diff --git a/crates/bevy_asset/Cargo.toml b/crates/bevy_asset/Cargo.toml
index 5352a798ed..9de73b565c 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_asset/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/bevy_asset/Cargo.toml
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ log = { version = "0.4", features = ["release_max_level_info"] }
 notify = { version = "5.0.0-pre.2", optional = true }
 parking_lot = "0.11.0"
 rand = "0.7.3"
-async-trait = "0.1.40"
 
 [target.'cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")'.dependencies]
 wasm-bindgen = { version = "0.2" }
diff --git a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/file_asset_io.rs b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/file_asset_io.rs
index cda69be745..c98a2920df 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/file_asset_io.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/file_asset_io.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 use crate::{filesystem_watcher::FilesystemWatcher, AssetIo, AssetIoError, AssetServer};
 use anyhow::Result;
-use async_trait::async_trait;
-use bevy_ecs::Res;
+use bevy_ecs::{bevy_utils::BoxedFuture, Res};
 use bevy_utils::HashSet;
 use crossbeam_channel::TryRecvError;
 use fs::File;
@@ -42,23 +41,24 @@ impl FileAssetIo {
     }
 }
 
-#[async_trait]
 impl AssetIo for FileAssetIo {
-    async fn load_path(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError> {
-        let mut bytes = Vec::new();
-        match File::open(self.root_path.join(path)) {
-            Ok(mut file) => {
-                file.read_to_end(&mut bytes)?;
-            }
-            Err(e) => {
-                if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound {
-                    return Err(AssetIoError::NotFound(path.to_owned()));
-                } else {
-                    return Err(e.into());
+    fn load_path<'a>(&'a self, path: &'a Path) -> BoxedFuture<'a, Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError>> {
+        Box::pin(async move {
+            let mut bytes = Vec::new();
+            match File::open(self.root_path.join(path)) {
+                Ok(mut file) => {
+                    file.read_to_end(&mut bytes)?;
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound {
+                        return Err(AssetIoError::NotFound(path.to_owned()));
+                    } else {
+                        return Err(e.into());
+                    }
                 }
             }
-        }
-        Ok(bytes)
+            Ok(bytes)
+        })
     }
 
     fn read_directory(
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ impl AssetIo for FileAssetIo {
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "filesystem_watcher")]
+#[cfg(all(feature = "filesystem_watcher", not(target_arch = "wasm32")))]
 pub fn filesystem_watcher_system(asset_server: Res<AssetServer>) {
     let mut changed = HashSet::default();
     let asset_io =
diff --git a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/mod.rs b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/mod.rs
index 156bb24b1a..113df6d681 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/mod.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ pub use file_asset_io::*;
 pub use wasm_asset_io::*;
 
 use anyhow::Result;
-use async_trait::async_trait;
+use bevy_ecs::bevy_utils::BoxedFuture;
 use downcast_rs::{impl_downcast, Downcast};
 use std::{
     io,
@@ -29,10 +29,8 @@ pub enum AssetIoError {
 }
 
 /// Handles load requests from an AssetServer
-#[cfg_attr(target_arch = "wasm32", async_trait(?Send))]
-#[cfg_attr(not(target_arch = "wasm32"), async_trait)]
 pub trait AssetIo: Downcast + Send + Sync + 'static {
-    async fn load_path(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError>;
+    fn load_path<'a>(&'a self, path: &'a Path) -> BoxedFuture<'a, Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError>>;
     fn read_directory(
         &self,
         path: &Path,
diff --git a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/wasm_asset_io.rs b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/wasm_asset_io.rs
index 86d490b328..ecac806744 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/wasm_asset_io.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_asset/src/io/wasm_asset_io.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::{AssetIo, AssetIoError};
 use anyhow::Result;
-use async_trait::async_trait;
+use bevy_ecs::bevy_utils::BoxedFuture;
 use js_sys::Uint8Array;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use wasm_bindgen::JsCast;
@@ -19,18 +19,19 @@ impl WasmAssetIo {
     }
 }
 
-#[async_trait(?Send)]
 impl AssetIo for WasmAssetIo {
-    async fn load_path(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError> {
-        let path = self.root_path.join(path);
-        let window = web_sys::window().unwrap();
-        let resp_value = JsFuture::from(window.fetch_with_str(path.to_str().unwrap()))
-            .await
-            .unwrap();
-        let resp: Response = resp_value.dyn_into().unwrap();
-        let data = JsFuture::from(resp.array_buffer().unwrap()).await.unwrap();
-        let bytes = Uint8Array::new(&data).to_vec();
-        Ok(bytes)
+    fn load_path<'a>(&'a self, path: &'a Path) -> BoxedFuture<'a, Result<Vec<u8>, AssetIoError>> {
+        Box::pin(async move {
+            let path = self.root_path.join(path);
+            let window = web_sys::window().unwrap();
+            let resp_value = JsFuture::from(window.fetch_with_str(path.to_str().unwrap()))
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+            let resp: Response = resp_value.dyn_into().unwrap();
+            let data = JsFuture::from(resp.array_buffer().unwrap()).await.unwrap();
+            let bytes = Uint8Array::new(&data).to_vec();
+            Ok(bytes)
+        })
     }
 
     fn read_directory(
diff --git a/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs b/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
index 06639c4daf..ca594002e7 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@ use std::{future::Future, pin::Pin};
 
 pub use ahash::AHasher;
 
+#[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
 pub type BoxedFuture<'a, T> = Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = T> + Send + 'a>>;
+
+#[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")]
+pub type BoxedFuture<'a, T> = Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = T> + 'a>>;
+
 pub type HashMap<K, V> = std::collections::HashMap<K, V, RandomState>;
 pub type HashSet<K> = std::collections::HashSet<K, RandomState>;