diff --git a/docs/source/changelog.rst b/docs/source/changelog.rst
index 2c5b534d9..532a4948c 100644
--- a/docs/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/source/changelog.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ Changelog
 Dev
 ---
 
+Other
+
+- The ``fsspec.asyn.get_loop()`` will always return a loop of a selector policy.
+
+
 2021.05.0
 ---------
 
diff --git a/fsspec/asyn.py b/fsspec/asyn.py
index 969d68002..a4940716d 100644
--- a/fsspec/asyn.py
+++ b/fsspec/asyn.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 import inspect
 import os
 import re
+import sys
 import threading
+from contextlib import contextmanager
 from glob import has_magic
 
 from .exceptions import FSTimeoutError
@@ -87,6 +89,22 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
     return wrapper
 
 
+@contextmanager
+def _selector_policy():
+    original_policy = asyncio.get_event_loop_policy()
+    try:
+        if (
+            sys.version_info >= (3, 8)
+            and os.name == "nt"
+            and hasattr(asyncio, "WindowsSelectorEventLoopPolicy")
+        ):
+            asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(asyncio.WindowsSelectorEventLoopPolicy())
+
+        yield
+    finally:
+        asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(original_policy)
+
+
 def get_loop():
     """Create or return the default fsspec IO loop
 
@@ -97,7 +115,8 @@ def get_loop():
             # repeat the check just in case the loop got filled between the
             # previous two calls from another thread
             if loop[0] is None:
-                loop[0] = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+                with _selector_policy():
+                    loop[0] = asyncio.new_event_loop()
                 th = threading.Thread(target=loop[0].run_forever, name="fsspecIO")
                 th.daemon = True
                 th.start()
diff --git a/fsspec/tests/test_async.py b/fsspec/tests/test_async.py
index 84cf5c4cf..b783cd7f4 100644
--- a/fsspec/tests/test_async.py
+++ b/fsspec/tests/test_async.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import asyncio
 import inspect
+import os
 import sys
 import time
 
@@ -112,3 +113,22 @@ async def main(**kwargs):
 
     monkeypatch.setitem(fsspec.config.conf, "gather_batch_size", 4)
     assert sum(asyncio.run(main())) == 32  # override
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(os.name != "nt", reason="only for windows")
+def test_windows_policy():
+    from asyncio.windows_events import SelectorEventLoop
+
+    loop = fsspec.asyn.get_loop()
+    policy = asyncio.get_event_loop_policy()
+
+    # Ensure that the created loop always uses selector policy
+    assert isinstance(loop, SelectorEventLoop)
+
+    # Ensure that the global policy is not changed and it is
+    # set to the default one. This is important since the
+    # get_loop() method will temporarily override the policy
+    # with the one which uses selectors on windows, so this
+    # check ensures that we are restoring the old policy back
+    # after our change.
+    assert isinstance(policy, asyncio.DefaultEventLoopPolicy)