diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 907e42e..713e6c7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ keywords = ["integer", "varint", "zigzag", "protobuf", "serialize"]
 edition = "2018"
 
 [dependencies]
-async-trait = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
 tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["io-util"], optional = true }
 futures-util = { version = "0.3", optional = true, features = ["io"] }
 
@@ -33,8 +32,8 @@ harness = false
 [features]
 # Enable one of these features if you want to use the AsyncRead/AsyncWrite traits from
 # the futures crate instead of those from tokio.
-tokio_async = ["tokio", "async-trait"]
-futures_async = ["futures-util", "async-trait"]
+tokio_async = ["tokio"]
+futures_async = ["futures-util"]
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 features = ["tokio_async"]
diff --git a/src/reader.rs b/src/reader.rs
index bcdce34..9fb99ba 100644
--- a/src/reader.rs
+++ b/src/reader.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ pub trait VarIntReader {
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
 /// Like a VarIntReader, but returns a future.
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
+#[allow(async_fn_in_trait)]
 pub trait VarIntAsyncReader {
     async fn read_varint_async<VI: VarInt>(&mut self) -> Result<VI>;
 }
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ impl VarIntProcessor {
 }
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
 impl<AR: AsyncRead + Unpin> VarIntAsyncReader for AR {
     async fn read_varint_async<VI: VarInt>(&mut self) -> Result<VI> {
         let mut buf = [0_u8; 1];
@@ -124,13 +123,12 @@ pub trait FixedIntReader {
 
 /// Like FixedIntReader, but returns a future.
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
+#[allow(async_fn_in_trait)]
 pub trait FixedIntAsyncReader {
     async fn read_fixedint_async<FI: FixedInt>(&mut self) -> Result<FI>;
 }
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
 impl<AR: AsyncRead + Unpin> FixedIntAsyncReader for AR {
     async fn read_fixedint_async<FI: FixedInt>(&mut self) -> Result<FI> {
         let mut buf = [0_u8; 8];
diff --git a/src/writer.rs b/src/writer.rs
index e84c6d0..5b313f8 100644
--- a/src/writer.rs
+++ b/src/writer.rs
@@ -17,14 +17,13 @@ pub trait VarIntWriter {
 
 /// Like VarIntWriter, but asynchronous.
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
+#[allow(async_fn_in_trait)]
 pub trait VarIntAsyncWriter {
     /// Write a VarInt integer to an asynchronous writer.
     async fn write_varint_async<VI: VarInt>(&mut self, n: VI) -> Result<usize>;
 }
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
 impl<AW: AsyncWrite + Unpin> VarIntAsyncWriter for AW {
     async fn write_varint_async<VI: VarInt>(&mut self, n: VI) -> Result<usize> {
         let mut buf = [0_u8; 10];
@@ -50,13 +49,12 @@ pub trait FixedIntWriter {
 }
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
+#[allow(async_fn_in_trait)]
 pub trait FixedIntAsyncWriter {
     async fn write_fixedint_async<FI: FixedInt>(&mut self, n: FI) -> Result<usize>;
 }
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
-#[async_trait::async_trait(?Send)]
 impl<AW: AsyncWrite + Unpin> FixedIntAsyncWriter for AW {
     async fn write_fixedint_async<FI: FixedInt>(&mut self, n: FI) -> Result<usize> {
         let mut buf = [0_u8; 8];
diff --git a/tests/async_send.rs b/tests/async_send.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20e29b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/async_send.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+//! The futures returned by the async traits must be `Send` whenever the reader or writer is.
+#![cfg(any(feature = "tokio_async", feature = "futures_async"))]
+
+use std::io::Result;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "tokio_async")]
+use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "futures_async")]
+use futures_util::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
+
+use integer_encoding::*;
+
+fn assert_send<F: Send>(_: F) {}
+
+// Generic helpers in the style of ref-fvm's CAR code, which needed `Send` futures.
+async fn read_len<R: AsyncRead + Unpin>(mut reader: &mut R) -> Result<usize> {
+    VarIntAsyncReader::read_varint_async(&mut reader).await
+}
+
+async fn write_len<W: AsyncWrite + Unpin>(writer: &mut W, bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<usize> {
+    writer.write_varint_async(bytes.len()).await?;
+    writer.write_fixedint_async(bytes.len() as u32).await
+}
+
+fn generic<R, W, I>(reader: &mut R, writer: &mut W, n: I)
+where
+    R: AsyncRead + Unpin + Send,
+    W: AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send,
+    I: VarInt + FixedInt + Send,
+{
+    assert_send(reader.read_varint_async::<I>());
+    assert_send(reader.read_fixedint_async::<I>());
+    assert_send(writer.write_varint_async(n));
+    assert_send(writer.write_fixedint_async(n));
+    assert_send(read_len(reader));
+    assert_send(write_len(writer, &[1, 2, 3]));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_async_futures_are_send() {
+    let mut reader: &[u8] = &[];
+    let mut writer = Vec::new();
+
+    assert_send(reader.read_varint_async::<u64>());
+    assert_send(reader.read_fixedint_async::<u64>());
+    assert_send(writer.write_varint_async(1_u64));
+    assert_send(writer.write_fixedint_async(1_u64));
+    assert_send(read_len(&mut reader));
+    assert_send(write_len(&mut writer, &[1, 2, 3]));
+
+    generic(&mut reader, &mut writer, 1_u64);
+}