diff --git a/tokio/src/runtime/io/scheduled_io.rs b/tokio/src/runtime/io/scheduled_io.rs
index af57caed4..505be0374 100644
--- a/tokio/src/runtime/io/scheduled_io.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/runtime/io/scheduled_io.rs
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ struct Waiter {
 
     is_ready: bool,
 
-    /// Should never be `!Unpin`.
+    /// Should never be `Unpin`.
     _p: PhantomPinned,
 }
 
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ enum State {
 //
 // | shutdown | driver tick | readiness |
 // |----------+-------------+-----------|
-// |   1 bit  |  15 bits    +   16 bits |
+// |   1 bit  |   15 bits   |  16 bits  |
 
 const READINESS: bit::Pack = bit::Pack::least_significant(16);
 
@@ -429,9 +429,16 @@ impl Future for Readiness<'_> {
     fn poll(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
         use std::sync::atomic::Ordering::SeqCst;
 
-        let (scheduled_io, state, waiter) = unsafe {
-            let me = self.get_unchecked_mut();
-            (&me.scheduled_io, &mut me.state, &me.waiter)
+        let (scheduled_io, state, waiter) = {
+            // Safety: `Self` is `!Unpin`
+            //
+            // While we could use `pin_project!` to remove
+            // this unsafe block, there are already unsafe blocks here,
+            // so it wouldn't significantly ease the mental burden
+            // and would actually complicate the code.
+            // That's why we didn't use it.
+            let me = unsafe { self.get_unchecked_mut() };
+            (me.scheduled_io, &mut me.state, &me.waiter)
         };
 
         loop {
@@ -482,10 +489,13 @@ impl Future for Readiness<'_> {
 
                     // Not ready even after locked, insert into list...
 
-                    // Safety: called while locked
-                    unsafe {
-                        (*waiter.get()).waker = Some(cx.waker().clone());
-                    }
+                    // Safety: Since the `waiter` is not in the intrusive list yet,
+                    // we have exclusive access to it. The Mutex ensures
+                    // that this modification is visible to other threads that
+                    // acquire the same Mutex.
+                    let waker = unsafe { &mut (*waiter.get()).waker };
+                    let old = waker.replace(cx.waker().clone());
+                    debug_assert!(old.is_none(), "waker should be None at the first poll");
 
                     // Insert the waiter into the linked list
                     //
@@ -503,7 +513,9 @@ impl Future for Readiness<'_> {
 
                     let waiters = scheduled_io.waiters.lock();
 
-                    // Safety: called while locked
+                    // Safety: With the lock held, we have exclusive access to
+                    // the waiter. In other words, `ScheduledIo::wake()`
+                    // cannot access the waiter concurrently.
                     let w = unsafe { &mut *waiter.get() };
 
                     if w.is_ready {
@@ -523,9 +535,6 @@ impl Future for Readiness<'_> {
                     drop(waiters);
                 }
                 State::Done => {
-                    // Safety: State::Done means it is no longer shared
-                    let w = unsafe { &mut *waiter.get() };
-
                     let curr = scheduled_io.readiness.load(Acquire);
                     let is_shutdown = SHUTDOWN.unpack(curr) != 0;
 
@@ -534,9 +543,16 @@ impl Future for Readiness<'_> {
                     // still didn't return `Poll::Ready`.
                     let tick = TICK.unpack(curr) as u8;
 
+                    // Safety: We don't need to acquire the lock here because
+                    //   1. `State::Done`` means `waiter` is no longer shared,
+                    //      this means no concurrent access to `waiter` can happen
+                    //      at this point.
+                    //   2. `waiter.interest` is never changed, this means
+                    //      no side effects need to be synchronized by the lock.
+                    let interest = unsafe { (*waiter.get()).interest };
                     // The readiness state could have been cleared in the meantime,
                     // but we allow the returned ready set to be empty.
-                    let ready = Ready::from_usize(READINESS.unpack(curr)).intersection(w.interest);
+                    let ready = Ready::from_usize(READINESS.unpack(curr)).intersection(interest);
 
                     return Poll::Ready(ReadyEvent {
                         tick,