diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
index 1e0d19b8d7d..77dcf99e1fd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "toolchainmanager.h"
 #include "task.h"
 
+#include <utils/async.h>
 #include <utils/qtcassert.h>
 
 #include <QUuid>
@@ -656,6 +657,12 @@ Id ToolchainFactory::supportedToolchainType() const
     return m_supportedToolchainType;
 }
 
+std::optional<AsyncToolchainDetector> ToolchainFactory::asyncAutoDetector(
+    const ToolchainDetector &) const
+{
+    return {};
+}
+
 void ToolchainFactory::setSupportedToolchainType(const Id &supportedToolchainType)
 {
     m_supportedToolchainType = supportedToolchainType;
@@ -752,4 +759,35 @@ BadToolchains BadToolchains::fromVariant(const QVariant &v)
             [](const QVariant &e) { return BadToolchain::fromMap(storeFromVariant(e)); });
 }
 
+AsyncToolchainDetector::AsyncToolchainDetector(
+    const ToolchainDetector &detector,
+    const std::function<Toolchains(const ToolchainDetector &)> &func,
+    const std::function<bool(const Toolchain *, const Toolchains &)> &alreadyRegistered)
+    : m_detector(detector)
+    , m_func(func)
+    , m_alreadyRegistered(alreadyRegistered)
+{
+}
+
+void AsyncToolchainDetector::run()
+{
+    auto watcher = new QFutureWatcher<Toolchains>();
+    QObject::connect(watcher,
+                     &QFutureWatcher<Toolchains>::finished,
+                     [watcher,
+                      alreadyRegistered = m_alreadyRegistered]() {
+                         Toolchains existingTcs = ToolchainManager::toolchains();
+                         for (Toolchain *tc : watcher->result()) {
+                             if (tc->isValid() && !alreadyRegistered(tc, existingTcs)) {
+                                 ToolchainManager::registerToolchain(tc);
+                                 existingTcs << tc;
+                             } else {
+                                 delete tc;
+                             }
+                         }
+                         watcher->deleteLater();
+                     });
+    watcher->setFuture(Utils::asyncRun(m_func, m_detector));
+}
+
 } // namespace ProjectExplorer
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.h b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.h
index 54cc2718c48..9f90a1c84b0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.h
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchain.h
@@ -241,6 +241,20 @@ public:
     const Utils::FilePaths searchPaths; // If empty use device path and/or magic.
 };
 
+class PROJECTEXPLORER_EXPORT AsyncToolchainDetector
+{
+public:
+    AsyncToolchainDetector(
+        const ToolchainDetector &detector,
+        const std::function<Toolchains(const ToolchainDetector &)> &func,
+        const std::function<bool(const Toolchain *, const Toolchains &)> &alreadyRegistered);
+    void run();
+private:
+    ToolchainDetector m_detector;
+    std::function<Toolchains(const ToolchainDetector &)> m_func;
+    std::function<bool(Toolchain *, const Toolchains &)> m_alreadyRegistered;
+};
+
 class PROJECTEXPLORER_EXPORT ToolchainFactory
 {
     ToolchainFactory(const ToolchainFactory &) = delete;
@@ -255,6 +269,8 @@ public:
     QString displayName() const { return m_displayName; }
     Utils::Id supportedToolchainType() const;
 
+    virtual std::optional<AsyncToolchainDetector> asyncAutoDetector(
+        const ToolchainDetector &detector) const;
     virtual Toolchains autoDetect(const ToolchainDetector &detector) const;
     virtual Toolchains detectForImport(const ToolchainDescription &tcd) const;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
index 18c5d33abf7..f04adcb2157 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/toolchainsettingsaccessor.cpp
@@ -54,16 +54,27 @@ struct ToolChainOperations
     Toolchains toDelete;
 };
 
-static Toolchains autoDetectToolChains(const ToolchainDetector &detector)
+static Toolchains autoDetectToolchains(const ToolchainDetector &detector)
 {
     Toolchains result;
     for (ToolchainFactory *f : ToolchainFactory::allToolchainFactories()) {
         NANOTRACE_SCOPE_ARGS("ProjectExplorer",
-                             "ToolChainSettingsAccessor::autoDetectToolChains",
+                             "ToolchainSettingsAccessor::autoDetectToolchains",
                              {"factory", f->displayName().toStdString()});
         QElapsedTimer et;
         et.start();
-        result.append(f->autoDetect(detector));
+        if (std::optional<AsyncToolchainDetector> asyncDetector = f->asyncAutoDetector(detector)) {
+            Toolchains known = Utils::filtered(detector.alreadyKnown,
+                                               [supportedType = f->supportedToolchainType()](
+                                                   const Toolchain *tc) {
+                                                   return tc->typeId() == supportedType
+                                                          && tc->isValid();
+                                               });
+            result.append(known);
+            asyncDetector->run();
+        } else {
+            result.append(f->autoDetect(detector));
+        }
         qCDebug(Log) << f->displayName() << "auto detection took: " << et.elapsed() << "ms";
     }
 
@@ -201,7 +212,7 @@ Toolchains ToolchainSettingsAccessor::restoreToolChains(QWidget *parent) const
     // Autodect from system paths on the desktop device.
     // The restriction is intentional to keep startup and automatic validation a limited effort
     ToolchainDetector detector(autodetectedUserFileTcs, DeviceManager::defaultDesktopDevice(), {});
-    const Toolchains autodetectedTcs = autoDetectToolChains(detector);
+    const Toolchains autodetectedTcs = autoDetectToolchains(detector);
 
     // merge tool chains and register those that we need to keep:
     const ToolChainOperations ops = mergeToolChainLists(systemFileTcs, userFileTcs, autodetectedTcs);