diff --git a/generic/threadshare/Cargo.toml b/generic/threadshare/Cargo.toml
index 8b0a0cd5..6b21337b 100644
--- a/generic/threadshare/Cargo.toml
+++ b/generic/threadshare/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ gst-net = { package = "gstreamer-net", git = "https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gst
 gst-rtp = { package = "gstreamer-rtp", git = "https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer-rs" }
 gstreamer-sys = { git = "https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer-rs-sys" }
 pin-project = "0.4"
+once_cell = "1"
 tokio = { git = "https://github.com/fengalin/tokio", branch = "fengalin/throttling", features = ["io-util", "macros", "rt-core", "sync", "stream", "time", "tcp", "udp", "rt-util"] }
-futures = "0.3"
+futures = { version = "0.3", features = ["thread-pool"] }
 lazy_static = "1.0"
 rand = "0.7"
 net2 = "0.2"
diff --git a/generic/threadshare/src/runtime/task.rs b/generic/threadshare/src/runtime/task.rs
index be71c6d2..636f486b 100644
--- a/generic/threadshare/src/runtime/task.rs
+++ b/generic/threadshare/src/runtime/task.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 use futures::channel::mpsc as async_mpsc;
 use futures::channel::oneshot;
-use futures::future::{self, abortable, AbortHandle, Aborted, BoxFuture};
+use futures::future::{self, abortable, AbortHandle, Aborted, BoxFuture, RemoteHandle};
 use futures::prelude::*;
 use futures::stream::StreamExt;
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ use std::stringify;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, MutexGuard};
 
 use super::executor::{block_on_or_add_sub_task, TaskId};
-use super::{Context, JoinHandle, RUNTIME_CAT};
+use super::{Context, RUNTIME_CAT};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq, Ord, PartialOrd, Hash, Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum TaskState {
@@ -277,18 +277,9 @@ impl fmt::Debug for TransitionRequest {
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 struct TaskInner {
-    // The state machine needs an un-throttling Context because otherwise
-    // `transition_rx.next()` would throttle at each transition request.
-    // Since pipelines serialize state changes, this would lead to long starting / stopping
-    // when a pipeline consists in a large number of elements.
-    // See also the comment about transition_tx below.
-    state_machine_context: Context,
-    // The TaskImpl processings are spawned on the Task Context by the state machine.
     context: Option<Context>,
     state: TaskState,
-    state_machine_handle: Option<JoinHandle<()>>,
-    // The transition channel allows serializing transitions handling,
-    // preventing race conditions when transitions are run in //.
+    state_machine_handle: Option<RemoteHandle<()>>,
     transition_tx: Option<async_mpsc::Sender<TransitionRequest>>,
     prepare_abort_handle: Option<AbortHandle>,
     loop_abort_handle: Option<AbortHandle>,
@@ -298,7 +289,6 @@ struct TaskInner {
 impl Default for TaskInner {
     fn default() -> Self {
         TaskInner {
-            state_machine_context: Context::acquire("state_machine", 0).unwrap(),
             context: None,
             state: TaskState::Unprepared,
             state_machine_handle: None,
@@ -458,24 +448,17 @@ impl Task {
 
         inner.state = TaskState::Preparing;
 
-        gst_log!(RUNTIME_CAT, "Starting task state machine");
+        gst_log!(RUNTIME_CAT, "Spawning task state machine");
 
         // FIXME allow configuration of the channel buffer size,
         // this determines the contention on the Task.
         let (transition_tx, transition_rx) = async_mpsc::channel(4);
         let state_machine = StateMachine::new(Box::new(task_impl), transition_rx);
-        let (transition_req, _) = TransitionRequest::new(Transition::Prepare);
-        inner.state_machine_handle = Some(inner.state_machine_context.spawn(state_machine.run(
-            Arc::clone(&self.0),
-            context.clone(),
-            transition_req,
-        )));
+        inner.state_machine_handle = Some(self.spawn_state_machine(state_machine, &context));
 
         inner.transition_tx = Some(transition_tx);
         inner.context = Some(context);
 
-        gst_log!(RUNTIME_CAT, "Task state machine started");
-
         Ok(TransitionStatus::Async {
             transition: Transition::Prepare,
             origin,
@@ -540,7 +523,7 @@ impl Task {
                     state_machine_handle,
                 );
                 let join_fut = block_on_or_add_sub_task(async {
-                    state_machine_handle.await.unwrap();
+                    state_machine_handle.await;
 
                     drop(transition_tx);
                     drop(context);
@@ -689,6 +672,22 @@ impl Task {
             Ok(TransitionStatus::Async { transition, origin })
         })
     }
+
+    fn spawn_state_machine(
+        &self,
+        state_machine: StateMachine,
+        context: &Context,
+    ) -> RemoteHandle<()> {
+        use futures::executor::ThreadPool;
+        use futures::task::SpawnExt;
+        use once_cell::sync::OnceCell;
+
+        static EXECUTOR: OnceCell<ThreadPool> = OnceCell::new();
+        EXECUTOR
+            .get_or_init(|| ThreadPool::builder().pool_size(1).create().unwrap())
+            .spawn_with_handle(state_machine.run(Arc::clone(&self.0), context.clone()))
+            .unwrap()
+    }
 }
 
 struct StateMachine {
@@ -783,15 +782,11 @@ impl StateMachine {
         }
     }
 
-    async fn run(
-        mut self,
-        task_inner: Arc<Mutex<TaskInner>>,
-        context: Context,
-        mut transition_req: TransitionRequest,
-    ) {
+    async fn run(mut self, task_inner: Arc<Mutex<TaskInner>>, context: Context) {
         gst_trace!(RUNTIME_CAT, "Preparing task");
 
         {
+            let (mut transition_req, _) = TransitionRequest::new(Transition::Prepare);
             let res = exec_hook!(
                 self,
                 prepare,