diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 0d7c9757b764aec9c103ec6f1eb236d47309bd2f..a859810a2ce0adfb6146086705519a3f1fe2e551 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1322,6 +1322,8 @@ virNetClientNewExternal;
 virNetClientNewSSH;
 virNetClientNewTCP;
 virNetClientNewUNIX;
+virNetClientRegisterAsyncIO;
+virNetClientRegisterKeepAlive;
 virNetClientRemoteAddrString;
 virNetClientRemoveStream;
 virNetClientSendNoReply;
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_monitor.c b/src/lxc/lxc_monitor.c
index a81d0f7778e04582a364ce011f3902bf99beb506..53ecd6077359e419f10a4add7b073de3c7c252a9 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_monitor.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_monitor.c
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ virLXCMonitorPtr virLXCMonitorNew(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     if (!(mon->client = virNetClientNewUNIX(sockpath, false, NULL)))
         goto error;
 
+    if (virNetClientRegisterAsyncIO(mon->client) < 0)
+        goto error;
 
     if (!(mon->program = virNetClientProgramNew(VIR_LXC_PROTOCOL_PROGRAM,
                                                 VIR_LXC_PROTOCOL_PROGRAM_VERSION,
diff --git a/src/remote/remote_driver.c b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
index 8153d70da54f430c8da3bf5b4a5bd232701958db..c4941c537882018b6a4a11695694e8650e60c77c 100644
--- a/src/remote/remote_driver.c
+++ b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
@@ -686,6 +686,15 @@ doRemoteOpen(virConnectPtr conn,
     } /* switch (transport) */
 
 
+    if (virNetClientRegisterAsyncIO(priv->client) < 0) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Failed to add event watch, disabling events and support for"
+                  " keepalive messages");
+        virResetLastError();
+    } else {
+        if (virNetClientRegisterKeepAlive(priv->client) < 0)
+            goto failed;
+    }
+
     virNetClientSetCloseCallback(priv->client,
                                  remoteClientCloseFunc,
                                  conn, NULL);
diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
index 42bdc54d45f507b86b130dadde4068c050b7cd8c..cec5efbba6d0cc8920a617a5966733d32eb9b374 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ struct _virNetClient {
     virMutex lock;
 
     virNetSocketPtr sock;
+    bool asyncIO;
 
     virNetTLSSessionPtr tls;
     char *hostname;
@@ -309,7 +310,6 @@ static virNetClientPtr virNetClientNew(virNetSocketPtr sock,
 {
     virNetClientPtr client = NULL;
     int wakeupFD[2] = { -1, -1 };
-    virKeepAlivePtr ka = NULL;
 
     if (virNetClientInitialize() < 0)
         return NULL;
@@ -337,29 +337,6 @@ static virNetClientPtr virNetClientNew(virNetSocketPtr sock,
         !(client->hostname = strdup(hostname)))
         goto no_memory;
 
-    /* Set up a callback to listen on the socket data */
-    virObjectRef(client);
-    if (virNetSocketAddIOCallback(client->sock,
-                                  VIR_EVENT_HANDLE_READABLE,
-                                  virNetClientIncomingEvent,
-                                  client,
-                                  virObjectFreeCallback) < 0) {
-        virObjectUnref(client);
-        VIR_DEBUG("Failed to add event watch, disabling events and support for"
-                  " keepalive messages");
-    } else {
-        /* Keepalive protocol consists of async messages so it can only be used
-         * if the client supports them */
-        if (!(ka = virKeepAliveNew(-1, 0, client,
-                                   virNetClientKeepAliveSendCB,
-                                   virNetClientKeepAliveDeadCB,
-                                   virObjectFreeCallback)))
-            goto error;
-        /* keepalive object has a reference to client */
-        virObjectRef(client);
-    }
-
-    client->keepalive = ka;
     PROBE(RPC_CLIENT_NEW,
           "client=%p sock=%p",
           client, client->sock);
@@ -370,10 +347,6 @@ no_memory:
 error:
     VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(wakeupFD[0]);
     VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(wakeupFD[1]);
-    if (ka) {
-        virKeepAliveStop(ka);
-        virObjectUnref(ka);
-    }
     virObjectUnref(client);
     return NULL;
 }
@@ -433,6 +406,58 @@ virNetClientPtr virNetClientNewExternal(const char **cmdargv)
 }
 
 
+int virNetClientRegisterAsyncIO(virNetClientPtr client)
+{
+    if (client->asyncIO)
+        return 0;
+
+    /* Set up a callback to listen on the socket data */
+    virObjectRef(client);
+    if (virNetSocketAddIOCallback(client->sock,
+                                  VIR_EVENT_HANDLE_READABLE,
+                                  virNetClientIncomingEvent,
+                                  client,
+                                  virObjectFreeCallback) < 0) {
+        virObjectUnref(client);
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("Unable to register async IO callback"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    client->asyncIO = true;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+int virNetClientRegisterKeepAlive(virNetClientPtr client)
+{
+    virKeepAlivePtr ka;
+
+    if (client->keepalive)
+        return 0;
+
+    if (!client->asyncIO) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID, "%s",
+                       _("Unable to enable keepalives without async IO support"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* Keepalive protocol consists of async messages so it can only be used
+     * if the client supports them */
+    if (!(ka = virKeepAliveNew(-1, 0, client,
+                               virNetClientKeepAliveSendCB,
+                               virNetClientKeepAliveDeadCB,
+                               virObjectFreeCallback)))
+        return -1;
+
+    /* keepalive object has a reference to client */
+    virObjectRef(client);
+
+    client->keepalive = ka;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 int virNetClientGetFD(virNetClientPtr client)
 {
     int fd;
diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclient.h b/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
index d6b9b3c1d62a960051c1853be9511a44b2d27638..3d55a74e05e6084de178629b6dc72ff0cd562a42 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ virNetClientPtr virNetClientNewSSH(const char *nodename,
 
 virNetClientPtr virNetClientNewExternal(const char **cmdargv);
 
+int virNetClientRegisterAsyncIO(virNetClientPtr client);
+int virNetClientRegisterKeepAlive(virNetClientPtr client);
+
 typedef void (*virNetClientCloseFunc)(virNetClientPtr client,
                                       int reason,
                                       void *opaque);