diff --git a/.github/workflows/sqlx.yml b/.github/workflows/sqlx.yml
index dfa5f20d89..b2f81b75ad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sqlx.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sqlx.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     strategy:
       matrix:
+        # Note: because `async-std` is deprecated, we only check it in a single job to save CI time.
         runtime: [ async-std, async-global-executor, smol, tokio ]
         tls: [ native-tls, rustls, none ]
     timeout-minutes: 30
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 41fdb5cdb5..61d2e7d7b6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3543,6 +3543,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-global-executor 3.1.0",
  "async-io",
  "async-std",
+ "async-task",
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "bigdecimal",
  "bit-vec",
diff --git a/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml b/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
index 9891e80ee0..d69048e698 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -55,9 +55,11 @@ features = [
 [features]
 default = ["postgres", "sqlite", "mysql", "native-tls", "completions", "sqlx-toml"]
 
+# TLS options
 rustls = ["sqlx/tls-rustls"]
 native-tls = ["sqlx/tls-native-tls"]
 
+# databases
 mysql = ["sqlx/mysql"]
 postgres = ["sqlx/postgres"]
 sqlite = ["sqlx/sqlite", "_sqlite"]
diff --git a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
index 5d547f5f37..58c5b67e05 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,11 +20,13 @@ any = []
 json = ["serde", "serde_json"]
 
 # for conditional compilation
-_rt-async-global-executor = ["async-global-executor", "_rt-async-io"]
+_rt-async-global-executor = ["async-global-executor", "_rt-async-io", "_rt-async-task"]
 _rt-async-io = ["async-io", "async-fs"] # see note at async-fs declaration
 _rt-async-std = ["async-std", "_rt-async-io"]
-_rt-smol = ["smol", "_rt-async-io"]
+_rt-async-task = ["async-task"]
+_rt-smol = ["smol", "_rt-async-io", "_rt-async-task"]
 _rt-tokio = ["tokio", "tokio-stream"]
+
 _tls-native-tls = ["native-tls"]
 _tls-rustls-aws-lc-rs = ["_tls-rustls", "rustls/aws-lc-rs", "webpki-roots"]
 _tls-rustls-ring-webpki = ["_tls-rustls", "rustls/ring", "webpki-roots"]
@@ -68,6 +70,8 @@ mac_address = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 uuid = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 
 async-io = { version = "2.4.1", optional = true }
+async-task = { version = "4.7.1", optional = true }
+
 # work around bug in async-fs 2.0.0, which references futures-lite dependency wrongly, see https://github.com/launchbadge/sqlx/pull/3791#issuecomment-3043363281
 async-fs = { version = "2.1", optional = true }
 base64 = { version = "0.22.0", default-features = false, features = ["std"] }
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/mod.rs
index 4760c359af..0f9aae61b4 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/mod.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,14 @@
+use std::future::Future;
 use std::io;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::pin::Pin;
 use std::task::{ready, Context, Poll};
-use std::{
-    future::Future,
-    net::{Ipv4Addr, Ipv6Addr, SocketAddr, SocketAddrV4, SocketAddrV6, ToSocketAddrs},
-};
 
+pub use buffered::{BufferedSocket, WriteBuffer};
 use bytes::BufMut;
 use cfg_if::cfg_if;
 
-pub use buffered::{BufferedSocket, WriteBuffer};
-
-use crate::{io::ReadBuf, rt::spawn_blocking};
+use crate::io::ReadBuf;
 
 mod buffered;
 
@@ -146,10 +142,7 @@ where
 pub trait WithSocket {
     type Output;
 
-    fn with_socket<S: Socket>(
-        self,
-        socket: S,
-    ) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Self::Output> + Send;
+    fn with_socket<S: Socket>(self, socket: S) -> impl Future<Output = Self::Output> + Send;
 }
 
 pub struct SocketIntoBox;
@@ -193,98 +186,67 @@ pub async fn connect_tcp<Ws: WithSocket>(
     port: u16,
     with_socket: Ws,
 ) -> crate::Result<Ws::Output> {
-    // IPv6 addresses in URLs will be wrapped in brackets and the `url` crate doesn't trim those.
-    let host = host.trim_matches(&['[', ']'][..]);
-
-    let addresses = if let Ok(addr) = host.parse::<Ipv4Addr>() {
-        let addr = SocketAddrV4::new(addr, port);
-        vec![SocketAddr::V4(addr)].into_iter()
-    } else if let Ok(addr) = host.parse::<Ipv6Addr>() {
-        let addr = SocketAddrV6::new(addr, port, 0, 0);
-        vec![SocketAddr::V6(addr)].into_iter()
-    } else {
-        let host = host.to_string();
-        spawn_blocking(move || {
-            let addr = (host.as_str(), port);
-            ToSocketAddrs::to_socket_addrs(&addr)
-        })
-        .await?
-    };
-
-    let mut last_err = None;
-
-    // Loop through all the Socket Addresses that the hostname resolves to
-    for socket_addr in addresses {
-        match connect_tcp_address(socket_addr).await {
-            Ok(stream) => return Ok(with_socket.with_socket(stream).await),
-            Err(e) => last_err = Some(e),
-        }
+    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
+    if crate::rt::rt_tokio::available() {
+        return Ok(with_socket
+            .with_socket(tokio::net::TcpStream::connect((host, port)).await?)
+            .await);
     }
 
-    // If we reach this point, it means we failed to connect to any of the addresses.
-    // Return the last error we encountered, or a custom error if the hostname didn't resolve to any address.
-    Err(match last_err {
-        Some(err) => err,
-        None => io::Error::new(
-            io::ErrorKind::AddrNotAvailable,
-            "Hostname did not resolve to any addresses",
-        )
-        .into(),
-    })
-}
-
-async fn connect_tcp_address(socket_addr: SocketAddr) -> crate::Result<impl Socket> {
     cfg_if! {
-        if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")] {
-            if crate::rt::rt_tokio::available() {
-                use tokio::net::TcpStream;
-
-                let stream = TcpStream::connect(socket_addr).await?;
-                stream.set_nodelay(true)?;
-
-                Ok(stream)
-            } else {
-                crate::rt::missing_rt(socket_addr)
-            }
-        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-io")] {
-            use async_io::Async;
-            use std::net::TcpStream;
-
-            let stream = Async::<TcpStream>::connect(socket_addr).await?;
-            stream.get_ref().set_nodelay(true)?;
-
-            Ok(stream)
+        if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-io")] {
+            Ok(with_socket.with_socket(connect_tcp_async_io(host, port).await?).await)
         } else {
-            crate::rt::missing_rt(socket_addr);
-            #[allow(unreachable_code)]
-            Ok(())
+            crate::rt::missing_rt((host, port, with_socket))
         }
     }
 }
 
-// Work around `impl Socket`` and 'unability to specify test build cargo feature'.
-// `connect_tcp_address` compilation would fail without this impl with
-// 'cannot infer return type' error.
-impl Socket for () {
-    fn try_read(&mut self, _: &mut dyn ReadBuf) -> io::Result<usize> {
-        unreachable!()
-    }
+/// Open a TCP socket to `host` and `port`.
+///
+/// If `host` is a hostname, attempt to connect to each address it resolves to.
+///
+/// This implements the same behavior as [`tokio::net::TcpStream::connect()`].
+#[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-io")]
+async fn connect_tcp_async_io(host: &str, port: u16) -> crate::Result<impl Socket> {
+    use async_io::Async;
+    use std::net::{IpAddr, TcpStream, ToSocketAddrs};
 
-    fn try_write(&mut self, _: &[u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
-        unreachable!()
-    }
+    // IPv6 addresses in URLs will be wrapped in brackets and the `url` crate doesn't trim those.
+    let host = host.trim_matches(&['[', ']'][..]);
 
-    fn poll_read_ready(&mut self, _: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<io::Result<()>> {
-        unreachable!()
+    if let Ok(addr) = host.parse::<IpAddr>() {
+        return Ok(Async::<TcpStream>::connect((addr, port)).await?);
     }
 
-    fn poll_write_ready(&mut self, _: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<io::Result<()>> {
-        unreachable!()
-    }
+    let host = host.to_string();
+
+    let addresses = crate::rt::spawn_blocking(move || {
+        let addr = (host.as_str(), port);
+        ToSocketAddrs::to_socket_addrs(&addr)
+    })
+    .await?;
 
-    fn poll_shutdown(&mut self, _: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<io::Result<()>> {
-        unreachable!()
+    let mut last_err = None;
+
+    // Loop through all the Socket Addresses that the hostname resolves to
+    for socket_addr in addresses {
+        match Async::<TcpStream>::connect(socket_addr).await {
+            Ok(stream) => return Ok(stream),
+            Err(e) => last_err = Some(e),
+        }
     }
+
+    // If we reach this point, it means we failed to connect to any of the addresses.
+    // Return the last error we encountered, or a custom error if the hostname didn't resolve to any address.
+    Err(last_err
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| {
+            io::Error::new(
+                io::ErrorKind::AddrNotAvailable,
+                "Hostname did not resolve to any addresses",
+            )
+        })
+        .into())
 }
 
 /// Connect a Unix Domain Socket at the given path.
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/mod.rs
index 2d7c8e27e9..273a1bfcd9 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/rt/mod.rs
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@ use cfg_if::cfg_if;
 #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-io")]
 pub mod rt_async_io;
 
-#[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")]
-pub mod rt_async_global_executor;
-
-#[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")]
-pub mod rt_smol;
-
 #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
 pub mod rt_tokio;
 
@@ -23,14 +17,16 @@ pub mod rt_tokio;
 pub struct TimeoutError;
 
 pub enum JoinHandle<T> {
-    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")]
-    AsyncGlobalExecutor(rt_async_global_executor::JoinHandle<T>),
     #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")]
     AsyncStd(async_std::task::JoinHandle<T>),
-    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")]
-    Smol(rt_smol::JoinHandle<T>),
+
     #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
     Tokio(tokio::task::JoinHandle<T>),
+
+    // Implementation shared by `smol` and `async-global-executor`
+    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-task")]
+    AsyncTask(Option<async_task::Task<T>>),
+
     // `PhantomData<T>` requires `T: Unpin`
     _Phantom(PhantomData<fn() -> T>),
 }
@@ -41,7 +37,6 @@ pub async fn timeout<F: Future>(duration: Duration, f: F) -> Result<F::Output, T
 
     #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
     if rt_tokio::available() {
-        #[allow(clippy::needless_return)]
         return tokio::time::timeout(duration, f)
             .await
             .map_err(|_| TimeoutError);
@@ -84,15 +79,11 @@ where
 
     cfg_if! {
         if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")] {
-            JoinHandle::AsyncGlobalExecutor(rt_async_global_executor::JoinHandle {
-                task: Some(async_global_executor::spawn(fut)),
-            })
+            JoinHandle::AsyncTask(Some(async_global_executor::spawn(fut)))
+        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")] {
+            JoinHandle::AsyncTask(Some(smol::spawn(fut)))
         } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")] {
             JoinHandle::AsyncStd(async_std::task::spawn(fut))
-        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")] {
-            JoinHandle::Smol(rt_smol::JoinHandle {
-                task: Some(smol::spawn(fut)),
-            })
         } else {
             missing_rt(fut)
         }
@@ -112,15 +103,11 @@ where
 
     cfg_if! {
         if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")] {
-            JoinHandle::AsyncGlobalExecutor(rt_async_global_executor::JoinHandle {
-                task: Some(async_global_executor::spawn_blocking(f)),
-            })
+            JoinHandle::AsyncTask(Some(async_global_executor::spawn_blocking(f)))
+        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")] {
+            JoinHandle::AsyncTask(Some(smol::unblock(f)))
         } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")] {
             JoinHandle::AsyncStd(async_std::task::spawn_blocking(f))
-        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")] {
-            JoinHandle::Smol(rt_smol::JoinHandle {
-                task: Some(smol::unblock(f)),
-            })
         } else {
             missing_rt(f)
         }
@@ -133,17 +120,27 @@ pub async fn yield_now() {
         return tokio::task::yield_now().await;
     }
 
-    cfg_if! {
-        if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")] {
-            rt_async_global_executor::yield_now().await
-        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")] {
-            async_std::task::yield_now().await
-        } else if #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")] {
-            smol::future::yield_now().await
+    // `smol`, `async-global-executor`, and `async-std` all have the same implementation for this.
+    //
+    // By immediately signaling the waker and then returning `Pending`,
+    // this essentially just moves the task to the back of the runnable queue.
+    //
+    // There isn't any special integration with the runtime, so we can save code by rolling our own.
+    //
+    // (Tokio's implementation is nearly identical too,
+    //  but has additional integration with `tracing` which may be useful for debugging.)
+    let mut yielded = false;
+
+    std::future::poll_fn(|cx| {
+        if !yielded {
+            yielded = true;
+            cx.waker().wake_by_ref();
+            Poll::Pending
         } else {
-            missing_rt(())
+            Poll::Ready(())
         }
-    }
+    })
+    .await
 }
 
 #[track_caller]
@@ -169,7 +166,7 @@ pub const fn missing_rt<T>(_unused: T) -> ! {
         panic!("this functionality requires a Tokio context")
     }
 
-    panic!("one of the `runtime-async-global-executor`, `runtime-async-std`, `runtime-smol`, or `runtime-tokio` feature must be enabled")
+    panic!("one of the `runtime` features of SQLx must be enabled")
 }
 
 impl<T: Send + 'static> Future for JoinHandle<T> {
@@ -178,16 +175,20 @@ impl<T: Send + 'static> Future for JoinHandle<T> {
     #[track_caller]
     fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
         match &mut *self {
-            #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-global-executor")]
-            Self::AsyncGlobalExecutor(handle) => Pin::new(handle).poll(cx),
             #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")]
             Self::AsyncStd(handle) => Pin::new(handle).poll(cx),
-            #[cfg(feature = "_rt-smol")]
-            Self::Smol(handle) => Pin::new(handle).poll(cx),
+
+            #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-task")]
+            Self::AsyncTask(task) => Pin::new(task)
+                .as_pin_mut()
+                .expect("BUG: task taken")
+                .poll(cx),
+
             #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
             Self::Tokio(handle) => Pin::new(handle)
                 .poll(cx)
                 .map(|res| res.expect("spawned task panicked")),
+
             Self::_Phantom(_) => {
                 let _ = cx;
                 unreachable!("runtime should have been checked on spawn")
@@ -195,3 +196,19 @@ impl<T: Send + 'static> Future for JoinHandle<T> {
         }
     }
 }
+
+impl<T> Drop for JoinHandle<T> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        match self {
+            // `async_task` cancels on-drop by default.
+            // We need to explicitly detach to match Tokio and `async-std`.
+            #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-task")]
+            Self::AsyncTask(task) => {
+                if let Some(task) = task.take() {
+                    task.detach();
+                }
+            }
+            _ => (),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/join_handle.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/join_handle.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 580883e21f..0000000000
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/join_handle.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-use std::{
-    future::Future,
-    pin::Pin,
-    task::{Context, Poll},
-};
-
-use async_global_executor::Task;
-
-pub struct JoinHandle<T> {
-    pub task: Option<Task<T>>,
-}
-
-impl<T> Drop for JoinHandle<T> {
-    fn drop(&mut self) {
-        if let Some(task) = self.task.take() {
-            task.detach();
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl<T> Future for JoinHandle<T> {
-    type Output = T;
-
-    fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
-        match self.task.as_mut() {
-            Some(task) => Future::poll(Pin::new(task), cx),
-            None => unreachable!("JoinHandle polled after dropping"),
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/mod.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 65a56c8764..0000000000
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/mod.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-mod join_handle;
-pub use join_handle::*;
-
-pub mod yield_now;
-pub use yield_now::*;
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/yield_now.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/yield_now.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 1adb55e0f4..0000000000
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_async_global_executor/yield_now.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-use std::{
-    future::Future,
-    pin::Pin,
-    task::{Context, Poll},
-};
-
-pub fn yield_now() -> impl Future<Output = ()> {
-    YieldNow(false)
-}
-
-struct YieldNow(bool);
-
-impl Future for YieldNow {
-    type Output = ();
-
-    // The futures executor is implemented as a FIFO queue, so all this future
-    // does is re-schedule the future back to the end of the queue, giving room
-    // for other futures to progress.
-    fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
-        if !self.0 {
-            self.0 = true;
-            cx.waker().wake_by_ref();
-            Poll::Pending
-        } else {
-            Poll::Ready(())
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/join_handle.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/join_handle.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 6702733c4a..0000000000
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/join_handle.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-use std::{
-    future::Future,
-    pin::Pin,
-    task::{Context, Poll},
-};
-
-use smol::Task;
-
-pub struct JoinHandle<T> {
-    pub task: Option<Task<T>>,
-}
-
-impl<T> Drop for JoinHandle<T> {
-    fn drop(&mut self) {
-        if let Some(task) = self.task.take() {
-            task.detach();
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl<T> Future for JoinHandle<T> {
-    type Output = T;
-
-    fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
-        match self.task.as_mut() {
-            Some(task) => Future::poll(Pin::new(task), cx),
-            None => unreachable!("JoinHandle polled after dropping"),
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/mod.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b620d5116..0000000000
--- a/sqlx-core/src/rt/rt_smol/mod.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-mod join_handle;
-pub use join_handle::*;