diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index ac3252f823..99eb86ab28 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
  * POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
  */
 
+#include "io_threads.h"
 #include "server.h"
 #include "cluster.h"
 #include "connection.h"
@@ -3258,8 +3259,8 @@ standardConfig static_configs[] = {
     /* Integer configs */
     createIntConfig("databases", NULL, IMMUTABLE_CONFIG, 1, INT_MAX, server.config_databases, 16, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL),
     createIntConfig("cluster-databases", NULL, IMMUTABLE_CONFIG, 1, INT_MAX, server.config_databases_cluster, 1, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL),
-    createIntConfig("port", NULL, MODIFIABLE_CONFIG, 0, 65535, server.port, 6379, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, updatePort),                                   /* TCP port. */
-    createIntConfig("io-threads", NULL, DEBUG_CONFIG | IMMUTABLE_CONFIG, 1, IO_THREADS_MAX_NUM, server.io_threads_num, 1, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL), /* Single threaded by default */
+    createIntConfig("port", NULL, MODIFIABLE_CONFIG, 0, 65535, server.port, 6379, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, updatePort),                                               /* TCP port. */
+    createIntConfig("io-threads", NULL, DEBUG_CONFIG | MODIFIABLE_CONFIG, 1, IO_THREADS_MAX_NUM, server.io_threads_num, 1, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, updateIOThreads), /* Single threaded by default */
     createIntConfig("events-per-io-thread", NULL, MODIFIABLE_CONFIG | HIDDEN_CONFIG, 0, INT_MAX, server.events_per_io_thread, 2, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL),
     createIntConfig("prefetch-batch-max-size", NULL, MODIFIABLE_CONFIG, 0, 128, server.prefetch_batch_max_size, 16, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL),
     createIntConfig("auto-aof-rewrite-percentage", NULL, MODIFIABLE_CONFIG, 0, INT_MAX, server.aof_rewrite_perc, 100, INTEGER_CONFIG, NULL, NULL),
diff --git a/src/io_threads.c b/src/io_threads.c
index 6c5a878ca9..b226b87bdd 100644
--- a/src/io_threads.c
+++ b/src/io_threads.c
@@ -215,18 +215,19 @@ static void *IOThreadMain(void *myid) {
     long id = (long)myid;
     char thdname[32];
 
-    serverAssert(server.io_threads_num > 0);
-    serverAssert(id > 0 && id < server.io_threads_num);
     snprintf(thdname, sizeof(thdname), "io_thd_%ld", id);
     valkey_set_thread_title(thdname);
     serverSetCpuAffinity(server.server_cpulist);
     makeThreadKillable();
     initSharedQueryBuf();
+    pthread_cleanup_push(freeSharedQueryBuf, NULL);
 
     thread_id = (int)id;
     size_t jobs_to_process = 0;
     IOJobQueue *jq = &io_jobs[id];
     while (1) {
+        /* Cancellation point so that pthread_cancel() from main thread is honored. */
+        pthread_testcancel();
         /* Wait for jobs */
         for (int j = 0; j < 1000000; j++) {
             jobs_to_process = IOJobQueue_availableJobs(jq);
@@ -255,12 +256,15 @@ static void *IOThreadMain(void *myid) {
          * As the main-thread main concern is to check if the queue is empty, it's enough to do it once at the end. */
         atomic_thread_fence(memory_order_release);
     }
-    freeSharedQueryBuf();
+    pthread_cleanup_pop(0);
     return NULL;
 }
 
 #define IO_JOB_QUEUE_SIZE 2048
 static void createIOThread(int id) {
+    serverAssert(server.io_threads_num > 0);
+    serverAssert(id > 0 && id < server.io_threads_num);
+
     pthread_t tid;
     pthread_mutex_init(&io_threads_mutex[id], NULL);
     IOJobQueue_init(&io_jobs[id], IO_JOB_QUEUE_SIZE);
@@ -287,7 +291,7 @@ static void shutdownIOThread(int id) {
     } else {
         serverLog(LL_NOTICE, "IO thread(tid:%lu) terminated", (unsigned long)tid);
     }
-
+    pthread_mutex_destroy(&io_threads_mutex[id]);
     IOJobQueue_cleanup(&io_jobs[id]);
 }
 
@@ -297,6 +301,44 @@ void killIOThreads(void) {
     }
 }
 
+int updateIOThreads(const char **err) {
+    serverAssert(inMainThread());
+    UNUSED(err);
+    int prev_threads_num = 1;
+    for (int i = IO_THREADS_MAX_NUM - 1; i > 0; i--) {
+        if (io_threads[i]) {
+            prev_threads_num = i + 1;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    if (prev_threads_num == server.io_threads_num) return 1;
+
+    serverLog(LL_NOTICE, "Changing number of IO threads from %d to %d.", prev_threads_num, server.io_threads_num);
+    drainIOThreadsQueue();
+    /* Set active threads to 1, will be adjusted based on workload later. */
+    for (int i = 1; i < server.active_io_threads_num; i++) {
+        pthread_mutex_lock(&io_threads_mutex[i]);
+    }
+    server.active_io_threads_num = 1;
+
+    // Create new threads.
+    if (server.io_threads_num > prev_threads_num) {
+        for (int i = prev_threads_num; i < server.io_threads_num; i++) {
+            createIOThread(i);
+        }
+    }
+    // Decrease the number of threads.
+    else {
+        for (int i = prev_threads_num - 1; i >= server.io_threads_num; i--) {
+            // Unblock inactive thread.
+            pthread_mutex_unlock(&io_threads_mutex[i]);
+            shutdownIOThread(i);
+            io_threads[i] = 0;
+        }
+    }
+    return 1;
+}
+
 /* Initialize the data structures needed for I/O threads. */
 void initIOThreads(void) {
     server.active_io_threads_num = 1; /* We start with threads not active. */
diff --git a/src/io_threads.h b/src/io_threads.h
index a3ff582a77..992cb66c43 100644
--- a/src/io_threads.h
+++ b/src/io_threads.h
@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@ void adjustIOThreadsByEventLoad(int numevents, int increase_only);
 void drainIOThreadsQueue(void);
 void trySendPollJobToIOThreads(void);
 int trySendAcceptToIOThreads(connection *conn);
+int updateIOThreads(const char **err);
 
 #endif /* IO_THREADS_H */
diff --git a/src/networking.c b/src/networking.c
index 5f57050971..a9961574c8 100644
--- a/src/networking.c
+++ b/src/networking.c
@@ -2720,7 +2720,8 @@ void initSharedQueryBuf(void) {
     sdsclear(thread_shared_qb);
 }
 
-void freeSharedQueryBuf(void) {
+void freeSharedQueryBuf(void *dummy) {
+    UNUSED(dummy);
     sdsfree(thread_shared_qb);
     thread_shared_qb = NULL;
 }
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index d6c52de8db..07271f8c41 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -2769,7 +2769,7 @@ void linkClient(client *c);
 void protectClient(client *c);
 void unprotectClient(client *c);
 void initSharedQueryBuf(void);
-void freeSharedQueryBuf(void);
+void freeSharedQueryBuf(void *dummy);
 client *lookupClientByID(uint64_t id);
 int authRequired(client *c);
 void clientSetUser(client *c, user *u, int authenticated);
diff --git a/tests/unit/other.tcl b/tests/unit/other.tcl
index b8fb9ab7dd..620c1f893a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/other.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/other.tcl
@@ -574,6 +574,25 @@ start_server {tags {"other external:skip"}} {
     }
 }
 
+start_server {tags {"other external:skip"}} {
+    test "test io-threads are runtime modifiable" {
+        # Test set
+        r config set io-threads 5
+        set thread_num [lindex [r config get io-threads] 1]
+        assert_equal 5 $thread_num
+
+        # Test decrease
+        r config set io-threads 1
+        set thread_num [lindex [r config get io-threads] 1]
+        assert_equal 1 $thread_num
+
+        # Test increase
+        r config set io-threads 4
+        set thread_num [lindex [r config get io-threads] 1]
+        assert_equal 4 $thread_num
+    }
+}
+
 set tempFileName [file join [pwd] [pid]]
 if {$::verbose} {
     puts "Creating temp file $tempFileName"