diff --git a/migration/tls.h b/migration/tls.h
index 5435dd4867..514529ff38 100644
--- a/migration/tls.h
+++ b/migration/tls.h
@@ -35,6 +35,33 @@ QIOChannelTLS *migration_tls_client_create(QIOChannel *ioc,
 void migration_tls_channel_connect_main(MigrationState *s, QIOChannel *ioc,
                                         const char *hostname, Error **errp);
 
+typedef void (*MigTLSConCallback)(QIOChannel *ioc, void *opaque, Error *err);
+
+/**
+ * migration_tls_channel_connect:
+ * @ioc: The underlying channel object
+ * @name: The name of the channel
+ * @hostname: The user specified server hostname
+ * @callback: The callback to invoke when completed
+ * @opaque: Opaque data to pass to @callback
+ * @run_in_thread: Whether to run TLS handshake in new thread or not
+ * @errp: Pointer to a NULL-initialized error object pointer
+ *
+ * Establishes a TLS connection on top of the provided QIOChannel @ioc. If this
+ * function succeeds, @callback will be invoked upon completion and
+ * success/failure will be reported to it via the Error object argument.
+ * In case multiple channels are TLS upgraded in parallel, @run_in_thread
+ * should be set to true so the TLS handshake will be performed in a new
+ * thread, to avoid a potential risk of migration hang.
+ *
+ * Returns: True on successful initiation of TLS upgrade process, or false on
+ * failure.
+ */
+bool migration_tls_channel_connect(QIOChannel *ioc, const char *name,
+                                   const char *hostname,
+                                   MigTLSConCallback callback, void *opaque,
+                                   bool run_in_thread, Error **errp);
+
 /* Whether the QIO channel requires further TLS handshake? */
 bool migrate_channel_requires_tls_upgrade(QIOChannel *ioc);
 
diff --git a/migration/tls.c b/migration/tls.c
index 803cb54c8b..e6a0349bd1 100644
--- a/migration/tls.c
+++ b/migration/tls.c
@@ -152,6 +152,78 @@ void migration_tls_channel_connect_main(MigrationState *s, QIOChannel *ioc,
                               NULL, NULL);
 }
 
+typedef struct {
+    QIOChannelTLS *tioc;
+    MigTLSConCallback callback;
+    void *opaque;
+    char *name;
+    QemuThread thread;
+} MigTLSConData;
+
+static void migration_tls_outgoing_handshake(QIOTask *task, void *opaque)
+{
+    QIOChannel *ioc = QIO_CHANNEL(qio_task_get_source(task));
+    MigTLSConData *data = opaque;
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    if (qio_task_propagate_error(task, &err)) {
+        trace_migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_error(data->name,
+                                                     error_get_pretty(err));
+    } else {
+        trace_migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_complete(data->name);
+    }
+
+    data->callback(ioc, data->opaque, err);
+    g_free(data->name);
+    g_free(data);
+}
+
+static void *migration_tls_channel_connect_thread(void *opaque)
+{
+    MigTLSConData *data = opaque;
+
+    qio_channel_tls_handshake(data->tioc, migration_tls_outgoing_handshake,
+                              data, NULL, NULL);
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+bool migration_tls_channel_connect(QIOChannel *ioc, const char *name,
+                                   const char *hostname,
+                                   MigTLSConCallback callback, void *opaque,
+                                   bool run_in_thread, Error **errp)
+{
+    QIOChannelTLS *tioc;
+    MigTLSConData *data;
+    g_autofree char *channel_name = NULL;
+    g_autofree char *thread_name = NULL;
+
+    tioc = migration_tls_client_create(ioc, hostname, errp);
+    if (!tioc) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    data = g_new0(MigTLSConData, 1);
+    data->tioc = tioc;
+    data->callback = callback;
+    data->opaque = opaque;
+    data->name = g_strdup(name);
+
+    trace_migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_start(hostname, name);
+    channel_name = g_strdup_printf("migration-tls-outgoing-%s", name);
+    qio_channel_set_name(QIO_CHANNEL(tioc), channel_name);
+    if (!run_in_thread) {
+        qio_channel_tls_handshake(tioc, migration_tls_outgoing_handshake, data,
+                                  NULL, NULL);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    thread_name = g_strdup_printf("migration-tls-outgoing-worker-%s", name);
+    qemu_thread_create(&data->thread, thread_name,
+                       migration_tls_channel_connect_thread, data,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+    return true;
+}
+
 bool migrate_channel_requires_tls_upgrade(QIOChannel *ioc)
 {
     if (!migrate_tls()) {
diff --git a/migration/trace-events b/migration/trace-events
index 9448b5cedf..09dd342d37 100644
--- a/migration/trace-events
+++ b/migration/trace-events
@@ -328,6 +328,9 @@ migration_socket_outgoing_error(const char *err) "error=%s"
 migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_main_start(const char *hostname) "hostname=%s"
 migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_main_error(const char *err) "err=%s"
 migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_main_complete(void) ""
+migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_start(const char *hostname, const char *name) "hostname=%s, name=%s"
+migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_error(const char *name, const char *err) "name=%s, err=%s"
+migration_tls_outgoing_handshake_complete(const char *name) "name=%s"
 migration_tls_incoming_handshake_start(void) ""
 migration_tls_incoming_handshake_error(const char *err) "err=%s"
 migration_tls_incoming_handshake_complete(void) ""
