diff --git a/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp b/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
index da53a7532e..6350ef5938 100644
--- a/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
+++ b/src/classpath-openjdk.cpp
@@ -2729,11 +2729,15 @@ Avian_sun_misc_Unsafe_getFloat__Ljava_lang_Object_2J
 
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT int64_t JNICALL
 Avian_sun_misc_Unsafe_getIntVolatile
-(Thread*, object, uintptr_t* arguments)
+(Thread* t, object, uintptr_t* arguments)
 {
   object o = reinterpret_cast<object>(arguments[1]);
   int64_t offset; memcpy(&offset, arguments + 2, 8);
 
+  // avoid blocking the VM if this is being called in a busy loop
+  PROTECT(t, o);
+  { ENTER(t, Thread::IdleState); }
+
   int32_t result = fieldAtOffset<int32_t>(o, offset);
   loadMemoryBarrier();
   return result;
@@ -2764,6 +2768,10 @@ Avian_sun_misc_Unsafe_getLongVolatile
   object o = reinterpret_cast<object>(arguments[1]);
   int64_t offset; memcpy(&offset, arguments + 2, 8);
 
+  // avoid blocking the VM if this is being called in a busy loop
+  PROTECT(t, o);
+  { ENTER(t, Thread::IdleState); }
+
   object field;
   if (BytesPerWord < 8) {
     field = local::fieldForOffset(t, o, offset);
@@ -2869,10 +2877,14 @@ Avian_sun_misc_Unsafe_putLong__Ljava_lang_Object_2JJ
 
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT int64_t JNICALL
 Avian_sun_misc_Unsafe_getObjectVolatile
-(Thread*, object, uintptr_t* arguments)
+(Thread* t, object, uintptr_t* arguments)
 {
   object o = reinterpret_cast<object>(arguments[1]);
   int64_t offset; memcpy(&offset, arguments + 2, 8);
+
+  // avoid blocking the VM if this is being called in a busy loop
+  PROTECT(t, o);
+  { ENTER(t, Thread::IdleState); }
   
   uintptr_t value = fieldAtOffset<uintptr_t>(o, offset);
   loadMemoryBarrier();