diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutor.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..936a33f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+
+/**
+ * Executor that executes tasks in serial on a shared thread pool, falling back to parallel execution when threads
+ * are blocked.
+ * <p>
+ * This executor attempts to execute tasks in serial as if they occur on a single thread. However, in the event tasks
+ * are blocking a thread (a thread is in the {@link Thread.State#WAITING} or {@link Thread.State#TIMED_WAITING} state)
+ * the executor will execute tasks on parallel on the underlying {@link Executor}. This is useful for ensuring blocked
+ * threads cannot block events, but mimics a single-threaded model otherwise.
+ */
+public class BestEffortSerialExecutor implements Executor {
+    private final Executor parent;
+    private final LinkedList<Runnable> tasks = new LinkedList<>();
+    private volatile Thread thread;
+
+    public BestEffortSerialExecutor(Executor parent) {
+        this.parent = parent;
+    }
+
+    private void run() {
+        synchronized (tasks) {
+            thread = Thread.currentThread();
+        }
+        for (;;) {
+            if (!runTask()) {
+                synchronized (tasks) {
+                    thread = null;
+                }
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private boolean runTask() {
+        final Runnable task;
+        synchronized (tasks) {
+            task = tasks.poll();
+            if (task == null) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        task.run();
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void execute(Runnable command) {
+        synchronized (tasks) {
+            tasks.add(command);
+            if (thread == null) {
+                parent.execute(this::run);
+            } else if (thread.getState() == Thread.State.WAITING || thread.getState() == Thread.State.TIMED_WAITING) {
+                parent.execute(this::runTask);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutor.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e54ac2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+
+/**
+ * Executor that executes tasks in serial on a shared thread pool.
+ * <p>
+ * The serial executor behaves semantically like a single-threaded executor, but multiplexes tasks on a shared thread
+ * pool, ensuring blocked threads in the shared thread pool don't block individual serial executors.
+ */
+public class SerialExecutor implements Executor {
+    private final Executor parent;
+    private final LinkedList<Runnable> tasks = new LinkedList<>();
+    private boolean running;
+
+    public SerialExecutor(Executor parent) {
+        this.parent = parent;
+    }
+
+    private void run() {
+        for (;;) {
+            final Runnable task;
+            synchronized (tasks) {
+                task = tasks.poll();
+                if (task == null) {
+                    running = false;
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
+            task.run();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void execute(Runnable command) {
+        synchronized (tasks) {
+            tasks.add(command);
+            if (!running) {
+                running = true;
+                parent.execute(this::run);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
index cc769c4..883a7c8 100644
--- a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
@@ -642,6 +643,32 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Returns a future that's completed using the given {@link Executor} once the given {@code future} is completed.
+     * <p>
+     * {@link CompletableFuture}'s async methods cannot be relied upon to complete futures on an executor thread. If a
+     * future is completed synchronously, {@code CompletableFuture} async methods will often complete the future on the
+     * current thread, ignoring the provided {@code Executor}. This method ensures a more reliable and consistent thread
+     * model by ensuring that futures are always completed using the provided {@code Executor}.
+     *
+     * @param future the future to convert into an asynchronous future
+     * @param executor the executor with which to complete the returned future
+     * @param <T> future value type
+     * @return a new completable future to be completed using the provided {@code executor} once the provided
+     * {@code future} is complete
+     */
+    public static <T> CompletableFuture<T> asyncFuture(CompletableFuture<T> future, Executor executor) {
+        CompletableFuture<T> newFuture = new CompletableFuture<T>();
+        future.whenComplete((result, error) -> executor.execute(() -> {
+            if (future.isCompletedExceptionally()) {
+                newFuture.completeExceptionally(error);
+            } else {
+                newFuture.complete(result);
+            }
+        }));
+        return newFuture;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Returns a new CompletableFuture completed with a list of computed values
      * when all of the given CompletableFuture complete.
      *
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutorTest.java b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39a1f87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/BestEffortSerialExecutorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * Best effort serial executor test.
+ */
+public class BestEffortSerialExecutorTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSerialExecution() throws Throwable {
+        Executor executor = new BestEffortSerialExecutor(SharedExecutors.getPoolThreadExecutor());
+        CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(2);
+        executor.execute(latch::countDown);
+        executor.execute(latch::countDown);
+        latch.await();
+        assertEquals(0, latch.getCount());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testBlockedExecution() throws Throwable {
+        Executor executor = new BestEffortSerialExecutor(SharedExecutors.getPoolThreadExecutor());
+        CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(3);
+        executor.execute(() -> {
+            try {
+                Thread.sleep(2000);
+                latch.countDown();
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+            }
+        });
+        Thread.sleep(10);
+        executor.execute(() -> {
+            try {
+                new CompletableFuture<>().get(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            } catch (InterruptedException | ExecutionException | TimeoutException e) {
+                latch.countDown();
+            }
+        });
+        Thread.sleep(10);
+        executor.execute(latch::countDown);
+        latch.await(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        assertEquals(2, latch.getCount());
+        latch.await(3, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        assertEquals(0, latch.getCount());
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutorTest.java b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..140ce1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/SerialExecutorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * Serial executor test.
+ */
+public class SerialExecutorTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSerialExecution() throws Throwable {
+        Executor executor = new SerialExecutor(SharedExecutors.getPoolThreadExecutor());
+        CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(2);
+        executor.execute(latch::countDown);
+        executor.execute(latch::countDown);
+        latch.await();
+        assertEquals(0, latch.getCount());
+    }
+
+}