.py
index b19361b157..0fbe96ab9b 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/oracle/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/oracle/base.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.db import utils
 from django.db.backends.base.base import BaseDatabaseWrapper
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
 from django.utils.encoding import force_bytes, force_str
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
 
@@ -221,6 +222,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
             del conn_params['use_returning_into']
         return conn_params
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def get_new_connection(self, conn_params):
         return Database.connect(
             user=self.settings_dict['USER'],
@@ -269,6 +271,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
         if not self.get_autocommit():
             self.commit()
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def create_cursor(self, name=None):
         return FormatStylePlaceholderCursor(self.connection)
 
diff --git a/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py b/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py
index 6f8e06fe23..7e34a3a177 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ PostgreSQL database backend for Django.
 Requires psycopg 2: http://initd.org/projects/psycopg2
 """
 
+import asyncio
 import threading
 import warnings
 
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ from django.db.backends.utils import (
     CursorDebugWrapper as BaseCursorDebugWrapper,
 )
 from django.db.utils import DatabaseError as WrappedDatabaseError
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
 from django.utils.safestring import SafeString
 from django.utils.version import get_version_tuple
@@ -177,6 +179,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
             conn_params['port'] = settings_dict['PORT']
         return conn_params
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def get_new_connection(self, conn_params):
         connection = Database.connect(**conn_params)
 
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
             if not self.get_autocommit():
                 self.connection.commit()
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def create_cursor(self, name=None):
         if name:
             # In autocommit mode, the cursor will be used outside of a
@@ -227,12 +231,34 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
         cursor.tzinfo_factory = utc_tzinfo_factory if settings.USE_TZ else None
         return cursor
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def chunked_cursor(self):
         self._named_cursor_idx += 1
+        # Get the current async task
+        # Note that right now this is behind @async_unsafe, so this is
+        # unreachable, but in future we'll start loosening this restriction.
+        # For now, it's here so that every use of "threading" is
+        # also async-compatible.
+        try:
+            if hasattr(asyncio, 'current_task'):
+                # Python 3.7 and up
+                current_task = asyncio.current_task()
+            else:
+                # Python 3.6
+                current_task = asyncio.Task.current_task()
+        except RuntimeError:
+            current_task = None
+        # Current task can be none even if the current_task call didn't error
+        if current_task:
+            task_ident = str(id(current_task))
+        else:
+            task_ident = 'sync'
+        # Use that and the thread ident to get a unique name
         return self._cursor(
-            name='_django_curs_%d_%d' % (
-                # Avoid reusing name in other threads
+            name='_django_curs_%d_%s_%d' % (
+                # Avoid reusing name in other threads / tasks
                 threading.current_thread().ident,
+                task_ident,
                 self._named_cursor_idx,
             )
         )
diff --git a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
index f4184fce05..fff65197f9 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from django.db import utils
 from django.db.backends import utils as backend_utils
 from django.db.backends.base.base import BaseDatabaseWrapper
 from django.utils import timezone
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
 from django.utils.dateparse import parse_datetime, parse_time
 from django.utils.duration import duration_microseconds
 
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
         kwargs.update({'check_same_thread': False, 'uri': True})
         return kwargs
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def get_new_connection(self, conn_params):
         conn = Database.connect(**conn_params)
         conn.create_function("django_date_extract", 2, _sqlite_datetime_extract)
@@ -248,6 +250,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
     def create_cursor(self, name=None):
         return self.connection.cursor(factory=SQLiteCursorWrapper)
 
+    @async_unsafe
     def close(self):
         self.validate_thread_sharing()
         # If database is in memory, closing the connection destroys the
diff --git a/django/db/utils.py b/django/db/utils.py
index cb7f3d0f0b..4bd119227f 100644
--- a/django/db/utils.py
+++ b/django/db/utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import pkgutil
 from importlib import import_module
 from pathlib import Path
-from threading import local
+
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
@@ -139,7 +140,12 @@ class ConnectionHandler:
         like settings.DATABASES).
         """
         self._databases = databases
-        self._connections = local()
+        # Connections needs to still be an actual thread local, as it's truly
+        # thread-critical. Database backends should use @async_unsafe to protect
+        # their code from async contexts, but this will give those contexts
+        # separate connections in case it's needed as well. There's no cleanup
+        # after async contexts, though, so we don't allow that if we can help it.
+        self._connections = Local(thread_critical=True)
 
     @cached_property
     def databases(self):
diff --git a/django/test/signals.py b/django/test/signals.py
index a623e756ce..31a5017602 100644
--- a/django/test/signals.py
+++ b/django/test/signals.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import os
-import threading
 import time
 import warnings
 
+from asgiref.local import Local
+
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.core.signals import setting_changed
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ COMPLEX_OVERRIDE_SETTINGS = {'DATABASES'}
 def clear_cache_handlers(**kwargs):
     if kwargs['setting'] == 'CACHES':
         from django.core.cache import caches
-        caches._caches = threading.local()
+        caches._caches = Local()
 
 
 @receiver(setting_changed)
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ def language_changed(**kwargs):
     if kwargs['setting'] in {'LANGUAGES', 'LANGUAGE_CODE', 'LOCALE_PATHS'}:
         from django.utils.translation import trans_real
         trans_real._default = None
-        trans_real._active = threading.local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
     if kwargs['setting'] in {'LANGUAGES', 'LOCALE_PATHS'}:
         from django.utils.translation import trans_real
         trans_real._translations = {}
diff --git a/django/urls/base.py b/django/urls/base.py
index 1200d9a25b..0e1c3d909c 100644
--- a/django/urls/base.py
+++ b/django/urls/base.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-from threading import local
 from urllib.parse import urlsplit, urlunsplit
 
+from asgiref.local import Local
+
 from django.utils.encoding import iri_to_uri
 from django.utils.functional import lazy
 from django.utils.translation import override
@@ -12,10 +13,10 @@ from .utils import get_callable
 # SCRIPT_NAME prefixes for each thread are stored here. If there's no entry for
 # the current thread (which is the only one we ever access), it is assumed to
 # be empty.
-_prefixes = local()
+_prefixes = Local()
 
 # Overridden URLconfs for each thread are stored here.
-_urlconfs = local()
+_urlconfs = Local()
 
 
 def resolve(path, urlconf=None):
diff --git a/django/urls/resolvers.py b/django/urls/resolvers.py
index 9d3379a821..af0508f94e 100644
--- a/django/urls/resolvers.py
+++ b/django/urls/resolvers.py
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ attributes of the resolved URL match.
 import functools
 import inspect
 import re
-import threading
 from importlib import import_module
 from urllib.parse import quote
 
+from asgiref.local import Local
+
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.checks import Error, Warning
 from django.core.checks.urls import check_resolver
@@ -380,7 +381,7 @@ class URLResolver:
         # urlpatterns
         self._callback_strs = set()
         self._populated = False
-        self._local = threading.local()
+        self._local = Local()
 
     def __repr__(self):
         if isinstance(self.urlconf_name, list) and self.urlconf_name:
diff --git a/django/utils/asyncio.py b/django/utils/asyncio.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c4de04ba12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django/utils/asyncio.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import asyncio
+import functools
+
+from django.core.exceptions import SynchronousOnlyOperation
+
+
+def async_unsafe(message):
+    """
+    Decorator to mark functions as async-unsafe. Someone trying to access
+    the function while in an async context will get an error message.
+    """
+    def decorator(func):
+        @functools.wraps(func)
+        def inner(*args, **kwargs):
+            # Detect a running event loop in this thread.
+            try:
+                event_loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
+            except RuntimeError:
+                pass
+            else:
+                if event_loop.is_running():
+                    raise SynchronousOnlyOperation(message)
+            # Pass onwards.
+            return func(*args, **kwargs)
+        return inner
+    # If the message is actually a function, then be a no-arguments decorator.
+    if callable(message):
+        func = message
+        message = 'You cannot call this from an async context - use a thread or sync_to_async.'
+        return decorator(func)
+    else:
+        return decorator
diff --git a/django/utils/timezone.py b/django/utils/timezone.py
index 58e92c1fa8..4c43377447 100644
--- a/django/utils/timezone.py
+++ b/django/utils/timezone.py
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ import functools
 import warnings
 from contextlib import ContextDecorator
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone, tzinfo
-from threading import local
 
 import pytz
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.deprecation import RemovedInDjango31Warning
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def get_default_timezone_name():
     return _get_timezone_name(get_default_timezone())
 
 
-_active = local()
+_active = Local()
 
 
 def get_current_timezone():
diff --git a/django/utils/translation/reloader.py b/django/utils/translation/reloader.py
index 8e2d320208..2d69ad44e0 100644
--- a/django/utils/translation/reloader.py
+++ b/django/utils/translation/reloader.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-import threading
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from asgiref.local import Local
+
 from django.apps import apps
 
 
@@ -25,5 +26,5 @@ def translation_file_changed(sender, file_path, **kwargs):
         gettext._translations = {}
         trans_real._translations = {}
         trans_real._default = None
-        trans_real._active = threading.local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
         return True
diff --git a/django/utils/translation/trans_real.py b/django/utils/translation/trans_real.py
index f4985fb3c1..e089597ccb 100644
--- a/django/utils/translation/trans_real.py
+++ b/django/utils/translation/trans_real.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ import os
 import re
 import sys
 import warnings
-from threading import local
+
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ from . import to_language, to_locale
 # Translations are cached in a dictionary for every language.
 # The active translations are stored by threadid to make them thread local.
 _translations = {}
-_active = local()
+_active = Local()
 
 # The default translation is based on the settings file.
 _default = None
diff --git a/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/daphne.txt b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/daphne.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..94d1ac897b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/daphne.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+=============================
+How to use Django with Daphne
+=============================
+
+.. highlight:: bash
+
+Daphne_ is a pure-Python ASGI server for UNIX, maintained by members of the
+Django project. It acts as the reference server for ASGI.
+
+.. _Daphne: https://pypi.org/project/daphne/
+
+Installing Daphne
+===================
+
+You can install Daphne with ``pip``::
+
+    python -m pip install daphne
+
+Running Django in Daphne
+========================
+
+When Daphne is installed, a ``daphne`` command is available which starts the
+Daphne server process. At its simplest, Daphne needs to be called with the
+location of a module containing an ASGI application object, followed by what
+the application is called (separated by a colon).
+
+For a typical Django project, invoking Daphne would look like::
+
+    daphne myproject.asgi:application
+
+This will start one process listening on ``127.0.0.1:8000``. It requires that
+your project be on the Python path; to ensure that run this command from the
+same directory as your ``manage.py`` file.
diff --git a/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/index.txt b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/index.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f09d79a67e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/index.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+=======================
+How to deploy with ASGI
+=======================
+
+As well as WSGI, Django also supports deploying on ASGI_, the emerging Python
+standard for asynchronous web servers and applications.
+
+.. _ASGI: https://asgi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
+
+Django's :djadmin:`startproject` management command sets up a default ASGI
+configuration for you, which you can tweak as needed for your project, and
+direct any ASGI-compliant application server to use.
+
+Django includes getting-started documentation for the following ASGI servers:
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 1
+
+   daphne
+   uvicorn
+
+The ``application`` object
+==========================
+
+Like WSGI, ASGI has you supply an ``application`` callable which
+the application server uses to communicate with your code. It's commonly
+provided as an object named ``application`` in a Python module accessible to
+the server.
+
+The :djadmin:`startproject` command creates a file
+:file:`<project_name>/asgi.py` that contains such an ``application`` callable.
+
+It's not used by the development server (``runserver``), but can be used by
+any ASGI server either in development or in production.
+
+ASGI servers usually take the path to the application callable as a string;
+for most Django projects, this will look like ``myproject.asgi:application``.
+
+.. warning::
+
+    While Django's default ASGI handler will run all your code in a synchronous
+    thread, if you choose to run your own async handler you must be aware of
+    async-safety.
+
+    Do not call blocking synchronous functions or libraries in any async code.
+    Django prevents you from doing this with the parts of Django that are not
+    async-safe, but the same may not be true of third-party apps or Python
+    libraries.
+
+Configuring the settings module
+===============================
+
+When the ASGI server loads your application, Django needs to import the
+settings module — that's where your entire application is defined.
+
+Django uses the :envvar:`DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE` environment variable to locate
+the appropriate settings module. It must contain the dotted path to the
+settings module. You can use a different value for development and production;
+it all depends on how you organize your settings.
+
+If this variable isn't set, the default :file:`asgi.py` sets it to
+``mysite.settings``, where ``mysite`` is the name of your project.
+
+Applying ASGI middleware
+========================
+
+To apply ASGI middleware, or to embed Django in another ASGI application, you
+can wrap Django's ``application`` object in the ``asgi.py`` file. For example::
+
+    from some_asgi_library import AmazingMiddleware
+    application = AmazingMiddleware(application)
diff --git a/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/uvicorn.txt b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/uvicorn.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..70d32da113
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/howto/deployment/asgi/uvicorn.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+==============================
+How to use Django with Uvicorn
+==============================
+
+.. highlight:: bash
+
+Uvicorn_ is an ASGI server based on ``uvloop`` and ``httptools``, with an
+emphasis on speed.
+
+Installing Uvicorn
+==================
+
+You can install Uvicorn with ``pip``::
+
+    python -m pip install uvicorn
+
+Running Django in Uvicorn
+=========================
+
+When Uvicorn is installed, a ``uvicorn`` command is available which runs ASGI
+applications. Uvicorn needs to be called with the location of a module
+containing a ASGI application object, followed by what the application is
+called (separated by a colon).
+
+For a typical Django project, invoking Uvicorn would look like::
+
+    uvicorn myproject.asgi:application
+
+This will start one process listening on ``127.0.0.1:8000``. It requires that
+your project be on the Python path; to ensure that run this command from the
+same directory as your ``manage.py`` file.
+
+For more advanced usage, please read the `Uvicorn documentation <Uvicorn_>`_.
+
+.. _Uvicorn: https://www.uvicorn.org/
diff --git a/docs/howto/deployment/index.txt b/docs/howto/deployment/index.txt
index 8ffda2cf63..1b2f497922 100644
--- a/docs/howto/deployment/index.txt
+++ b/docs/howto/deployment/index.txt
@@ -2,16 +2,21 @@
 Deploying Django
 ================
 
-Django's chock-full of shortcuts to make Web developer's lives easier, but all
+Django is full of shortcuts to make Web developers' lives easier, but all
 those tools are of no use if you can't easily deploy your sites. Since Django's
 inception, ease of deployment has been a major goal.
 
+This section contains guides to the two main ways to deploy Django. WSGI is the
+main Python standard for communicating between Web servers and applications,
+but it only supports synchronous code.
+
+ASGI is the new, asynchronous-friendly standard that will allow your Django
+site to use asynchronous Python features, and asynchronous Django features as
+they are developed.
+
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
    wsgi/index
+   asgi/index
    checklist
-
-If you're new to deploying Django and/or Python, we'd recommend you try
-:doc:`mod_wsgi </howto/deployment/wsgi/modwsgi>` first. In most cases it'll be
-the easiest, fastest, and most stable deployment choice.
diff --git a/docs/index.txt b/docs/index.txt
index 31a641e168..6d6f5528c4 100644
--- a/docs/index.txt
+++ b/docs/index.txt
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ testing of Django applications:
 * **Deployment:**
   :doc:`Overview <howto/deployment/index>` |
   :doc:`WSGI servers <howto/deployment/wsgi/index>` |
+  :doc:`ASGI servers <howto/deployment/asgi/index>` |
   :doc:`Deploying static files <howto/static-files/deployment>` |
   :doc:`Tracking code errors by email <howto/error-reporting>`
 
diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
index febfa3546e..44d536fb33 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ If you want to run the full suite of tests, you'll need to install a number of
 dependencies:
 
 *  argon2-cffi_ 16.1.0+
+*  asgiref_ (required)
 *  bcrypt_
 *  docutils_
 *  geoip2_
@@ -306,6 +307,7 @@ To run some of the autoreload tests, you'll need to install the Watchman_
 service.
 
 .. _argon2-cffi: https://pypi.org/project/argon2_cffi/
+.. _asgiref: https://pypi.org/project/asgiref/
 .. _bcrypt: https://pypi.org/project/bcrypt/
 .. _docutils: https://pypi.org/project/docutils/
 .. _geoip2: https://pypi.org/project/geoip2/
diff --git a/docs/ref/exceptions.txt b/docs/ref/exceptions.txt
index ee3f5260c9..208b4d6672 100644
--- a/docs/ref/exceptions.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/exceptions.txt
@@ -162,6 +162,40 @@ or model are classified as ``NON_FIELD_ERRORS``. This constant is used
 as a key in dictionaries that otherwise map fields to their respective
 list of errors.
 
+``RequestAborted``
+------------------
+
+.. exception:: RequestAborted
+
+    .. versionadded:: 3.0
+
+    The :exc:`RequestAborted` exception is raised when a HTTP body being read
+    in by the handler is cut off midstream and the client connection closes,
+    or when the client does not send data and hits a timeout where the server
+    closes the connection.
+
+    It is internal to the HTTP handler modules and you are unlikely to see
+    it elsewhere. If you are modifying HTTP handling code, you should raise
+    this when you encounter an aborted request to make sure the socket is
+    closed cleanly.
+
+``SynchronousOnlyOperation``
+----------------------------
+
+.. exception:: SynchronousOnlyOperation
+
+    .. versionadded:: 3.0
+
+    The :exc:`SynchronousOnlyOperation` exception is raised when code that
+    is only allowed in synchronous Python code is called from an asynchronous
+    context (a thread with a running asynchronous event loop). These parts of
+    Django are generally heavily reliant on thread-safety to function and don't
+    work correctly under coroutines sharing the same thread.
+
+    If you are trying to call code that is synchronous-only from an
+    asynchronous thread, then create a synchronous thread and call it in that.
+    You can accomplish this is with ``asgiref.sync.sync_to_async``.
+
 .. currentmodule:: django.urls
 
 URL Resolver exceptions
diff --git a/docs/releases/3.0.txt b/docs/releases/3.0.txt
index ba7e9f18da..51d7f7c8bf 100644
--- a/docs/releases/3.0.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/3.0.txt
@@ -44,6 +44,28 @@ MariaDB support
 Django now officially supports `MariaDB <https://mariadb.org/>`_ 10.1 and
 higher. See :ref:`MariaDB notes <mariadb-notes>` for more details.
 
+ASGI support
+------------
+
+Django 3.0 begins our journey to making Django fully async-capable by providing
+support for running as an `ASGI <https://asgi.readthedocs.io/>`_ application.
+
+This is in addition to our existing WSGI support. Django intends to support
+both for the foreseeable future. Async features will only be available to
+applications that run under ASGI, however.
+
+There is no need to switch your applications over unless you want to start
+experimenting with asynchronous code, but we have
+:doc:`documentation on deploying with ASGI </howto/deployment/asgi/index>` if
+you want to learn more.
+
+Note that as a side-effect of this change, Django is now aware of asynchronous
+event loops and will block you calling code marked as "async unsafe" - such as
+ORM operations - from an asynchronous context. If you were using Django from
+async code before, this may trigger if you were doing it incorrectly. If you
+see a ``SynchronousOnlyOperation`` error, then closely examine your code and
+move any database operations to be in a synchronous child thread.
+
 Minor features
 --------------
 
diff --git a/docs/spelling_wordlist b/docs/spelling_wordlist
index e4460b384d..445a64adfc 100644
--- a/docs/spelling_wordlist
+++ b/docs/spelling_wordlist
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ arctangent
 arg
 args
 assistive
+async
 atomicity
 attr
 auth
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ conf
 config
 contenttypes
 contrib
+coroutines
 covariance
 criticals
 cron
@@ -133,6 +135,7 @@ customizations
 Dahl
 Daly
 Danga
+Daphne
 Darussalam
 databrowse
 datafile
@@ -750,6 +753,7 @@ utc
 UTF
 util
 utils
+Uvicorn
 uwsgi
 uWSGI
 validator
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 41617c5bd1..909d2bb7a3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ setup(
     entry_points={'console_scripts': [
         'django-admin = django.core.management:execute_from_command_line',
     ]},
-    install_requires=['pytz', 'sqlparse'],
+    install_requires=['pytz', 'sqlparse', 'asgiref'],
     extras_require={
         "bcrypt": ["bcrypt"],
         "argon2": ["argon2-cffi >= 16.1.0"],
diff --git a/tests/asgi/__init__.py b/tests/asgi/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tests/asgi/tests.py b/tests/asgi/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..243e77defb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/asgi/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import sys
+
+from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+from asgiref.testing import ApplicationCommunicator
+
+from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
+from django.core.signals import request_started
+from django.db import close_old_connections
+from django.test import SimpleTestCase, override_settings
+
+from .urls import test_filename
+
+
+@override_settings(ROOT_URLCONF='asgi.urls')
+class ASGITest(SimpleTestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        request_started.disconnect(close_old_connections)
+
+    def _get_scope(self, **kwargs):
+        return {
+            'type': 'http',
+            'asgi': {'version': '3.0', 'spec_version': '2.1'},
+            'http_version': '1.1',
+            'method': 'GET',
+            'query_string': b'',
+            'server': ('testserver', 80),
+            **kwargs,
+        }
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        request_started.connect(close_old_connections)
+
+    @async_to_sync
+    async def test_get_asgi_application(self):
+        """
+        get_asgi_application() returns a functioning ASGI callable.
+        """
+        application = get_asgi_application()
+        # Construct HTTP request.
+        communicator = ApplicationCommunicator(application, self._get_scope(path='/'))
+        await communicator.send_input({'type': 'http.request'})
+        # Read the response.
+        response_start = await communicator.receive_output()
+        self.assertEqual(response_start['type'], 'http.response.start')
+        self.assertEqual(response_start['status'], 200)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            set(response_start['headers']),
+            {
+                (b'Content-Length', b'12'),
+                (b'Content-Type', b'text/html; charset=utf-8'),
+            },
+        )
+        response_body = await communicator.receive_output()
+        self.assertEqual(response_body['type'], 'http.response.body')
+        self.assertEqual(response_body['body'], b'Hello World!')
+
+    @async_to_sync
+    async def test_file_response(self):
+        """
+        Makes sure that FileResponse works over ASGI.
+        """
+        application = get_asgi_application()
+        # Construct HTTP request.
+        communicator = ApplicationCommunicator(application, self._get_scope(path='/file/'))
+        await communicator.send_input({'type': 'http.request'})
+        # Get the file content.
+        with open(test_filename, 'rb') as test_file:
+            test_file_contents = test_file.read()
+        # Read the response.
+        response_start = await communicator.receive_output()
+        self.assertEqual(response_start['type'], 'http.response.start')
+        self.assertEqual(response_start['status'], 200)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            set(response_start['headers']),
+            {
+                (b'Content-Length', str(len(test_file_contents)).encode('ascii')),
+                (b'Content-Type', b'text/plain' if sys.platform.startswith('win') else b'text/x-python'),
+                (b'Content-Disposition', b'inline; filename="urls.py"'),
+            },
+        )
+        response_body = await communicator.receive_output()
+        self.assertEqual(response_body['type'], 'http.response.body')
+        self.assertEqual(response_body['body'], test_file_contents)
diff --git a/tests/asgi/urls.py b/tests/asgi/urls.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4177ec8c9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/asgi/urls.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from django.http import FileResponse, HttpResponse
+from django.urls import path
+
+
+def helloworld(request):
+    return HttpResponse('Hello World!')
+
+
+test_filename = __file__
+
+
+urlpatterns = [
+    path('', helloworld),
+    path('file/', lambda x: FileResponse(open(test_filename, 'rb'))),
+]
diff --git a/tests/async/__init__.py b/tests/async/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tests/async/models.py b/tests/async/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0fd606b07e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/async/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class SimpleModel(models.Model):
+    field = models.IntegerField()
diff --git a/tests/async/tests.py b/tests/async/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1e1cabc1c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/async/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+
+from django.core.exceptions import SynchronousOnlyOperation
+from django.test import SimpleTestCase
+from django.utils.asyncio import async_unsafe
+
+from .models import SimpleModel
+
+
+class DatabaseConnectionTest(SimpleTestCase):
+    """A database connection cannot be used in an async context."""
+    @async_to_sync
+    async def test_get_async_connection(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(SynchronousOnlyOperation):
+            list(SimpleModel.objects.all())
+
+
+class AsyncUnsafeTest(SimpleTestCase):
+    """
+    async_unsafe decorator should work correctly and returns the correct
+    message.
+    """
+    @async_unsafe
+    def dangerous_method(self):
+        return True
+
+    @async_to_sync
+    async def test_async_unsafe(self):
+        # async_unsafe decorator catches bad access and returns the right
+        # message.
+        msg = (
+            'You cannot call this from an async context - use a thread or '
+            'sync_to_async.'
+        )
+        with self.assertRaisesMessage(SynchronousOnlyOperation, msg):
+            self.dangerous_method()
diff --git a/tests/i18n/tests.py b/tests/i18n/tests.py
index 8bb284e0c3..300af388e6 100644
--- a/tests/i18n/tests.py
+++ b/tests/i18n/tests.py
@@ -8,10 +8,9 @@ import tempfile
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from importlib import import_module
 from pathlib import Path
-from threading import local
 from unittest import mock
 
-import _thread
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django import forms
 from django.apps import AppConfig
@@ -289,7 +288,7 @@ class TranslationTests(SimpleTestCase):
 
     @override_settings(LOCALE_PATHS=extended_locale_paths)
     def test_pgettext(self):
-        trans_real._active = local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
         trans_real._translations = {}
         with translation.override('de'):
             self.assertEqual(pgettext("unexisting", "May"), "May")
@@ -310,7 +309,7 @@ class TranslationTests(SimpleTestCase):
         Translating a string requiring no auto-escaping with gettext or pgettext
         shouldn't change the "safe" status.
         """
-        trans_real._active = local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
         trans_real._translations = {}
         s1 = mark_safe('Password')
         s2 = mark_safe('May')
@@ -1882,7 +1881,7 @@ class TranslationFileChangedTests(SimpleTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(gettext_module._translations, {})
         self.assertEqual(trans_real._translations, {})
         self.assertIsNone(trans_real._default)
-        self.assertIsInstance(trans_real._active, _thread._local)
+        self.assertIsInstance(trans_real._active, Local)
 
 
 class UtilsTests(SimpleTestCase):
diff --git a/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_blocktrans.py b/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_blocktrans.py
index ac8fc16da8..744b410ea6 100644
--- a/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_blocktrans.py
+++ b/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_blocktrans.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import os
-from threading import local
+
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django.template import Context, Template, TemplateSyntaxError
 from django.test import SimpleTestCase, override_settings
@@ -278,7 +279,7 @@ class TranslationBlockTransTagTests(SimpleTestCase):
     @override_settings(LOCALE_PATHS=extended_locale_paths)
     def test_template_tags_pgettext(self):
         """{% blocktrans %} takes message contexts into account (#14806)."""
-        trans_real._active = local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
         trans_real._translations = {}
         with translation.override('de'):
             # Nonexistent context
diff --git a/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_trans.py b/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_trans.py
index ba5021a5d5..47a79ff74d 100644
--- a/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_trans.py
+++ b/tests/template_tests/syntax_tests/i18n/test_trans.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from threading import local
+from asgiref.local import Local
 
 from django.template import Context, Template, TemplateSyntaxError
 from django.templatetags.l10n import LocalizeNode
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class TranslationTransTagTests(SimpleTestCase):
     @override_settings(LOCALE_PATHS=extended_locale_paths)
     def test_template_tags_pgettext(self):
         """{% trans %} takes message contexts into account (#14806)."""
-        trans_real._active = local()
+        trans_real._active = Local()
         trans_real._translations = {}
         with translation.override('de'):
             # Nonexistent context...