diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/flow/impl/DistributedFlowRuleStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/flow/impl/DistributedFlowRuleStore.java
index 57ee153..a259c26 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/flow/impl/DistributedFlowRuleStore.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/flow/impl/DistributedFlowRuleStore.java
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@
 
     private Map<Long, NodeId> pendingResponses = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
     private ExecutorService messageHandlingExecutor;
+    private ExecutorService eventHandler;
 
     private ScheduledFuture<?> backupTask;
     private final ScheduledExecutorService backupSenderExecutor =
@@ -197,6 +198,8 @@
 
         local = clusterService.getLocalNode().id();
 
+        eventHandler = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(
+                groupedThreads("onos/flow", "event-handler", log));
         messageHandlingExecutor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(
                 msgHandlerPoolSize, groupedThreads("onos/store/flow", "message-handlers", log));
 
@@ -233,6 +236,7 @@
         unregisterMessageHandlers();
         deviceTableStats.removeListener(tableStatsListener);
         deviceTableStats.destroy();
+        eventHandler.shutdownNow();
         messageHandlingExecutor.shutdownNow();
         backupSenderExecutor.shutdownNow();
         log.info("Stopped");
@@ -663,6 +667,10 @@
 
         @Override
         public void event(ReplicaInfoEvent event) {
+            eventHandler.execute(() -> handleEvent(event));
+        }
+
+        private void handleEvent(ReplicaInfoEvent event) {
             if (!backupEnabled) {
                 return;
             }
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/mastership/impl/ConsistentDeviceMastershipStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/mastership/impl/ConsistentDeviceMastershipStore.java
index 320c4d1..3e83183 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/mastership/impl/ConsistentDeviceMastershipStore.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/mastership/impl/ConsistentDeviceMastershipStore.java
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@
     private static final Pattern DEVICE_MASTERSHIP_TOPIC_PATTERN =
             Pattern.compile("device:(.*)");
 
+    private ExecutorService eventHandler;
     private ExecutorService messageHandlingExecutor;
     private ScheduledExecutorService transferExecutor;
     private final LeadershipEventListener leadershipEventListener =
@@ -116,6 +117,10 @@
 
     @Activate
     public void activate() {
+
+        eventHandler = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(
+                        groupedThreads("onos/store/device/mastership", "event-handler", log));
+
         messageHandlingExecutor =
                 Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(
                         groupedThreads("onos/store/device/mastership", "message-handler", log));
@@ -136,10 +141,10 @@
     @Deactivate
     public void deactivate() {
         clusterCommunicator.removeSubscriber(ROLE_RELINQUISH_SUBJECT);
+        leadershipService.removeListener(leadershipEventListener);
         messageHandlingExecutor.shutdown();
         transferExecutor.shutdown();
-        leadershipService.removeListener(leadershipEventListener);
-
+        eventHandler.shutdown();
         log.info("Stopped");
     }
 
@@ -308,6 +313,10 @@
 
         @Override
         public void event(LeadershipEvent event) {
+            eventHandler.execute(() -> handleEvent(event));
+        }
+
+        private void handleEvent(LeadershipEvent event) {
             Leadership leadership = event.subject();
             DeviceId deviceId = extractDeviceIdFromTopic(leadership.topic());
             RoleInfo roleInfo = getNodes(deviceId);