diff --git a/actor-tests/src/test/scala-jdk21-only/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec.scala b/actor-tests/src/test/scala-jdk21-only/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..739bf26a5e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor-tests/src/test/scala-jdk21-only/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.pekko.dispatch
+
+import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
+
+import org.apache.pekko
+import pekko.actor.{ Actor, Props }
+import pekko.testkit.{ ImplicitSender, PekkoSpec }
+
+object VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec {
+  val config = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
+      |virtual-thread-dispatcher {
+      |  executor = virtual-thread-executor
+      |}
+    """.stripMargin)
+
+  class InnocentActor extends Actor {
+
+    override def receive = {
+      case "ping" =>
+        sender() ! "All fine"
+    }
+  }
+
+}
+
+class VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec extends PekkoSpec(VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec.config) with ImplicitSender {
+  import VirtualThreadPoolDispatcherSpec._
+
+  val Iterations = 1000
+
+  "VirtualThreadPool support" must {
+
+    "handle simple dispatch" in {
+      val innocentActor = system.actorOf(Props(new InnocentActor).withDispatcher("virtual-thread-dispatcher"))
+      innocentActor ! "ping"
+      expectMsg("All fine")
+    }
+
+  }
+}
diff --git a/actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 9459cda1418..7ef70b85606 100644
--- a/actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@ pekko {
       # Valid options:
       #  - "default-executor" requires a "default-executor" section
       #  - "fork-join-executor" requires a "fork-join-executor" section
+      #  - "virtual-thread-executor" requires a "virtual-thread-executor" section
       #  - "thread-pool-executor" requires a "thread-pool-executor" section
       #  - "affinity-pool-executor" requires an "affinity-pool-executor" section
       #  - A FQCN of a class extending ExecutorServiceConfigurator
@@ -539,6 +540,19 @@ pekko {
         allow-core-timeout = on
       }
 
+      # This will be used if you have set "executor = "virtual-thread-executor"
+      # This executor will execute the every task on a new virtual thread.
+      # Underlying thread pool implementation is java.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool for JDK <= 22
+      # If the current runtime does not support virtual thread,
+      # then the executor configured in "fallback" will be used.
+      virtual-thread-executor {
+        #Please set the the underlying pool with system properties below:
+        #jdk.virtualThreadScheduler.parallelism
+        #jdk.virtualThreadScheduler.maxPoolSize
+        #jdk.virtualThreadScheduler.minRunnable
+        #jdk.unparker.maxPoolSize
+        fallback = "fork-join-executor"
+      }
       # How long time the dispatcher will wait for new actors until it shuts down
       shutdown-timeout = 1s
 
diff --git a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
index f4fb6a73c48..f163f01960d 100644
--- a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
+++ b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
@@ -16,14 +16,11 @@ package org.apache.pekko.dispatch
 import java.{ util => ju }
 import java.util.concurrent._
 
-import scala.annotation.tailrec
+import scala.annotation.{ nowarn, tailrec }
 import scala.concurrent.{ ExecutionContext, ExecutionContextExecutor }
 import scala.concurrent.duration.{ Duration, FiniteDuration }
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
-import scala.annotation.nowarn
-import com.typesafe.config.Config
-
 import org.apache.pekko
 import pekko.actor._
 import pekko.annotation.InternalStableApi
@@ -33,6 +30,8 @@ import pekko.event.EventStream
 import pekko.event.Logging.{ Debug, Error, LogEventException }
 import pekko.util.{ unused, Index, Unsafe }
 
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
+
 final case class Envelope private (message: Any, sender: ActorRef) {
 
   def copy(message: Any = message, sender: ActorRef = sender) = {
@@ -367,9 +366,16 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcherConfigurator(_config: Config, val prerequisites:
   def dispatcher(): MessageDispatcher
 
   def configureExecutor(): ExecutorServiceConfigurator = {
+    @tailrec
     def configurator(executor: String): ExecutorServiceConfigurator = executor match {
       case null | "" | "fork-join-executor" =>
         new ForkJoinExecutorConfigurator(config.getConfig("fork-join-executor"), prerequisites)
+      case "virtual-thread-executor" =>
+        if (VirtualThreadSupport.isSupported) {
+          new VirtualThreadExecutorConfigurator(config.getConfig("virtual-thread-executor"), prerequisites)
+        } else {
+          configurator(config.getString("virtual-thread-executor.fallback"))
+        }
       case "thread-pool-executor" =>
         new ThreadPoolExecutorConfigurator(config.getConfig("thread-pool-executor"), prerequisites)
       case "affinity-pool-executor" =>
@@ -401,6 +407,32 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcherConfigurator(_config: Config, val prerequisites:
   }
 }
 
+final class VirtualThreadExecutorConfigurator(config: Config, prerequisites: DispatcherPrerequisites)
+    extends ExecutorServiceConfigurator(config, prerequisites) {
+
+  override def createExecutorServiceFactory(id: String, threadFactory: ThreadFactory): ExecutorServiceFactory = {
+    import VirtualThreadSupport._
+    val tf: ThreadFactory = threadFactory match {
+      case MonitorableThreadFactory(name, _, contextClassLoader, exceptionHandler, _) =>
+        new ThreadFactory {
+          private val vtFactory = newVirtualThreadFactory(name)
+
+          override def newThread(r: Runnable): Thread = {
+            val vt = vtFactory.newThread(r)
+            vt.setUncaughtExceptionHandler(exceptionHandler)
+            contextClassLoader.foreach(vt.setContextClassLoader)
+            vt
+          }
+        }
+      case _ => VirtualThreadSupport.newVirtualThreadFactory(prerequisites.settings.name);
+    }
+    new ExecutorServiceFactory {
+      import VirtualThreadSupport._
+      override def createExecutorService: ExecutorService = newThreadPerTaskExecutor(tf)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 class ThreadPoolExecutorConfigurator(config: Config, prerequisites: DispatcherPrerequisites)
     extends ExecutorServiceConfigurator(config, prerequisites) {
 
diff --git a/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadSupport.scala b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadSupport.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3a777891559
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/dispatch/VirtualThreadSupport.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.pekko.dispatch
+
+import org.apache.pekko.annotation.InternalApi
+import org.apache.pekko.util.JavaVersion
+
+import java.lang.invoke.{ MethodHandles, MethodType }
+import java.util.concurrent.{ ExecutorService, ThreadFactory }
+import scala.util.control.NonFatal
+
+@InternalApi
+private[dispatch] object VirtualThreadSupport {
+  private val lookup = MethodHandles.publicLookup()
+
+  /**
+   * Is virtual thread supported
+   */
+  val isSupported: Boolean = JavaVersion.majorVersion >= 21
+
+  /**
+   * Create a virtual thread factory with a executor, the executor will be used as the scheduler of
+   * virtual thread.
+   */
+  def newVirtualThreadFactory(prefix: String): ThreadFactory = {
+    require(isSupported, "Virtual thread is not supported.")
+    try {
+      val builderClass = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader.loadClass("java.lang.Thread$Builder")
+      val ofVirtualClass = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader.loadClass("java.lang.Thread$Builder$OfVirtual")
+      val ofVirtualMethod = lookup.findStatic(classOf[Thread], "ofVirtual", MethodType.methodType(ofVirtualClass))
+      var builder = ofVirtualMethod.invoke()
+      val nameMethod = lookup.findVirtual(ofVirtualClass, "name",
+        MethodType.methodType(ofVirtualClass, classOf[String], classOf[Long]))
+      // TODO support replace scheduler when we drop Java 8 support
+      val factoryMethod = lookup.findVirtual(builderClass, "factory", MethodType.methodType(classOf[ThreadFactory]))
+      builder = nameMethod.invoke(builder, prefix + "-virtual-thread-", 0L)
+      factoryMethod.invoke(builder).asInstanceOf[ThreadFactory]
+    } catch {
+      case NonFatal(e) =>
+        // --add-opens java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Failed to create virtual thread factory", e)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def newThreadPerTaskExecutor(threadFactory: ThreadFactory): ExecutorService = {
+    require(threadFactory != null, "threadFactory should not be null.")
+    try {
+      val executorsClazz = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader.loadClass("java.util.concurrent.Executors")
+      val newThreadPerTaskExecutorMethod = lookup.findStatic(
+        executorsClazz,
+        "newThreadPerTaskExecutor",
+        MethodType.methodType(classOf[ExecutorService], classOf[ThreadFactory]))
+      newThreadPerTaskExecutorMethod.invoke(threadFactory).asInstanceOf[ExecutorService]
+    } catch {
+      case NonFatal(e) =>
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Failed to create newThreadPerTaskExecutor.", e)
+    }
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index a57f790104d..d93f55ee67c 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -124,9 +124,10 @@ lazy val actor = pekkoModule("actor")
   .enablePlugins(BoilerplatePlugin, SbtOsgi, Jdk9)
 
 lazy val actorTests = pekkoModule("actor-tests")
+  .configs(Jdk9.TestJdk9)
   .dependsOn(testkit % "compile->compile;test->test", actor)
   .settings(Dependencies.actorTests)
-  .enablePlugins(NoPublish)
+  .enablePlugins(NoPublish, Jdk9)
   .disablePlugins(MimaPlugin)
 
 lazy val pekkoScalaNightly = pekkoModule("scala-nightly")