diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 48db1977efa9772c1d253e9382ef788664056b7a..eb5df527243bf130f7bd11735f767ed51807bc6b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5883,6 +5883,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "fs",
  "futures 0.3.31",
  "gpui",
+ "gpui_tokio",
  "http_client",
  "language",
  "language_extension",
diff --git a/crates/extension_host/Cargo.toml b/crates/extension_host/Cargo.toml
index 42dcdd3a6f3fd7da3d40bc4cc5437ffdfcd688c5..16cbd9ac0c0ef938322f2b57789c7542549a570a 100644
--- a/crates/extension_host/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/extension_host/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ extension.workspace = true
 fs.workspace = true
 futures.workspace = true
 gpui.workspace = true
+gpui_tokio.workspace = true
 http_client.workspace = true
 language.workspace = true
 log.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/extension_host/benches/extension_compilation_benchmark.rs b/crates/extension_host/benches/extension_compilation_benchmark.rs
index 6f0897af6edbb38acef305ff03b76569a741aca5..309e089758eab8bed1139e2d813bc99b1febb594 100644
--- a/crates/extension_host/benches/extension_compilation_benchmark.rs
+++ b/crates/extension_host/benches/extension_compilation_benchmark.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use util::test::TempTree;
 
 fn extension_benchmarks(c: &mut Criterion) {
     let cx = init();
+    cx.update(gpui_tokio::init);
 
     let mut group = c.benchmark_group("load");
 
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ fn extension_benchmarks(c: &mut Criterion) {
             |wasm_bytes| {
                 let _extension = cx
                     .executor()
-                    .block(wasm_host.load_extension(wasm_bytes, &manifest, cx.executor()))
+                    .block(wasm_host.load_extension(wasm_bytes, &manifest, &cx.to_async()))
                     .unwrap();
             },
             BatchSize::SmallInput,
diff --git a/crates/extension_host/src/extension_store_test.rs b/crates/extension_host/src/extension_store_test.rs
index 855077bcf87c58fb8e751d6477921d7e8bba8ad9..509edc6845c6e99745a4b94944cf5f2b68ff9b93 100644
--- a/crates/extension_host/src/extension_store_test.rs
+++ b/crates/extension_host/src/extension_store_test.rs
@@ -868,5 +868,6 @@ fn init_test(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
         Project::init_settings(cx);
         ExtensionSettings::register(cx);
         language::init(cx);
+        gpui_tokio::init(cx);
     });
 }
diff --git a/crates/extension_host/src/wasm_host.rs b/crates/extension_host/src/wasm_host.rs
index f77258e8957fa1be7579b931de82fd633a0f6ae4..22d11732a743d56e651ce71279fe4d276f269640 100644
--- a/crates/extension_host/src/wasm_host.rs
+++ b/crates/extension_host/src/wasm_host.rs
@@ -591,11 +591,12 @@ impl WasmHost {
         self: &Arc<Self>,
         wasm_bytes: Vec<u8>,
         manifest: &Arc<ExtensionManifest>,
-        executor: BackgroundExecutor,
+        cx: &AsyncApp,
     ) -> Task<Result<WasmExtension>> {
         let this = self.clone();
         let manifest = manifest.clone();
-        executor.clone().spawn(async move {
+        let executor = cx.background_executor().clone();
+        let load_extension_task = async move {
             let zed_api_version = parse_wasm_extension_version(&manifest.id, &wasm_bytes)?;
 
             let component = Component::from_binary(&this.engine, &wasm_bytes)
@@ -632,20 +633,29 @@ impl WasmHost {
                 .context("failed to initialize wasm extension")?;
 
             let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::unbounded::<ExtensionCall>();
-            executor
-                .spawn(async move {
-                    while let Some(call) = rx.next().await {
-                        (call)(&mut extension, &mut store).await;
-                    }
-                })
-                .detach();
+            let extension_task = async move {
+                while let Some(call) = rx.next().await {
+                    (call)(&mut extension, &mut store).await;
+                }
+            };
 
-            Ok(WasmExtension {
-                manifest: manifest.clone(),
-                work_dir: this.work_dir.join(manifest.id.as_ref()).into(),
-                tx,
-                zed_api_version,
-            })
+            anyhow::Ok((
+                extension_task,
+                WasmExtension {
+                    manifest: manifest.clone(),
+                    work_dir: this.work_dir.join(manifest.id.as_ref()).into(),
+                    tx,
+                    zed_api_version,
+                },
+            ))
+        };
+        cx.spawn(async move |cx| {
+            let (extension_task, extension) = load_extension_task.await?;
+            // we need to run run the task in an extension context as wasmtime_wasi may
+            // call into tokio, accessing its runtime handle
+            gpui_tokio::Tokio::spawn(cx, extension_task)?.detach();
+
+            Ok(extension)
         })
     }
 
@@ -747,7 +757,7 @@ impl WasmExtension {
             .context("failed to read wasm")?;
 
         wasm_host
-            .load_extension(wasm_bytes, manifest, cx.background_executor().clone())
+            .load_extension(wasm_bytes, manifest, cx)
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("failed to load wasm extension {}", manifest.id))
     }