diff --git a/example/blocking.c b/example/blocking.c
index 557bc87..a145ed5 100644
--- a/example/blocking.c
+++ b/example/blocking.c
@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ int main() {
                      ctx_reset,
                      ctx_free);
 
-  lnm_http_step_init(&step, slow_step);
+  lnm_http_step_append(&step, slow_step, true);
   lnm_http_route_init_literal(&route, lnm_http_method_get, "/", step);
   lnm_http_loop_route_add(hl, route);
 
   lnm_log_init_global();
   lnm_log_register_stdout(lnm_log_level_debug);
 
-  printf("res = %i\n", lnm_http_loop_run(hl, 8080, 1, 32));
+  printf("res = %i\n", lnm_http_loop_run(hl, 8080, 1, 2));
 }
diff --git a/include/lnm/http/loop.h b/include/lnm/http/loop.h
index 2427179..fefdf6a 100644
--- a/include/lnm/http/loop.h
+++ b/include/lnm/http/loop.h
@@ -32,23 +32,16 @@ lnm_err lnm_http_loop_init(lnm_http_loop **out, void *c_gctx,
                            lnm_http_ctx_reset_fn ctx_reset,
                            lnm_http_ctx_free_fn ctx_free);
 
-/**
- * Initialize a new step.
- *
- * @param out where to store pointer to new `lnm_http_step`
- * @param fn step function
- */
-lnm_err lnm_http_step_init(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step_fn fn);
-
 /**
  * Append the given step fn to the step.
  *
- * @param out where to store pointer to new `lnm_http_step`
- * @param step step to append new step to
+ * @param out both the previous step to append the new step to, and the output
+ * variable to which the new step is appended
  * @param fn step function
+ * @param blocking whether the step is blocking or not
  */
-lnm_err lnm_http_step_append(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step *step,
-                             lnm_http_step_fn fn);
+lnm_err lnm_http_step_append(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step_fn fn,
+                             bool blocking);
 
 /**
  * Initialize a new route of type literal.
diff --git a/include/lnm/loop.h b/include/lnm/loop.h
index 781a745..b922c1f 100644
--- a/include/lnm/loop.h
+++ b/include/lnm/loop.h
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
 #define LNM_QUEUE_MULTIPLIER 8
 
 typedef enum lnm_loop_state {
-  lnm_loop_state_req = 0,
-  lnm_loop_state_res,
+  lnm_loop_state_req_io = 0,
+  lnm_loop_state_res_io,
   lnm_loop_state_end,
-  lnm_loop_state_req_blocking,
-  lnm_loop_state_res_blocking,
+  lnm_loop_state_req_work,
+  lnm_loop_state_res_work,
 } lnm_loop_state;
 
 /**
@@ -106,6 +106,26 @@ lnm_err lnm_loop_run(lnm_loop *l);
 lnm_err lnm_loop_run_multi(lnm_loop *l, size_t epoll_threads,
                            size_t worker_threads);
 
+/**
+ * Advance the processing of the given connection.
+ *
+ * Behavior of this function depends on both the connection state and whether
+ * worker threads are enabled.
+ *
+ * For IO states, this function will perform network I/O along with executing
+ * the loop's respective processing functions.
+ *
+ * For work states, the respective processing functions are executed without
+ * performing any network I/O. If no worker queue is present, this function
+ * performs all blocking work until an I/O or the end state is reached. If there
+ * is a worker queue present, only one block of work is done before exiting,
+ * allowing further blocks of work to be scheduled on other worker threads.
+ *
+ * If no worker queue is present, this function will only exit once an I/O or
+ * end state is reached.
+ */
+void lnm_loop_conn_advance(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn);
+
 /**
  * Reschedule the given connection, either on the event loop for network IO or
  * on a worker thread for blocking work. Connections are terminated as needed.
diff --git a/src/_include/lnm/loop_internal.h b/src/_include/lnm/loop_internal.h
index a5e70a8..c71f303 100644
--- a/src/_include/lnm/loop_internal.h
+++ b/src/_include/lnm/loop_internal.h
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ void lnm_loop_conn_free(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn);
 
 lnm_err lnm_loop_accept(lnm_loop *l);
 
-void lnm_loop_conn_io(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn);
+void lnm_loop_conn_advance(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/http/lnm_http_loop.c b/src/http/lnm_http_loop.c
index 153b88c..bd83526 100644
--- a/src/http/lnm_http_loop.c
+++ b/src/http/lnm_http_loop.c
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ lnm_err lnm_http_loop_init(lnm_http_loop **out, void *c_gctx,
   return lnm_err_ok;
 }
 
-lnm_err lnm_http_step_init(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step_fn fn) {
+lnm_err lnm_http_step_append(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step_fn fn,
+                             bool blocking) {
   lnm_http_step *step = calloc(1, sizeof(lnm_http_step));
 
   if (step == NULL) {
@@ -36,19 +37,14 @@ lnm_err lnm_http_step_init(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step_fn fn) {
   }
 
   step->fn = fn;
-  *out = step;
+  step->blocking = blocking;
 
-  return lnm_err_ok;
-}
-
-lnm_err lnm_http_step_append(lnm_http_step **out, lnm_http_step *step,
-                             lnm_http_step_fn fn) {
-  LNM_RES(lnm_http_step_init(out, fn));
-
-  if (step != NULL) {
-    step->next = *out;
+  if ((*out) != NULL) {
+    (*out)->next = step;
   }
 
+  *out = step;
+
   return lnm_err_ok;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/http/lnm_http_loop_process.c b/src/http/lnm_http_loop_process.c
index 40f7180..1e465cf 100644
--- a/src/http/lnm_http_loop_process.c
+++ b/src/http/lnm_http_loop_process.c
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ void lnm_http_loop_process_steps(lnm_http_conn *conn) {
   while ((ctx->cur_step != NULL) && (step != ctx->cur_step)) {
     step = ctx->cur_step;
 
-    if (step->blocking && (conn->state != lnm_loop_state_req_blocking)) {
-      conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req_blocking;
+    if (step->blocking && (conn->state != lnm_loop_state_req_work)) {
+      conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req_work;
 
       break;
     }
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ void lnm_http_loop_process_steps(lnm_http_conn *conn) {
       break;
     case lnm_http_step_err_io_needed:
       // Ensure steps that require more I/O are executed on the event loop
-      conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req;
+      conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req_io;
       break;
     case lnm_http_step_err_close:
       conn->state = lnm_loop_state_end;
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ void lnm_http_loop_process_steps(lnm_http_conn *conn) {
   }
 
   if (ctx->cur_step == NULL) {
-    conn->state = lnm_loop_state_res;
+    conn->state = lnm_loop_state_res_io;
     ctx->state = lnm_http_loop_state_add_headers;
   }
 }
@@ -334,23 +334,23 @@ void (*process_fns[])(lnm_http_conn *conn) = {
 
 lnm_loop_state state_map[] = {
     // parse_req
-    lnm_loop_state_req,
+    lnm_loop_state_req_io,
     // route
-    lnm_loop_state_req,
+    lnm_loop_state_req_io,
     // parse_headers
-    lnm_loop_state_req,
+    lnm_loop_state_req_io,
     // steps
-    lnm_loop_state_req,
+    lnm_loop_state_req_io,
     // add_headers
-    lnm_loop_state_req,
+    lnm_loop_state_req_io,
     // write_status_line
-    lnm_loop_state_res,
+    lnm_loop_state_res_io,
     // write_headers
-    lnm_loop_state_res,
+    lnm_loop_state_res_io,
     // write_body
-    lnm_loop_state_res,
+    lnm_loop_state_res_io,
     // finish
-    lnm_loop_state_res,
+    lnm_loop_state_res_io,
 };
 
 void lnm_http_loop_process(lnm_http_conn *conn) {
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ void lnm_http_loop_process(lnm_http_conn *conn) {
 
   // We move the request to a dedicated buffer if the read buffer needs to be
   // reused
-  if ((conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req) && (conn->state == loop_state) &&
+  if ((conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req_io) && (conn->state == loop_state) &&
       (!ctx->req.buf.owned) && (ctx->req.buf.len > 0)) {
     char *buf = malloc(ctx->req.buf.len);
 
diff --git a/src/loop/lnm_loop.c b/src/loop/lnm_loop.c
index ac6e5eb..5154b1e 100644
--- a/src/loop/lnm_loop.c
+++ b/src/loop/lnm_loop.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ lnm_err lnm_loop_accept(lnm_loop *l) {
   LNM_RES2(lnm_loop_conn_init(&conn, l), close(conn_fd));
 
   conn->fd = conn_fd;
-  conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req;
+  conn->state = lnm_loop_state_req_io;
 
   struct epoll_event event = {.data.ptr = conn,
                               .events = EPOLLIN | EPOLLET | EPOLLONESHOT};
@@ -132,17 +132,17 @@ lnm_err lnm_loop_setup(lnm_loop *l, uint16_t port) {
 void lnm_loop_conn_schedule(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
   switch (conn->state) {
   // IO states get rescheduled in the epoll loop
-  case lnm_loop_state_req:
-  case lnm_loop_state_res: {
+  case lnm_loop_state_req_io:
+  case lnm_loop_state_res_io: {
     struct epoll_event event = {
         .data.ptr = conn,
-        .events = (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req ? EPOLLIN : EPOLLOUT) |
+        .events = (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req_io ? EPOLLIN : EPOLLOUT) |
                   EPOLLET | EPOLLONESHOT};
 
     epoll_ctl(l->epoll_fd, EPOLL_CTL_MOD, conn->fd, &event);
   } break;
-  case lnm_loop_state_req_blocking:
-  case lnm_loop_state_res_blocking:
+  case lnm_loop_state_req_work:
+  case lnm_loop_state_res_work:
     lnm_loop_queue_push(l->wq, conn);
     break;
   case lnm_loop_state_end: {
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ lnm_err lnm_loop_run(lnm_loop *l) {
         lnm_loop_conn *conn = events[i].data.ptr;
 
         // At this point, state is always an IO state
-        lnm_loop_conn_io(l, conn);
+        lnm_loop_conn_advance(l, conn);
         lnm_loop_conn_schedule(l, conn);
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/loop/lnm_loop_io.c b/src/loop/lnm_loop_io.c
index 34da2d9..58f5577 100644
--- a/src/loop/lnm_loop_io.c
+++ b/src/loop/lnm_loop_io.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "lnm/loop.h"
 #include "lnm/loop_internal.h"
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ void lnm_loop_conn_io_req(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
 
     conn->r.size += res;
     l->data_read(conn);
-  } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req);
+  } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req_io);
 }
 
 void lnm_loop_conn_io_res(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
@@ -64,17 +64,33 @@ void lnm_loop_conn_io_res(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
     // writer function more space to work with
     memmove(conn->w.buf, &conn->w.buf[res], conn->w.size - res);
     conn->w.size -= res;
-  } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_res);
+  } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_res_io);
 }
 
-void lnm_loop_conn_io(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
-  switch (conn->state) {
-  case lnm_loop_state_req:
-    lnm_loop_conn_io_req(l, conn);
-    break;
-  case lnm_loop_state_res:
-    lnm_loop_conn_io_res(l, conn);
-    break;
-  default:;
+void lnm_loop_conn_advance(lnm_loop *l, lnm_loop_conn *conn) {
+  do {
+
+    switch (conn->state) {
+    case lnm_loop_state_req_io:
+      lnm_loop_conn_io_req(l, conn);
+      break;
+    case lnm_loop_state_res_io:
+      lnm_loop_conn_io_res(l, conn);
+      break;
+    case lnm_loop_state_req_work:
+      do {
+        l->data_read(conn);
+      } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req_work);
+      break;
+    case lnm_loop_state_res_work:
+      do {
+        l->data_write(conn);
+      } while (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_res_work);
+      break;
+    default:;
+    }
   }
+  // Execute all blocking work if we're running in single-threaded mode
+  while (l->wq == NULL && (conn->state == lnm_loop_state_req_work ||
+                           conn->state == lnm_loop_state_res_work));
 }
diff --git a/src/loop/lnm_loop_worker.c b/src/loop/lnm_loop_worker.c
index 5e9d199..fba4848 100644
--- a/src/loop/lnm_loop_worker.c
+++ b/src/loop/lnm_loop_worker.c
@@ -86,16 +86,7 @@ void lnm_loop_worker_run(void *arg) {
     lnm_loop_conn *conn = lnm_loop_queue_pop(q);
     lnm_ldebug("loop", "worker %i processing fd %i", thread_id, conn->fd);
 
-    switch (conn->state) {
-    case lnm_loop_state_req_blocking:
-      l->data_read(conn);
-      break;
-    case lnm_loop_state_res_blocking:
-      l->data_write(conn);
-    // Other states shouldn't even end up here, so we ignore them
-    default:;
-    }
-
+    lnm_loop_conn_advance(l, conn);
     lnm_loop_conn_schedule(l, conn);
   }
 }