diff --git a/dask_jobqueue/core.py b/dask_jobqueue/core.py
index 9b23ad39..b77cffb2 100644
--- a/dask_jobqueue/core.py
+++ b/dask_jobqueue/core.py
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 import os
 import re
 import shlex
-import subprocess
 import sys
 import weakref
 import abc
+import asyncio
 
 import dask
 from dask.utils import ignoring
@@ -302,7 +302,6 @@ def job_file(self):
             yield fn
 
     async def _submit_job(self, script_filename):
-        # Should we make this async friendly?
         return self._call(shlex.split(self.submit_command) + [script_filename])
 
     @property
@@ -361,17 +360,17 @@ def _close_job(cls, job_id):
             logger.debug("Closed job %s", job_id)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _call(cmd, **kwargs):
-        """Call a command using subprocess.Popen.
+    async def _call(cmd, **kwargs):
+        """Call a command using asyncio.create_subprocess_exec.
 
         This centralizes calls out to the command line, providing consistent
-        outputs, logging, and an opportunity to go asynchronous in the future.
+        outputs, logging, and an opportunity to go asynchronous.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
         cmd: List(str))
             A command, each of which is a list of strings to hand to
-            subprocess.Popen
+            asyncio.subprocess.Popen
 
         Examples
         --------
@@ -390,11 +389,14 @@ def _call(cmd, **kwargs):
             "Executing the following command to command line\n{}".format(cmd_str)
         )
 
-        proc = subprocess.Popen(
-            cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, **kwargs
+        proc = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
+            cmd,
+            stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+            **kwargs
         )
 
-        out, err = proc.communicate()
+        out, err = await proc.communicate()
         out, err = out.decode(), err.decode()
 
         if proc.returncode != 0: