diff --git a/kombu/transport/pyredis.py b/kombu/transport/pyredis.py
index 1f155a0a..a450ee53 100644
--- a/kombu/transport/pyredis.py
+++ b/kombu/transport/pyredis.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ Redis transport.
 :license: BSD, see LICENSE for more details.
 
 """
-from Queue import Empty
+from threading import Condition, Event, Lock, Thread
+from Queue import Empty, Queue as _Queue
 
 from anyjson import serialize, deserialize
 from redis import Redis
@@ -20,6 +21,86 @@ DEFAULT_PORT = 6379
 DEFAULT_DB = 0
 
 
+class ChannelPoller(Thread):
+
+    #: The method used to poll for new messages.
+    drain_events = None
+
+    #: Queue to put inbound messages onto.
+    inbound = None
+
+    #: Condition primitive used to notify poll requests.
+    poll_request = None
+
+    #: Event set when the thread should shut down.
+    shutdown = None
+
+    def __init__(self, drain_events):
+        self.drain_events = drain_events
+        self.inbound = _Queue()
+        self.mutex = Lock()
+        self.poll_request = Condition(self.mutex)
+        self.shutdown = Event()
+        Thread.__init__(self)
+        self.setDaemon(False)
+
+    def run(self):
+        inbound = self.inbound
+        drain_events = self.drain_events
+        poll_request = self.poll_request
+
+        while 1:
+            if self.shutdown.isSet():
+                break
+
+            try:
+                item = drain_events(timeout=1)
+            except Empty:
+                pass
+            else:
+                self.inbound.put_nowait(item)
+
+            if self.shutdown.isSet():
+                break
+
+            # Wait for next poll request
+            #
+            # Timeout needs to be short here, otherwise it will block
+            # shutdown.  This means that polling will continue even when
+            # there are no actual calls to `poll`.  However, this doesn't
+            # cause any problems for our current use (especially with
+            # the active QoS manager).
+            poll_request.acquire()
+            try:
+                poll_request.wait(1)
+            finally:
+                poll_request.release()
+
+    def poll(self):
+        # start thread on demand.
+        self.ensure_started()
+
+        # notify the thread that a poll request has been initiated.
+        self.poll_request.acquire()
+        try:
+            self.poll_request.notify()
+        finally:
+            self.poll_request.release()
+
+        # the thread should start to poll now, so just wait
+        # for it to put a message onto the inbound queue.
+        return self.inbound.get(timeout=0.3)
+
+    def ensure_started(self):
+        if not self.isAlive():
+            self.start()
+
+    def close(self):
+        if self.isAlive():
+            self.shutdown.set()
+            self.join()
+
+
 class Channel(virtual.Channel):
     _client = None
     supports_fanout = True
@@ -27,6 +108,15 @@ class Channel(virtual.Channel):
     keyprefix_queue = "_kombu.binding.%s"
     sep = '\x06\x16'
 
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super_ = super(Channel, self)
+        super_.__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        self._poller = ChannelPoller(super_.drain_events)
+
+    def drain_events(self, timeout=None):
+        return self._poller.poll()
+
     def _queue_bind(self, exchange, routing_key, pattern, queue):
         self.client.sadd(self.keyprefix_queue % (exchange, ),
                          self.sep.join([routing_key or "",
@@ -65,6 +155,7 @@ class Channel(virtual.Channel):
         return size
 
     def close(self):
+        self._poller.close()
         super(Channel, self).close()
         try:
             self.client.bgsave()