diff --git a/circus/arbiter.py b/circus/arbiter.py
index f76dff7a3..d507e6628 100644
--- a/circus/arbiter.py
+++ b/circus/arbiter.py
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ def running(self):
     def _init_context(self, context):
         self.context = context or zmq.Context.instance()
         if self.loop is None:
-            self.loop = ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+            self.loop = ioloop.IOLoop.current()
         self.ctrl = Controller(self.endpoint, self.multicast_endpoint,
                                self.context, self.loop, self, self.check_delay,
                                self.endpoint_owner)
diff --git a/circus/client.py b/circus/client.py
index e95d39243..490742eb7 100644
--- a/circus/client.py
+++ b/circus/client.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import zmq.utils.jsonapi as json
 from zmq.eventloop.zmqstream import ZMQStream
 import tornado
+from tornado import concurrent
 
 from circus.exc import CallError
 from circus.util import DEFAULT_ENDPOINT_DEALER, get_connection, to_bytes
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ def __init__(self, context=None, endpoint=DEFAULT_ENDPOINT_DEALER,
         get_connection(self.socket, endpoint, ssh_server, ssh_keyfile)
         self._timeout = timeout
         self.timeout = timeout * 1000
-        self.stream = ZMQStream(self.socket, tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance())
+        self.stream = ZMQStream(self.socket, tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current())
 
     def _init_context(self, context):
         self.context = context or zmq.Context.instance()
@@ -65,12 +66,20 @@ def call(self, cmd):
             raise CallError(str(e))
 
         try:
-            yield tornado.gen.Task(self.stream.send, cmd)
+            future = concurrent.Future()
+
+            def cb(msg, status):
+                future.set_result(msg)
+            self.stream.send(cmd, callback=cb)
+            yield future
         except zmq.ZMQError as e:
             raise CallError(str(e))
 
         while True:
-            messages = yield tornado.gen.Task(self.stream.on_recv)
+            future = concurrent.Future()
+            self.stream.on_recv(future.set_result)
+            messages = yield future
+
             for message in messages:
                 try:
                     res = json.loads(message)
diff --git a/circus/controller.py b/circus/controller.py
index ad7b5e7b9..c76d62f81 100644
--- a/circus/controller.py
+++ b/circus/controller.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def start(self):
             # so with no period callback to manage_watchers
             # is probably "unit tests only"
             self.caller = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.manage_watchers,
-                                                  self.check_delay, self.loop)
+                                                  self.check_delay)
             self.caller.start()
         self.started = True
 
diff --git a/circus/green/arbiter.py b/circus/green/arbiter.py
index 966cde45e..2bb477de4 100644
--- a/circus/green/arbiter.py
+++ b/circus/green/arbiter.py
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@
 class Arbiter(_Arbiter):
     def _init_context(self, context):
         self.context = context or Context.instance()
-        self.loop = ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        self.loop = ioloop.IOLoop.current()
         self.ctrl = Controller(self.endpoint, self.multicast_endpoint,
                                self.context, self.loop, self, self.check_delay)
diff --git a/circus/green/controller.py b/circus/green/controller.py
index c5599269d..73a9c021f 100644
--- a/circus/green/controller.py
+++ b/circus/green/controller.py
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ def _init_stream(self):
         self.stream.on_recv(self.handle_message)
 
     def start(self):
+        self.loop.make_current()
         self.initialize()
         self.caller = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.arbiter.manage_watchers,
-                                              self.check_delay, self.loop)
+                                              self.check_delay)
         self.caller.start()
diff --git a/circus/plugins/__init__.py b/circus/plugins/__init__.py
index e5c7d2467..4c0fa98f7 100644
--- a/circus/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/circus/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ def initialize(self):
 
     @debuglog
     def start(self):
+        self.loop.make_current()
         if not self.active:
             raise ValueError('Will not start an inactive plugin')
         self.handle_init()
diff --git a/circus/plugins/command_reloader.py b/circus/plugins/command_reloader.py
index 7057668bd..2522ba932 100644
--- a/circus/plugins/command_reloader.py
+++ b/circus/plugins/command_reloader.py
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ def look_after(self):
 
     def handle_init(self):
         self.period = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.look_after,
-                                              self.loop_rate * 1000,
-                                              self.loop)
+                                              self.loop_rate * 1000)
         self.period.start()
 
     def handle_stop(self):
diff --git a/circus/plugins/statsd.py b/circus/plugins/statsd.py
index 777eeef21..11cd5eb1f 100644
--- a/circus/plugins/statsd.py
+++ b/circus/plugins/statsd.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **config):
 
     def handle_init(self):
         self.period = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.look_after,
-                                              self.loop_rate * 1000, self.loop)
+                                              self.loop_rate * 1000)
         self.period.start()
 
     def handle_stop(self):
diff --git a/circus/plugins/watchdog.py b/circus/plugins/watchdog.py
index ad30c030f..3f9701b1f 100644
--- a/circus/plugins/watchdog.py
+++ b/circus/plugins/watchdog.py
@@ -79,8 +79,7 @@ def handle_init(self):
         - create the listening UDP socket
         """
         self.period = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.look_after,
-                                              self.loop_rate * 1000,
-                                              self.loop)
+                                              self.loop_rate * 1000)
         self.period.start()
         self._bind_socket()
 
diff --git a/circus/stats/collector.py b/circus/stats/collector.py
index 4784c9e83..af2165214 100644
--- a/circus/stats/collector.py
+++ b/circus/stats/collector.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class BaseStatsCollector(ioloop.PeriodicCallback):
 
     def __init__(self, streamer, name, callback_time=1., io_loop=None):
         ioloop.PeriodicCallback.__init__(self, self._callback,
-                                         callback_time * 1000, io_loop)
+                                         callback_time * 1000)
         self.streamer = streamer
         self.name = name
 
@@ -110,8 +110,7 @@ def __init__(self, streamer, name, callback_time=1., io_loop=None):
                                                    callback_time, io_loop)
         self._rstats = defaultdict(int)
         self.sockets = [sock for sock, address, fd in self.streamer.sockets]
-        self._p = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self._select, _LOOP_RES,
-                                          io_loop=io_loop)
+        self._p = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self._select, _LOOP_RES)
 
     def start(self):
         self._p.start()
diff --git a/circus/stats/streamer.py b/circus/stats/streamer.py
index 569a6c7ed..e5f96a945 100644
--- a/circus/stats/streamer.py
+++ b/circus/stats/streamer.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def __init__(self, endpoint, pubsub_endoint, stats_endpoint,
         self.sub_socket = self.ctx.socket(zmq.SUB)
         self.sub_socket.setsockopt(zmq.SUBSCRIBE, self.topic)
         self.sub_socket.connect(self.pubsub_endpoint)
-        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.current()
         self.substream = zmqstream.ZMQStream(self.sub_socket, self.loop)
         self.substream.on_recv(self.handle_recv)
         self.client = CircusClient(context=self.ctx, endpoint=endpoint,
diff --git a/circus/stream/redirector.py b/circus/stream/redirector.py
index 39ef99b41..312153410 100644
--- a/circus/stream/redirector.py
+++ b/circus/stream/redirector.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def __init__(self, stdout_redirect, stderr_redirect, buffer=1024,
         self._active = {}
         self.redirect = {'stdout': stdout_redirect, 'stderr': stderr_redirect}
         self.buffer = buffer
-        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.current()
 
     def _start_one(self, fd, stream_name, process, pipe):
         if fd not in self._active:
diff --git a/circus/tests/support.py b/circus/tests/support.py
index bfd22eef5..c2e77f31f 100644
--- a/circus/tests/support.py
+++ b/circus/tests/support.py
@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@
 import multiprocessing
 import socket
 import sysconfig
+import concurrent
 
 from unittest import skip, skipIf, TestCase, TestSuite, findTestCases  # noqa: F401
 
 from tornado.testing import AsyncTestCase
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 import tornado
 
 from circus import get_arbiter
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ def __init__(self, name):
 
 def get_ioloop():
     from tornado import ioloop
-    return ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+    return ioloop.IOLoop.current()
 
 
 def get_available_port():
@@ -473,7 +474,7 @@ def stop(self):
         pass
 
 
-class MagicMockFuture(mock.MagicMock, tornado.concurrent.Future):
+class MagicMockFuture(mock.MagicMock, concurrent.futures.Future):
 
     def cancel(self):
         return False
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_arbiter.py b/circus/tests/test_arbiter.py
index d4c73a5c6..3198d9719 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_arbiter.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_arbiter.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from tempfile import mkstemp
 from time import time
 import zmq.utils.jsonapi as json
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 from circus.arbiter import Arbiter
@@ -500,6 +500,7 @@ def test_plugins(self):
                                  loop=get_ioloop())
 
         def incr_processes(cli):
+            # return a coroutine if cli is Async
             return cli.send_message('incr', name='test')
 
         # wait for the plugin to be started
@@ -511,7 +512,7 @@ def incr_processes(cli):
         res = yield cli.send_message('list', name='test')
         self.assertEqual(len(res.get('pids')), 1)
 
-        incr_processes(cli)
+        yield incr_processes(cli)
         res = yield cli.send_message('list', name='test')
         self.assertEqual(len(res.get('pids')), 2)
         # wait for the plugin to receive the signal
@@ -519,7 +520,7 @@ def incr_processes(cli):
         self.assertTrue(res)
         truncate_file(datafile)
 
-        incr_processes(cli)
+        yield incr_processes(cli)
         res = yield cli.send_message('list', name='test')
         self.assertEqual(len(res.get('pids')), 3)
 
@@ -595,8 +596,7 @@ def _test_start_watchers_warmup_delay(self):
         @tornado.gen.coroutine
         def _sleep(duration):
             called.append(duration)
-            loop = get_ioloop()
-            yield tornado.gen.Task(loop.add_timeout, time() + duration)
+            yield tornado.gen.sleep(duration)
 
         watcher_mod.tornado_sleep = _sleep
 
@@ -633,6 +633,21 @@ def callback(*args):
 
         self.assertEqual(callee.call_count, 1)
 
+    def test_start_with_callback_delay(self):
+        controller = "tcp://127.0.0.1:%d" % get_available_port()
+        sub = "tcp://127.0.0.1:%d" % get_available_port()
+        arbiter = Arbiter([], controller, sub, check_delay=1)
+
+        callee = mock.MagicMock()
+
+        def callback(*args):
+            callee()
+            arbiter.stop()
+
+        arbiter.start(cb=callback)
+
+        self.assertEqual(callee.call_count, 1)
+
     @tornado.testing.gen_test
     def test_start_with_callback_and_given_loop(self):
         controller = "tcp://127.0.0.1:%d" % get_available_port()
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_circusctl.py b/circus/tests/test_circusctl.py
index 90289e23d..b95e7b3b7 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_circusctl.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_circusctl.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import subprocess
 import shlex
-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 from multiprocessing import Process, Queue
 
 from tornado.testing import gen_test
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_config.py b/circus/tests/test_config.py
index be9a2b6cb..8304c231c 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import signal
-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from circus import logger
 from circus.arbiter import Arbiter
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_controller.py b/circus/tests/test_controller.py
index b988fb6ea..bfea57cfc 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_controller.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_controller.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from circus import logger
 import circus.controller
 
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 
 
 class TestController(TestCase):
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_plugin_command_reloader.py b/circus/tests/test_plugin_command_reloader.py
index dcbe1c678..5a8433d0c 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_plugin_command_reloader.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_plugin_command_reloader.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from circus.plugins.command_reloader import CommandReloader
 from circus.tests.support import TestCircus, EasyTestSuite
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_plugin_flapping.py b/circus/tests/test_plugin_flapping.py
index 97925e84d..db7a9dad6 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_plugin_flapping.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_plugin_flapping.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from circus.tests.support import TestCircus, EasyTestSuite
 from circus.plugins.flapping import Flapping
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_reloadconfig.py b/circus/tests/test_reloadconfig.py
index 4a57feaca..9912e8d3b 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_reloadconfig.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_reloadconfig.py
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ def _tear_down_arbiter(self, a):
         a.sockets.close_all()
 
     def get_new_ioloop(self):
-        return tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        return tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current()
 
     def _load_base_arbiter(self, name='reload_base'):
-        loop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        loop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current()
         a = Arbiter.load_from_config(_CONF[name], loop=loop)
         a.evpub_socket = FakeSocket()
         # initialize watchers
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_sockets.py b/circus/tests/test_sockets.py
index e5df45700..37142afde 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_sockets.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_sockets.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     import IN
 except ImportError:
     pass
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 import fcntl
 
 from circus.tests.support import TestCase, skipIf, EasyTestSuite, IS_WINDOWS
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_stats_collector.py b/circus/tests/test_stats_collector.py
index ece51f705..eca60eeb7 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_stats_collector.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_stats_collector.py
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ def __init__(this, streamer):
                 this.daemon = True
 
             def run(self):
+                self.loop.make_current()
                 collector = collector_class(
                     self.streamer, 'sockets', callback_time=0.1,
                     io_loop=self.loop)
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_stats_publisher.py b/circus/tests/test_stats_publisher.py
index 2dd79b349..df25cd763 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_stats_publisher.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_stats_publisher.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 
 import zmq
 import zmq.utils.jsonapi as json
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_stats_streamer.py b/circus/tests/test_stats_streamer.py
index 947cf5f39..f0c0a40d2 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_stats_streamer.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_stats_streamer.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import tempfile
 
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 
 from circus.tests.support import TestCircus, EasyTestSuite
 from circus.stats.streamer import StatsStreamer
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_util.py b/circus/tests/test_util.py
index e74f48e13..6235cb37d 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_util.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 import psutil
 from psutil import Popen
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 
 from circus.tests.support import (TestCase, EasyTestSuite, skipIf,
                                   IS_WINDOWS, SLEEP)
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_validate_option.py b/circus/tests/test_validate_option.py
index 48f79a644..b7eef3053 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_validate_option.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_validate_option.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from circus.tests.support import TestCase, EasyTestSuite, IS_WINDOWS
-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from circus.commands.util import validate_option
 from circus.exc import MessageError
diff --git a/circus/tests/test_watcher.py b/circus/tests/test_watcher.py
index 6c9222c78..52b4e749a 100644
--- a/circus/tests/test_watcher.py
+++ b/circus/tests/test_watcher.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
         captured_output = None  # NOQA
 
 import tornado
-import mock
+from unittest import mock
 
 from circus import logger
 from circus.process import RUNNING, UNEXISTING
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ def __init__(self, stream=False, loop=None, **kw):
         self.watcher = None
         self.kw = kw
         if loop is None:
-            self.loop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+            self.loop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current()
         else:
             self.loop = loop
 
diff --git a/circus/util.py b/circus/util.py
index 29205ff7d..8b59125b0 100644
--- a/circus/util.py
+++ b/circus/util.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
     fcntl = None
     grp = None
     pwd = None
-from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop
 from tornado import gen
 from tornado import concurrent
 
@@ -1033,7 +1032,7 @@ def wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
             finally:
                 if isinstance(resp, concurrent.Future):
                     cb = functools.partial(_synchronized_cb, arbiter)
-                    resp.add_done_callback(cb)
+                    concurrent.future_add_done_callback(resp, cb)
                 else:
                     if arbiter is not None:
                         arbiter._exclusive_running_command = None
@@ -1048,7 +1047,7 @@ def tornado_sleep(duration):
     To use with a gen.coroutines decorated function
     Thanks to http://stackoverflow.com/a/11135204/433050
     """
-    return gen.Task(IOLoop.instance().add_timeout, time.time() + duration)
+    return gen.sleep(duration)
 
 
 class TransformableFuture(concurrent.Future):
diff --git a/circus/watcher.py b/circus/watcher.py
index 3a843cac2..38d03b07b 100644
--- a/circus/watcher.py
+++ b/circus/watcher.py
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ def __init__(self, name, cmd, args=None, numprocesses=1, warmup_delay=0.,
         self.close_child_stdout = close_child_stdout
         self.close_child_stderr = close_child_stderr
         self.use_papa = use_papa and papa is not None
-        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        self.loop = loop or ioloop.IOLoop.current()
 
         if singleton and self.numprocesses not in (0, 1):
             raise ValueError("Cannot have %d processes with a singleton "
diff --git a/docs/source/changelog.rst b/docs/source/changelog.rst
index 8aa15f09c..74971b697 100644
--- a/docs/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/source/changelog.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Changelog history
 unreleased
 ----------
 
+- Drop support for tornado<5 and start using asyncio eventl loop - #1129
 - Fix mem_info readings to be more reliable - #1128
 - Drop support for Python 2.7 & 3.4 - #1126
 - Speedup reloadconfig for large number of sockets - #1121
diff --git a/examples/test.sh b/examples/test.sh
index fae14ff24..61b584faa 100755
--- a/examples/test.sh
+++ b/examples/test.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-;sleep 1
+sleep 1
+echo "@@@"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9a784defb..db7319816 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     raise SystemExit("Circus requires Python 3.5 or higher.")
 
 
-install_requires = ['psutil', 'pyzmq>=17.0', 'tornado>=3.0,<5.0']
+install_requires = ['psutil', 'pyzmq>=17.0', 'tornado>=5.0.2']
 
 try:
     import argparse     # NOQA
@@ -36,6 +36,20 @@
           "License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License"
       ],
       install_requires=install_requires,
+      extras_require={
+        'test': [
+            'nose',
+            'nose-cov',
+            'coverage',
+            'mock',
+            'circus-web',
+            'gevent',
+            'papa',
+            'PyYAML',
+            'pyzmq>=17.0',
+            'flake8==2.1.0',
+        ],
+      },
       test_suite='circus.tests',
       entry_points="""
       [console_scripts]
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 900c9c3fb..7ec5b51ab 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ deps =
     gevent
     papa
     PyYAML
-    tornado>=3.0,<5.0
+    tornado>=5.0.2
     pyzmq>=17.0
 
 setenv =