diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6e7390fb8b..50c6736496 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1291,6 +1291,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tempfile 3.0.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "test_utils 0.0.49-alpha1",
  "tiny_http 0.6.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio 0.1.22 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "toml 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "url 2.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "ws 0.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
diff --git a/app_spec/test/files/test.js b/app_spec/test/files/test.js
index 23cf1f7a46..733118e1f5 100644
--- a/app_spec/test/files/test.js
+++ b/app_spec/test/files/test.js
@@ -13,4 +13,20 @@ module.exports = scenario => {
     const result = await alice.call('app', 'blog', 'ping', params)
     t.deepEqual(result, { Ok: { msg_type: 'response', body: `got hello from ${alice.info('app').agentAddress}` } })
   })
+
+  scenario('multiple zome calls', async (s, t) => {
+    const { alice, bob } = await s.players({ alice: one, bob: one }, true)
+    const params = { to_agent: bob.info('app').agentAddress, message: 'hello' }
+
+    // shut down bob so ping to bob will timeout to complete
+    await bob.kill()
+    let results = []
+    const f1 = alice.call('app', 'blog', 'ping', params).then(r => {results.push(2)})
+    const f2 = alice.call('app',"blog", "get_test_properties", {}).then(r => {results.push(1)})
+    await Promise.all([f1,f2])
+
+    // prove that show_env returned before ping
+    t.deepEqual(results,[1,2])
+
+  })
 }
diff --git a/app_spec/zomes/blog/code/src/blog.rs b/app_spec/zomes/blog/code/src/blog.rs
index 7303532813..f1728ee610 100644
--- a/app_spec/zomes/blog/code/src/blog.rs
+++ b/app_spec/zomes/blog/code/src/blog.rs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ pub fn handle_ping(to_agent: Address, message: String) -> ZomeApiResult<JsonStri
         "body" : message
     })
     .to_string();
-    let received_str = hdk::send(to_agent, json_msg, 10000.into())?;
+    let received_str = hdk::send(to_agent, json_msg, 20000.into())?;
     Ok(JsonString::from_json(&received_str))
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/conductor_lib/Cargo.toml b/crates/conductor_lib/Cargo.toml
index 6a2d15c0d9..f6c98c78c3 100644
--- a/crates/conductor_lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/conductor_lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ nickel = "=0.11.0"
 url = { version = "=2.1.0", features = ["serde"] }
 snowflake = "=1.3.0"
 newrelic = { version = "=0.2.2", optional = true }
+tokio = "=0.1.22"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 test_utils = { version = "=0.0.49-alpha1", path = "../../test_utils" }
diff --git a/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/http.rs b/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/http.rs
index a2083813cb..8531a4e0bb 100644
--- a/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/http.rs
+++ b/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/http.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use crossbeam_channel::Receiver;
 use jsonrpc_core::IoHandler;
 use jsonrpc_http_server::ServerBuilder;
 use std::{net::SocketAddr, thread};
+use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
 
 pub struct HttpInterface {
     port: u16,
@@ -30,8 +31,9 @@ impl Interface for HttpInterface {
         kill_switch: Receiver<()>,
     ) -> Result<(Broadcaster, thread::JoinHandle<()>), String> {
         let url = format!("0.0.0.0:{}", self.port);
-
+        let runtime = Runtime::new().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
         let server = ServerBuilder::new(handler)
+            .event_loop_executor(runtime.executor())
             .start_http(&url.parse().expect("Invalid URL!"))
             .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
         self.bound_address = Some(*server.address());
@@ -40,6 +42,7 @@ impl Interface for HttpInterface {
             .name(format!("http_interface/{}", url))
             .spawn(move || {
                 let _ = server; // move `server` into this thread
+                let _ = runtime; // move tokio runtime for RPC futures into this thread
                 let _ = kill_switch.recv();
             })
             .expect("Could not spawn thread for HTTP interface");
diff --git a/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/websocket.rs b/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/websocket.rs
index 75a544bcda..1a97976aac 100644
--- a/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/websocket.rs
+++ b/crates/conductor_lib/src/interface_impls/websocket.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use crossbeam_channel::Receiver;
 use jsonrpc_core::IoHandler;
 use jsonrpc_ws_server::ServerBuilder;
 use std::{net::SocketAddr, thread};
+use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
 
 pub struct WebsocketInterface {
     port: u16,
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@ impl Interface for WebsocketInterface {
         kill_switch: Receiver<()>,
     ) -> Result<(Broadcaster, thread::JoinHandle<()>), String> {
         let url = format!("0.0.0.0:{}", self.port);
+        let runtime = Runtime::new().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
         let server = ServerBuilder::new(handler)
+            .event_loop_executor(runtime.executor())
             .start(&url.parse().expect("Invalid URL!"))
             .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
         self.bound_address = Some(*server.addr());
@@ -39,6 +42,7 @@ impl Interface for WebsocketInterface {
             .name(format!("websocket_interface/{}", url))
             .spawn(move || {
                 let _ = server; // move `server` into this thread
+                let _ = runtime; // move tokio runtime for RPC futures into this thread
                 let _ = kill_switch.recv();
             })
             .expect("Could not spawn thread for websocket interface");