diff --git a/tokio-util/src/task/abort_on_drop.rs b/tokio-util/src/task/abort_on_drop.rs
index 3739bbfa9..e0353ac85 100644
--- a/tokio-util/src/task/abort_on_drop.rs
+++ b/tokio-util/src/task/abort_on_drop.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use tokio::task::{AbortHandle, JoinError, JoinHandle};
 
 use std::{
     future::Future,
+    mem::ManuallyDrop,
     pin::Pin,
     task::{Context, Poll},
 };
@@ -46,6 +47,15 @@ impl<T> AbortOnDropHandle<T> {
     pub fn abort_handle(&self) -> AbortHandle {
         self.0.abort_handle()
     }
+
+    /// Cancels aborting on drop and returns the original [`JoinHandle`].
+    pub fn detach(self) -> JoinHandle<T> {
+        // Avoid invoking `AbortOnDropHandle`'s `Drop` impl
+        let this = ManuallyDrop::new(self);
+        // SAFETY: `&this.0` is a reference, so it is certainly initialized, and
+        // it won't be double-dropped because it's in a `ManuallyDrop`
+        unsafe { std::ptr::read(&this.0) }
+    }
 }
 
 impl<T> Future for AbortOnDropHandle<T> {
diff --git a/tokio-util/tests/abort_on_drop.rs b/tokio-util/tests/abort_on_drop.rs
index c7dcee35a..20634e88c 100644
--- a/tokio-util/tests/abort_on_drop.rs
+++ b/tokio-util/tests/abort_on_drop.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use tokio::sync::oneshot;
+use tokio::{sync::oneshot, task::yield_now};
 use tokio_util::task::AbortOnDropHandle;
 
 #[tokio::test]
@@ -25,3 +25,15 @@ async fn aborts_task_directly() {
     assert!(tx.is_closed());
     assert!(handle.is_finished());
 }
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn does_not_abort_after_detach() {
+    let (tx, rx) = oneshot::channel::<bool>();
+    let handle = tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let _ = rx.await;
+    });
+    let handle = AbortOnDropHandle::new(handle);
+    handle.detach(); // returns and drops the original join handle
+    yield_now().await;
+    assert!(!tx.is_closed()); // task is still live
+}