diff --git a/bsd-user/main.c b/bsd-user/main.c
index b2f6a9be2f..fdb160bed0 100644
--- a/bsd-user/main.c
+++ b/bsd-user/main.c
@@ -629,7 +629,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     if (gdbstub) {
         gdbserver_start(gdbstub, &error_fatal);
-        gdb_handlesig(cpu, 0, NULL, NULL, 0);
     }
     cpu_loop(env);
     /* never exits */
diff --git a/gdbstub/user.c b/gdbstub/user.c
index 8225b70280..3730f32c41 100644
--- a/gdbstub/user.c
+++ b/gdbstub/user.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "gdbstub/user.h"
 #include "gdbstub/enums.h"
 #include "hw/core/cpu.h"
+#include "user/signal.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 #include "internals.h"
 
@@ -393,32 +394,122 @@ static int gdbserver_open_port(int port, Error **errp)
     return fd;
 }
 
-bool gdbserver_start(const char *port_or_path, Error **errp)
+static bool gdbserver_accept(int port, int gdb_fd, const char *path)
 {
-    int port = g_ascii_strtoull(port_or_path, NULL, 10);
+    bool ret;
+
+    if (port > 0) {
+        ret = gdb_accept_tcp(gdb_fd);
+    } else {
+        ret = gdb_accept_socket(gdb_fd);
+        if (ret) {
+            gdbserver_user_state.socket_path = g_strdup(path);
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!ret) {
+        close(gdb_fd);
+    }
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+struct {
+    int port;
     int gdb_fd;
+    char *path;
+} gdbserver_args;
+
+static void do_gdb_handlesig(CPUState *cs, run_on_cpu_data arg)
+{
+    int sig;
+
+    sig = target_to_host_signal(gdb_handlesig(cs, 0, NULL, NULL, 0));
+    if (sig >= 1 && sig < NSIG) {
+        qemu_kill_thread(gdb_get_cpu_index(cs), sig);
+    }
+}
+
+static void *gdbserver_accept_thread(void *arg)
+{
+    if (gdbserver_accept(gdbserver_args.port, gdbserver_args.gdb_fd,
+                         gdbserver_args.path)) {
+        CPUState *cs = first_cpu;
+
+        async_safe_run_on_cpu(cs, do_gdb_handlesig, RUN_ON_CPU_NULL);
+        qemu_kill_thread(gdb_get_cpu_index(cs), host_interrupt_signal);
+    }
+
+    g_free(gdbserver_args.path);
+    gdbserver_args.path = NULL;
+
+    return NULL;
+}
 
+#define USAGE "\nUsage: -g {port|path}[,suspend={y|n}]"
+
+bool gdbserver_start(const char *args, Error **errp)
+{
+    g_auto(GStrv) argv = g_strsplit(args, ",", 0);
+    const char *port_or_path = NULL;
+    bool suspend = true;
+    int gdb_fd, port;
+    GStrv arg;
+
+    for (arg = argv; *arg; arg++) {
+        g_auto(GStrv) tokens = g_strsplit(*arg, "=", 2);
+
+        if (g_strcmp0(tokens[0], "suspend") == 0) {
+            if (tokens[1] == NULL) {
+                error_setg(errp,
+                           "gdbstub: missing \"suspend\" option value" USAGE);
+                return false;
+            } else if (!qapi_bool_parse(tokens[0], tokens[1],
+                                        &suspend, errp)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        } else {
+            if (port_or_path) {
+                error_setg(errp, "gdbstub: unknown option \"%s\"" USAGE, *arg);
+                return false;
+            }
+            port_or_path = *arg;
+        }
+    }
+    if (!port_or_path) {
+        error_setg(errp, "gdbstub: port or path not specified" USAGE);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    port = g_ascii_strtoull(port_or_path, NULL, 10);
     if (port > 0) {
         gdb_fd = gdbserver_open_port(port, errp);
     } else {
         gdb_fd = gdbserver_open_socket(port_or_path, errp);
     }
-
     if (gdb_fd < 0) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (port > 0 && gdb_accept_tcp(gdb_fd)) {
-        return true;
-    } else if (gdb_accept_socket(gdb_fd)) {
-        gdbserver_user_state.socket_path = g_strdup(port_or_path);
+    if (suspend) {
+        if (gdbserver_accept(port, gdb_fd, port_or_path)) {
+            gdb_handlesig(first_cpu, 0, NULL, NULL, 0);
+            return true;
+        } else {
+            error_setg(errp, "gdbstub: failed to accept connection");
+            return false;
+        }
+    } else {
+        QemuThread thread;
+
+        gdbserver_args.port = port;
+        gdbserver_args.gdb_fd = gdb_fd;
+        gdbserver_args.path = g_strdup(port_or_path);
+        qemu_thread_create(&thread, "gdb-accept",
+                           &gdbserver_accept_thread, NULL,
+                           QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
         return true;
     }
-
-    /* gone wrong */
-    close(gdb_fd);
-    error_setg(errp, "gdbstub: failed to accept connection");
-    return false;
 }
 
 void gdbserver_fork_start(void)
diff --git a/linux-user/main.c b/linux-user/main.c
index 7198fa0986..5c74c52cc5 100644
--- a/linux-user/main.c
+++ b/linux-user/main.c
@@ -1024,7 +1024,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     if (gdbstub) {
         gdbserver_start(gdbstub, &error_fatal);
-        gdb_handlesig(cpu, 0, NULL, NULL, 0);
     }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SEMIHOSTING
