diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 93ce74c..f0060eb 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -75,3 +75,19 @@ Cleanflight / Betaflight's "blackbox" logging system: [filesystem consumer code]
 You'll notice that since most filesystem operations will fail and ask you to retry when the card is busy, it becomes 
 natural to call it using a state-machine from your app's main loop - where you only advance to the next state once the 
 current operation succeeds, calling afatfs_poll() in-between so that the filesystem can complete its queued tasks.
+
+### Asynchronous I/O
+
+There is experimental support for removing the need to call `afatfs_poll()` and to remove the `sdcard_poll()`
+primitive. This feature can be activated by compiling AsyncFatFS with the "AFATFS_ASYNC_IO" flag. When this flag is
+set, `afatfs_poll()` will be called internally from the callback function provided to `sdcard_readBlock()` and
+`sdcard_writeBlock()`. AsyncFatFS will no longer call `sdcard_poll()` if this is enabled.
+
+It is **strongly recommended** that `sdcard_readBlock()` and `sdcard_writeBlock()` implement some kind of scheduling
+and never call the provided callback directly. Since the callback functions themselves will call `afatfs_poll()`
+internally (in this mode), another call to any of the SD card primitives might be triggered. This will lead to
+AsyncFatFS performing an unbounded amount of work (particularly at card init when writing the freefile) and using an
+unbounded amount of stack size. If you have an infinite stack, then please go ahead. If not, then make sure that you
+use the callbacks further up the stack, e.g. from your main loop.
+
+Similarly, it is important that you update any internal state variables *before* you use any callback.
diff --git a/lib/asyncfatfs.c b/lib/asyncfatfs.c
index 37002e7..3a45e76 100644
--- a/lib/asyncfatfs.c
+++ b/lib/asyncfatfs.c
@@ -490,6 +490,10 @@ static afatfs_t afatfs;
 static void afatfs_fileOperationContinue(afatfsFile_t *file);
 static uint8_t* afatfs_fileLockCursorSectorForWrite(afatfsFilePtr_t file);
 static uint8_t* afatfs_fileRetainCursorSectorForRead(afatfsFilePtr_t file);
+static void afatfs_fileOperationsPoll();
+#ifdef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+static void afatfs_poll();
+#endif
 
 static uint32_t roundUpTo(uint32_t value, uint32_t rounding)
 {
@@ -639,6 +643,9 @@ static void afatfs_sdcardReadComplete(sdcardBlockOperation_e operation, uint32_t
             break;
         }
     }
+#ifdef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+    afatfs_poll();
+#endif
 }
 
 /**
@@ -670,6 +677,9 @@ static void afatfs_sdcardWriteComplete(sdcardBlockOperation_e operation, uint32_
             break;
         }
     }
+#ifdef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+    afatfs_poll();
+#endif
 }
 
 /**
@@ -904,6 +914,7 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_cacheSector(uint32_t physicalSectorIndex,
 
     if (cacheSectorIndex == -1) {
         // We don't have enough free cache to service this request right now, try again later
+        afatfs_flush();
         return AFATFS_OPERATION_IN_PROGRESS;
     }
 
@@ -1454,7 +1465,7 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_saveDirectoryEntry(afatfsFilePtr_t file, a
                    entry->fileSize = file->physicalSize;
                break;
                case AFATFS_SAVE_DIRECTORY_DELETED:
-                   entry->filename[0] = FAT_DELETED_FILE_MARKER;
+                   entry->filename[0] = (char)FAT_DELETED_FILE_MARKER;
                    //Fall through
 
                case AFATFS_SAVE_DIRECTORY_FOR_CLOSE:
@@ -1560,6 +1571,9 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_appendRegularFreeClusterContinue(afatfsFil
                 file->operation.operation = AFATFS_FILE_OPERATION_NONE;
             }
 
+            // flush any pending writes
+            afatfs_flush();
+
             return AFATFS_OPERATION_SUCCESS;
         break;
         case AFATFS_APPEND_FREE_CLUSTER_PHASE_FAILURE:
@@ -2054,7 +2068,13 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_fseekInternal(afatfsFilePtr_t file, uint32
         opState->callback = callback;
         opState->seekOffset = offset;
 
-        return AFATFS_OPERATION_IN_PROGRESS;
+        // Do an initial round of processing
+        if (afatfs_fseekInternalContinue(file)) {
+            return AFATFS_OPERATION_SUCCESS;
+        }
+        else {
+            return AFATFS_OPERATION_IN_PROGRESS;
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -2262,6 +2282,9 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_extendSubdirectoryContinue(afatfsFile_t *d
                 opState->callback(directory);
             }
 
+            // flush any pending writes
+            afatfs_flush();
+
             return AFATFS_OPERATION_SUCCESS;
         break;
         case AFATFS_EXTEND_SUBDIRECTORY_PHASE_FAILURE:
@@ -2475,6 +2498,9 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_ftruncateContinue(afatfsFilePtr_t file, bo
                 opState->callback(file);
             }
 
+            // flush any pending writes
+            afatfs_flush();
+
             return AFATFS_OPERATION_SUCCESS;
         break;
     }
@@ -2491,7 +2517,7 @@ static afatfsOperationStatus_e afatfs_ftruncateContinue(afatfsFilePtr_t file, bo
  *
  * Returns true if the operation was successfully queued or false if the file is busy (try again later).
  *
- * The callback is called once the file has been truncated (some time after this routine returns).
+ * The callback is called once the file has been truncated, which MAY occur before this routine returns.
  */
 bool afatfs_ftruncate(afatfsFilePtr_t file, afatfsFileCallback_t callback)
 {
@@ -2677,6 +2703,9 @@ static void afatfs_createFileContinue(afatfsFile_t *file)
                 }
             }
 
+            // flush any pending writes
+            afatfs_flush();
+
             file->operation.operation = AFATFS_FILE_OPERATION_NONE;
             opState->callback(file);
         break;
@@ -2714,8 +2743,10 @@ static void afatfs_funlinkContinue(afatfsFilePtr_t file)
 /**
  * Delete and close the file.
  *
- * Returns true if the operation was successfully queued (callback will be called some time after this routine returns)
+ * Returns true if the operation was successfully completed or queued,
  * or false if the file is busy and you should try again later.
+ *
+ * If provided, the callback will be called after the operation completes (pass NULL for no callback).
  */
 bool afatfs_funlink(afatfsFilePtr_t file, afatfsCallback_t callback)
 {
@@ -2742,6 +2773,9 @@ bool afatfs_funlink(afatfsFilePtr_t file, afatfsCallback_t callback)
 
     file->operation.operation = AFATFS_FILE_OPERATION_UNLINK;
 
+    // Start the unlink operation before returning
+    afatfs_funlinkContinue(file);
+
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -2795,6 +2829,11 @@ static afatfsFilePtr_t afatfs_createFile(afatfsFilePtr_t file, const char *name,
 
     afatfs_createFileContinue(file);
 
+    if (file->operation.operation != AFATFS_FILE_OPERATION_CREATE_FILE && file->operation.operation != AFATFS_FILE_OPERATION_NONE) {
+        // file operation changed - process it
+        afatfs_fileOperationsPoll();
+    }
+
     return file;
 }
 
@@ -3394,6 +3433,7 @@ static void afatfs_initContinue()
                     afatfs_chdir(NULL);
 
                     afatfs.initPhase++;
+                    goto doMore;
                 } else {
                     afatfs.lastError = AFATFS_ERROR_BAD_FILESYSTEM_HEADER;
                     afatfs.filesystemState = AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_FATAL;
@@ -3407,9 +3447,20 @@ static void afatfs_initContinue()
 
             afatfs_createFile(&afatfs.freeFile, AFATFS_FREESPACE_FILENAME, FAT_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FAT_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READ_ONLY,
                 AFATFS_FILE_MODE_CREATE | AFATFS_FILE_MODE_RETAIN_DIRECTORY, afatfs_freeFileCreated);
+            // Check if our callback was called before we could return
+            if (afatfs.filesystemState != AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_FATAL
+                && afatfs.initPhase != AFATFS_INITIALIZATION_FREEFILE_CREATING
+            ) {
+                goto doMore;
+            }
         break;
         case AFATFS_INITIALIZATION_FREEFILE_CREATING:
             afatfs_fileOperationContinue(&afatfs.freeFile);
+            if (afatfs.filesystemState != AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_FATAL
+                && afatfs.initPhase != AFATFS_INITIALIZATION_FREEFILE_CREATING
+            ) {
+                goto doMore;
+            }
         break;
         case AFATFS_INITIALIZATION_FREEFILE_FAT_SEARCH:
             if (afatfs_findLargestContiguousFreeBlockContinue() == AFATFS_OPERATION_SUCCESS) {
@@ -3491,16 +3542,26 @@ static void afatfs_initContinue()
     }
 }
 
+static bool afatfs_continue()
+{
+    bool cont = true;
+#ifndef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+    cont = sdcard_poll();
+#endif
+    return cont ? afatfs_flush() : false;
+}
+
 /**
  * Check to see if there are any pending operations on the filesystem and perform a little work (without waiting on the
- * sdcard). You must call this periodically.
+ * sdcard).
  */
+#ifdef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+static
+#endif
 void afatfs_poll()
 {
     // Only attempt to continue FS operations if the card is present & ready, otherwise we would just be wasting time
-    if (sdcard_poll()) {
-        afatfs_flush();
-
+    if (afatfs_continue()) {
         switch (afatfs.filesystemState) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_INITIALIZATION:
                 afatfs_initContinue();
@@ -3577,6 +3638,8 @@ void afatfs_init()
 #ifdef AFATFS_USE_INTROSPECTIVE_LOGGING
     sdcard_setProfilerCallback(afatfs_sdcardProfilerCallback);
 #endif
+
+    afatfs_poll();
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/asyncfatfs.h b/lib/asyncfatfs.h
index 06659c4..c671a0d 100644
--- a/lib/asyncfatfs.h
+++ b/lib/asyncfatfs.h
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ void afatfs_findLast(afatfsFilePtr_t directory);
 bool afatfs_flush();
 void afatfs_init();
 bool afatfs_destroy(bool dirty);
+#ifndef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
 void afatfs_poll();
+#endif
 
 uint32_t afatfs_getFreeBufferSpace();
 uint32_t afatfs_getContiguousFreeSpace();
diff --git a/tests/common.c b/tests/common.c
index 6699d60..37f6332 100644
--- a/tests/common.c
+++ b/tests/common.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "common.h"
+#include "sdcard.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -65,3 +66,14 @@ void testAssert(bool condition, const char *errorMessage)
         exit(-1);
     }
 }
+
+void testPoll()
+{
+#ifdef AFATFS_ASYNC_IO
+    // Let's reuse the sdcard_poll() function for asynchronous I/O mode, even if it's not strictly necessary.
+    // It could as well be implemented as a separate worker thread.
+    sdcard_poll();
+#else
+    afatfs_poll();
+#endif
+}
diff --git a/tests/common.h b/tests/common.h
index c9ae5cd..f8e6dbc 100644
--- a/tests/common.h
+++ b/tests/common.h
@@ -7,4 +7,6 @@ bool validateLogTestEntries(afatfsFilePtr_t file, uint32_t *entryIndex, uint32_t
 
 void testAssert(bool condition, const char *errorMessage);
 
+void testPoll();
+
 #define TEST_LOG_ENTRY_SIZE 16
diff --git a/tests/sdcard_sim.c b/tests/sdcard_sim.c
index be9d81e..e721cb0 100644
--- a/tests/sdcard_sim.c
+++ b/tests/sdcard_sim.c
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ static void sdcard_continueReadBlock()
     if (--sdcard.currentOperation.countdownTimer <= 0) {
         uint64_t byteIndex = (uint64_t) sdcard.currentOperation.blockIndex * SDCARD_SIM_BLOCK_SIZE;
 
+        sdcard.state = SDCARD_STATE_READY;
+
         fseeko(simFile, byteIndex, SEEK_SET);
 
         if (fread(sdcard.currentOperation.buffer, sizeof(uint8_t), SDCARD_SIM_BLOCK_SIZE, simFile) == SDCARD_SIM_BLOCK_SIZE) {
@@ -93,8 +95,6 @@ static void sdcard_continueReadBlock()
             fprintf(stderr, "SDCardSim: fread failed on underlying file\n");
             exit(-1);
         }
-
-        sdcard.state = SDCARD_STATE_READY;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_file_delete.c b/tests/test_file_delete.c
index e5fb23d..c75d032 100644
--- a/tests/test_file_delete.c
+++ b/tests/test_file_delete.c
@@ -182,9 +182,10 @@ bool continueSpaceReclaimTest(bool start)
             afatfs_fopen("test.txt", "w+", spaceReclaimTestFileCreatedForEmpty);
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_EMPTY_DELETE:
-            if (afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileEmptyDeleted)) {
-                // Wait for the unlink to complete
-                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            if (!afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileEmptyDeleted)) {
+                // retry later
+                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_EMPTY_DELETE;
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_SOLID_APPEND_INIT:
@@ -204,9 +205,10 @@ bool continueSpaceReclaimTest(bool start)
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_SOLID_APPEND_DELETE:
-            if (afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileSolidAppendDeleted)) {
-                // Wait for the unlink to complete
-                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            if (!afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileSolidAppendDeleted)) {
+                // retry later
+                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_SOLID_APPEND_DELETE;
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_APPEND_INIT:
@@ -226,9 +228,10 @@ bool continueSpaceReclaimTest(bool start)
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_APPEND_DELETE:
-            if (afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileAppendDeleted)) {
-                // Wait for the unlink to complete
-                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+            if (!afatfs_funlink(testFile, spaceReclaimTestFileAppendDeleted)) {
+                // retry later
+                reclaimTestStage = SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_APPEND_DELETE;
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RECLAIM_TEST_STAGE_IDLE:
@@ -392,8 +395,11 @@ bool continueSpaceRetainTest(bool start, const char *fileMode)
         break;
         case SPACE_RETAIN_TEST_STAGE_UNLINK_B:
             if (afatfs_funlink(retainTestFileB, retainTestFileBDeleted)) {
-                retainTestFileB = NULL;
-                retainTestStage = SPACE_RETAIN_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+                // need to check state again in case callback has already been triggered
+                if (retainTestStage == SPACE_RETAIN_TEST_STAGE_UNLINK_B) {
+                    retainTestFileB = NULL;
+                    retainTestStage = SPACE_RETAIN_TEST_STAGE_IDLE;
+                }
             }
         break;
         case SPACE_RETAIN_TEST_STAGE_VERIFY_A_OPEN:
@@ -506,7 +512,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -524,6 +530,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_file_modes.c b/tests/test_file_modes.c
index fc5a6a4..6fff276 100644
--- a/tests/test_file_modes.c
+++ b/tests/test_file_modes.c
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_file_size.c b/tests/test_file_size.c
index 8e230ff..d300fea 100644
--- a/tests/test_file_size.c
+++ b/tests/test_file_size.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ static void initFilesystem()
     afatfs_init();
 
     while (afatfs_getFilesystemState() != AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         if (afatfs_getFilesystemState() == AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_FATAL) {
             fprintf(stderr, "[Fail]     Fatal filesystem error during init\n");
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_file_size_powerloss.c b/tests/test_file_size_powerloss.c
index 6d1d236..1e265f8 100644
--- a/tests/test_file_size_powerloss.c
+++ b/tests/test_file_size_powerloss.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ static void initFilesystem()
     afatfs_init();
 
     while (afatfs_getFilesystemState() != AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         if (afatfs_getFilesystemState() == AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_FATAL) {
             fprintf(stderr, "[Fail]     Fatal filesystem error during init\n");
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -266,6 +266,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_logging_workload.c b/tests/test_logging_workload.c
index f28f3dd..09b88a5 100644
--- a/tests/test_logging_workload.c
+++ b/tests/test_logging_workload.c
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_root_fill.c b/tests/test_root_fill.c
index 681e348..d1d09ea 100644
--- a/tests/test_root_fill.c
+++ b/tests/test_root_fill.c
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_subdir_fill.c b/tests/test_subdir_fill.c
index 34e5538..6bd1623 100644
--- a/tests/test_subdir_fill.c
+++ b/tests/test_subdir_fill.c
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();
diff --git a/tests/test_volume_fill.c b/tests/test_volume_fill.c
index 126b8b8..22f94f5 100644
--- a/tests/test_volume_fill.c
+++ b/tests/test_volume_fill.c
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool keepGoing = true;
 
     while (keepGoing) {
-        afatfs_poll();
+        testPoll();
 
         switch (afatfs_getFilesystemState()) {
             case AFATFS_FILESYSTEM_STATE_READY:
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     while (!afatfs_destroy(false)) {
+        testPoll();
     }
 
     sdcard_sim_destroy();