diff --git a/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl b/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
index 3b3be7ed33f0d..7a0d936a10a9e 100644
--- a/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
@@ -1053,13 +1053,13 @@ function rmprocs(pids...; waitfor=typemax(Int))
 
     pids = vcat(pids...)
     if waitfor == 0
-        t = @async _rmprocs(pids, typemax(Int))
+        t = Threads.@spawn _rmprocs(pids, typemax(Int))
         yield()
         return t
     else
         _rmprocs(pids, waitfor)
         # return a dummy task object that user code can wait on.
-        return @async nothing
+        return Threads.@spawn nothing
     end
 end
 
diff --git a/stdlib/Distributed/src/process_messages.jl b/stdlib/Distributed/src/process_messages.jl
index 8d5dac5af571e..4a98584ccc7be 100644
--- a/stdlib/Distributed/src/process_messages.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Distributed/src/process_messages.jl
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ function schedule_call(rid, thunk)
         rv = RemoteValue(def_rv_channel())
         (PGRP::ProcessGroup).refs[rid] = rv
         push!(rv.clientset, rid.whence)
-        errormonitor(@async run_work_thunk(rv, thunk))
+        errormonitor(Threads.@spawn run_work_thunk(rv, thunk))
         return rv
     end
 end
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ end
 
 ## message event handlers ##
 function process_messages(r_stream::TCPSocket, w_stream::TCPSocket, incoming::Bool=true)
-    errormonitor(@async process_tcp_streams(r_stream, w_stream, incoming))
+    errormonitor(Threads.@spawn process_tcp_streams(r_stream, w_stream, incoming))
 end
 
 function process_tcp_streams(r_stream::TCPSocket, w_stream::TCPSocket, incoming::Bool)
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ Julia version number to perform the authentication handshake.
 See also [`cluster_cookie`](@ref).
 """
 function process_messages(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming::Bool=true)
-    errormonitor(@async message_handler_loop(r_stream, w_stream, incoming))
+    errormonitor(Threads.@spawn message_handler_loop(r_stream, w_stream, incoming))
 end
 
 function message_handler_loop(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming::Bool)
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call}, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     schedule_call(header.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
 end
 function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call_fetch}, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)
-    errormonitor(@async begin
+    errormonitor(Threads.@spawn begin
         v = run_work_thunk(()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...), false)
         if isa(v, SyncTake)
             try
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call_fetch}, header, r_stream, w_stream, versi
 end
 
 function handle_msg(msg::CallWaitMsg, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)
-    errormonitor(@async begin
+    errormonitor(Threads.@spawn begin
         rv = schedule_call(header.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
         deliver_result(w_stream, :call_wait, header.notify_oid, fetch(rv.c))
         nothing
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ function handle_msg(msg::CallWaitMsg, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)
 end
 
 function handle_msg(msg::RemoteDoMsg, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)
-    errormonitor(@async run_work_thunk(()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...), true))
+    errormonitor(Threads.@spawn run_work_thunk(()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...), true))
 end
 
 function handle_msg(msg::ResultMsg, header, r_stream, w_stream, version)