diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/event/ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/event/ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter.java
index a57eb0c6120..fc1416fdaae 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/event/ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/event/ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter.java
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ import org.springframework.context.expression.AnnotatedElementKey;
 import org.springframework.core.BridgeMethodResolver;
 import org.springframework.core.ResolvableType;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotatedElementUtils;
+import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.Order;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
+import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Async;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.ReflectionUtils;
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ public class ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter implements GenericApplicationListe
 
 
 	public ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter(String beanName, Class<?> targetClass, Method method) {
+		validateMethod(method);
 		this.beanName = beanName;
 		this.method = method;
 		this.targetClass = targetClass;
@@ -90,6 +93,14 @@ public class ApplicationListenerMethodAdapter implements GenericApplicationListe
 		this.methodKey = new AnnotatedElementKey(this.method, this.targetClass);
 	}
 
+	private static void validateMethod(Method method) {
+		if (method.getReturnType() != void.class &&
+				AnnotationUtils.findAnnotation(method, Async.class) != null) {
+			throw new IllegalStateException(
+					"Asynchronous @EventListener method is not allowed to return reply events: " + method);
+		}
+	}
+
 
 	/**
 	 * Initialize this instance.
diff --git a/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/event/AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests.java b/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/event/AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests.java
index 89738660adb..ca8d8ae3766 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/event/AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/event/AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests.java
@@ -155,6 +155,19 @@ public class AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests {
 		failingContext.refresh();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void asyncWithReplyEventListener() {
+		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext failingContext =
+				new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext();
+		failingContext.register(BasicConfiguration.class,
+				InvalidAsyncEventListener.class);
+
+		this.thrown.expect(BeanInitializationException.class);
+		this.thrown.expectMessage(InvalidAsyncEventListener.class.getName());
+		this.thrown.expectMessage("asyncCannotUseReply");
+		failingContext.refresh();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void simpleReply() {
 		load(TestEventListener.class, ReplyEventListener.class);
@@ -656,6 +669,17 @@ public class AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Component
+	static class InvalidAsyncEventListener {
+
+		@EventListener
+		@Async
+		public Integer asyncCannotUseReply(String payload) {
+			return 42;
+		}
+
+	}
+
 
 	@Component
 	static class ReplyEventListener extends AbstractTestEventListener {
@@ -766,6 +790,7 @@ public class AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests {
 			this.eventCollector.addEvent(this, event);
 			this.countDownLatch.countDown();
 		}
+
 	}
 
 
@@ -869,7 +894,6 @@ public class AnnotationDrivenEventListenerTests {
 	}
 
 
-
 	@EventListener
 	@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
 	public @interface ConditionalEvent {
diff --git a/src/asciidoc/core-beans.adoc b/src/asciidoc/core-beans.adoc
index ba6fe773ec6..d241dad3ee5 100644
--- a/src/asciidoc/core-beans.adoc
+++ b/src/asciidoc/core-beans.adoc
@@ -8208,11 +8208,42 @@ method signature to return the event that should be published, something like:
 	}
 ----
 
+NOTE: This feature is not supported for <<context-functionality-events-async,asynchronous
+listeners>>.
+
 This new method will publish a new `ListUpdateEvent` for every `BlackListEvent` handled
 by the method above. If you need to publish several events, just return a `Collection` of
 events instead.
 
-Finally if you need the listener to be invoked before another one, just add the `@Order`
+[[context-functionality-events-async]]
+==== Asynchronous Listeners
+
+If you want a particular listener to process events asynchronously, simply reuse the
+<<scheduling-annotation-support-async,regular `@Async` support>>:
+
+[source,java,indent=0]
+[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
+----
+	@EventListener
+	@Async
+	public void processBlackListEvent(BlackListEvent event) {
+		// BlackListEvent is processed in a separate thread
+	}
+----
+
+Be aware of the following limitations when using asynchronous events:
+
+. If the event listener throws an `Exception` it will not be propagated to the caller,
+  check `AsyncUncaughtExceptionHandler` for more details.
+. Such event listener cannot send replies. If you need to send another event as the
+  result of the processing, inject `ApplicationEventPublisher` to send the event
+  manually.
+
+
+[[context-functionality-events-order]
+==== Ordering Listeners
+
+If you need the listener to be invoked before another one, just add the `@Order`
 annotation to the method declaration:
 
 [source,java,indent=0]