diff --git a/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/Internal/IOQueue.cs b/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/Internal/IOQueue.cs
index b187ad7e30..7a6da45db8 100644
--- a/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/Internal/IOQueue.cs
+++ b/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/Internal/IOQueue.cs
@@ -10,23 +10,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.Internal
 {
     public class IOQueue : PipeScheduler, IThreadPoolWorkItem
     {
-        private readonly object _workSync = new object();
         private readonly ConcurrentQueue<Work> _workItems = new ConcurrentQueue<Work>();
-        private bool _doingWork;
+        private int _doingWork;
 
         public override void Schedule(Action<object> action, object state)
         {
-            var work = new Work(action, state);
+            _workItems.Enqueue(new Work(action, state));
 
-            _workItems.Enqueue(work);
-
-            lock (_workSync)
+            // Set working if it wasn't (via atomic Interlocked).
+            if (Interlocked.CompareExchange(ref _doingWork, 1, 0) == 0)
             {
-                if (!_doingWork)
-                {
-                    System.Threading.ThreadPool.UnsafeQueueUserWorkItem(this, preferLocal: false);
-                    _doingWork = true;
-                }
+                // Wasn't working, schedule.
+                System.Threading.ThreadPool.UnsafeQueueUserWorkItem(this, preferLocal: false);
             }
         }
 
@@ -39,14 +34,31 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.Internal
                     item.Callback(item.State);
                 }
 
-                lock (_workSync)
+                // All work done.
+
+                // Set _doingWork (0 == false) prior to checking IsEmpty to catch any missed work in interim.
+                // This doesn't need to be volatile due to the following barrier (i.e. it is volatile).
+                _doingWork = 0;
+
+                // Ensure _doingWork is written before IsEmpty is read.
+                // As they are two different memory locations, we insert a barrier to guarantee ordering.
+                Thread.MemoryBarrier();
+
+                // Check if there is work to do
+                if (_workItems.IsEmpty)
                 {
-                    if (_workItems.IsEmpty)
-                    {
-                        _doingWork = false;
-                        return;
-                    }
+                    // Nothing to do, exit.
+                    break;
                 }
+
+                // Is work, can we set it as active again (via atomic Interlocked), prior to scheduling?
+                if (Interlocked.Exchange(ref _doingWork, 1) == 1)
+                {
+                    // Execute has been rescheduled already, exit.
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                // Is work, wasn't already scheduled so continue loop.
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/SocketTransport.cs b/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/SocketTransport.cs
index 82599f20b7..3e40d1ce8b 100644
--- a/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/SocketTransport.cs
+++ b/src/Servers/Kestrel/Transport.Sockets/src/SocketTransport.cs
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets
 {
     internal sealed class SocketTransport : ITransport
     {
-        private static readonly PipeScheduler[] ThreadPoolSchedulerArray = new PipeScheduler[] { PipeScheduler.ThreadPool };
-
         private readonly MemoryPool<byte> _memoryPool;
         private readonly IEndPointInformation _endPointInformation;
         private readonly IConnectionDispatcher _dispatcher;
@@ -65,8 +63,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets
             }
             else
             {
-                _numSchedulers = ThreadPoolSchedulerArray.Length;
-                _schedulers = ThreadPoolSchedulerArray;
+                var directScheduler = new PipeScheduler[] { PipeScheduler.ThreadPool };
+                _numSchedulers = directScheduler.Length;
+                _schedulers = directScheduler;
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Servers/Kestrel/perf/Kestrel.Performance/SchedulerBenchmark.cs b/src/Servers/Kestrel/perf/Kestrel.Performance/SchedulerBenchmark.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df109a172e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Servers/Kestrel/perf/Kestrel.Performance/SchedulerBenchmark.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using System;
+using System.IO.Pipelines;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using BenchmarkDotNet.Attributes;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Transport.Sockets.Internal;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Performance
+{
+    public class SchedulerBenchmark
+    {
+        private const int InnerLoopCount = 1024;
+        private const int OuterLoopCount = 64;
+        private const int OperationsPerInvoke = InnerLoopCount * OuterLoopCount;
+
+        private readonly static int IOQueueCount = Math.Min(Environment.ProcessorCount, 16);
+
+        private PipeScheduler[] _ioQueueSchedulers;
+        private PipeScheduler[] _threadPoolSchedulers;
+        private PipeScheduler[] _inlineSchedulers;
+
+        private SemaphoreSlim _semaphore = new SemaphoreSlim(0);
+        private int _totalToReport;
+        private PaddedInteger[] _counters = new PaddedInteger[OuterLoopCount];
+
+        private Func<int, ParallelLoopState, PipeScheduler[], PipeScheduler[]> _parallelAction;
+        private Action<object> _action;
+
+        [GlobalSetup]
+        public void Setup()
+        {
+            _parallelAction = ParallelBody;
+            _action = new Action<object>(ScheduledAction);
+
+            _inlineSchedulers = new PipeScheduler[IOQueueCount];
+            for (var i = 0; i < _inlineSchedulers.Length; i++)
+            {
+                _inlineSchedulers[i] = PipeScheduler.Inline;
+            }
+
+            _threadPoolSchedulers = new PipeScheduler[IOQueueCount];
+            for (var i = 0; i < _threadPoolSchedulers.Length; i++)
+            {
+                _threadPoolSchedulers[i] = PipeScheduler.ThreadPool;
+            }
+
+            _ioQueueSchedulers = new PipeScheduler[IOQueueCount];
+            for (var i = 0; i < _ioQueueSchedulers.Length; i++)
+            {
+                _ioQueueSchedulers[i] = new IOQueue();
+            }
+        }
+
+        [IterationSetup]
+        public void IterationSetup()
+        {
+            _totalToReport = OuterLoopCount;
+
+            for (var i = 0; i < _counters.Length; i++)
+            {
+                _counters[i].Remaining = InnerLoopCount;
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Benchmark(OperationsPerInvoke = OperationsPerInvoke, Baseline = true)]
+        public void ThreadPoolScheduler() => Schedule(_threadPoolSchedulers);
+
+        [Benchmark(OperationsPerInvoke = OperationsPerInvoke)]
+        public void IOQueueScheduler() => Schedule(_ioQueueSchedulers);
+
+        [Benchmark(OperationsPerInvoke = OperationsPerInvoke)]
+        public void InlineScheduler() => Schedule(_inlineSchedulers);
+
+        private void Schedule(PipeScheduler[] schedulers)
+        {
+            Parallel.For(0, OuterLoopCount, () => schedulers, _parallelAction, (s) => { });
+
+            while (_totalToReport > 0)
+            {
+                _semaphore.Wait();
+                _totalToReport--;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void ScheduledAction(object o)
+        {
+            var counter = (int)o;
+            var result = Interlocked.Decrement(ref _counters[counter].Remaining);
+            if (result == 0)
+            {
+                _semaphore.Release();
+            }
+        }
+
+        private PipeScheduler[] ParallelBody(int i, ParallelLoopState state, PipeScheduler[] schedulers)
+        {
+            PipeScheduler pipeScheduler = schedulers[i % schedulers.Length];
+            object counter = i;
+            for (var t = 0; t < InnerLoopCount; t++)
+            {
+                pipeScheduler.Schedule(_action, counter);
+            }
+
+            return schedulers;
+        }
+
+        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit, Size = 128)]
+        private struct PaddedInteger
+        {
+            // Padded to avoid false sharing
+            [FieldOffset(64)]
+            public int Remaining;
+        }
+    }
+}