diff --git a/oslo_rootwrap/client.py b/oslo_rootwrap/client.py
index b19d97f..ecf730f 100644
--- a/oslo_rootwrap/client.py
+++ b/oslo_rootwrap/client.py
@@ -47,11 +47,16 @@ class Client(object):
     def __init__(self, rootwrap_daemon_cmd):
         self._start_command = rootwrap_daemon_cmd
         self._initialized = False
+        self._need_restart = False
         self._mutex = threading.Lock()
         self._manager = None
         self._proxy = None
         self._process = None
         self._finalize = None
+        # This is for eventlet compatibility. multiprocessing stores
+        # daemon connection in ForkAwareLocal, so this won't be
+        # needed with the threading module.
+        self._exec_sem = threading.Lock()
 
     def _initialize(self):
         if self._process is not None and self._process.poll() is not None:
@@ -119,20 +124,40 @@ class Client(object):
                 self._proxy = None
                 self._initialized = False
                 self._initialize()
+                self._need_restart = False
             return self._proxy
 
-    def execute(self, cmd, stdin=None):
-        self._ensure_initialized()
-        proxy = self._proxy
-        retry = False
+    def _run_one_command(self, proxy, cmd, stdin):
+        """Wrap proxy.run_one_command, setting _need_restart on an exception.
+
+        Usually it should be enough to drain stale data on socket
+        rather than to restart, but we cannot do draining easily.
+        """
         try:
+            _need_restart = True
             res = proxy.run_one_command(cmd, stdin)
-        except (EOFError, IOError):
-            retry = True
-        # res can be None if we received final None sent by dying server thread
-        # instead of response to our request. Process is most likely to be dead
-        # at this point.
-        if retry or res is None:
-            proxy = self._restart(proxy)
-            res = proxy.run_one_command(cmd, stdin)
+            _need_restart = False
+            return res
+        finally:
+            if _need_restart:
+                self._need_restart = True
+
+    def execute(self, cmd, stdin=None):
+        with self._exec_sem:
+            self._ensure_initialized()
+            proxy = self._proxy
+            retry = False
+            if self._need_restart:
+                proxy = self._restart(proxy)
+            try:
+                res = self._run_one_command(proxy, cmd, stdin)
+            except (EOFError, IOError):
+                retry = True
+            # res can be None if we received final None sent by dying
+            # server thread instead of response to our
+            # request. Process is most likely to be dead at this
+            # point.
+            if retry or res is None:
+                proxy = self._restart(proxy)
+                res = self._run_one_command(proxy, cmd, stdin)
         return res
diff --git a/oslo_rootwrap/tests/test_functional_eventlet.py b/oslo_rootwrap/tests/test_functional_eventlet.py
index eafef8e..1fe6337 100644
--- a/oslo_rootwrap/tests/test_functional_eventlet.py
+++ b/oslo_rootwrap/tests/test_functional_eventlet.py
@@ -25,3 +25,35 @@ if os.environ.get('TEST_EVENTLET', False):
         def assert_unpatched(self):
             # This test case is specifically for eventlet testing
             pass
+
+        def _thread_worker(self, seconds, msg):
+            code, out, err = self.execute(
+                ['sh', '-c', 'sleep %d; echo %s' % (seconds, msg)])
+            # Ignore trailing newline
+            self.assertEqual(msg, out.rstrip())
+
+        def _thread_worker_timeout(self, seconds, msg, timeout):
+            with eventlet.Timeout(timeout):
+                try:
+                    self._thread_worker(seconds, msg)
+                except eventlet.Timeout:
+                    pass
+
+        def test_eventlet_threads(self):
+            """Check eventlet compatibility.
+
+            The multiprocessing module is not eventlet friendly and
+            must be protected against eventlet thread switching and its
+            timeout exceptions.
+            """
+            th = []
+            # 10 was not enough for some reason.
+            for i in range(15):
+                th.append(
+                    eventlet.spawn(self._thread_worker, i % 3, 'abc%d' % i))
+            for i in [5, 17, 20, 25]:
+                th.append(
+                    eventlet.spawn(self._thread_worker_timeout, 2,
+                                   'timeout%d' % i, i))
+            for thread in th:
+                thread.wait()