diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
index edd8f4a37c4..1a2102ad8a2 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import java.util.function.Function;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.kafka.KafkaProperties.Listener;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.PropertyMapper;
+import org.springframework.core.task.SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor;
 import org.springframework.kafka.config.ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory;
 import org.springframework.kafka.core.ConsumerFactory;
 import org.springframework.kafka.core.KafkaTemplate;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ import org.springframework.kafka.transaction.KafkaAwareTransactionManager;
  * @author Gary Russell
  * @author Eddú Meléndez
  * @author Thomas Kåsene
+ * @author Moritz Halbritter
  * @since 1.5.0
  */
 public class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer {
@@ -70,6 +72,8 @@ public class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer {
 
 	private Function<MessageListenerContainer, String> threadNameSupplier;
 
+	private SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor listenerTaskExecutor;
+
 	/**
 	 * Set the {@link KafkaProperties} to use.
 	 * @param properties the properties
@@ -168,6 +172,14 @@ public class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer {
 		this.threadNameSupplier = threadNameSupplier;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set the executor for threads that poll the consumer.
+	 * @param listenerTaskExecutor task executor
+	 */
+	void setListenerTaskExecutor(SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor listenerTaskExecutor) {
+		this.listenerTaskExecutor = listenerTaskExecutor;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Configure the specified Kafka listener container factory. The factory can be
 	 * further tuned and default settings can be overridden.
@@ -226,6 +238,7 @@ public class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer {
 		map.from(properties::isImmediateStop).to(container::setStopImmediate);
 		map.from(this.transactionManager).to(container::setTransactionManager);
 		map.from(this.rebalanceListener).to(container::setConsumerRebalanceListener);
+		map.from(this.listenerTaskExecutor).to(container::setListenerTaskExecutor);
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAnnotationDrivenConfiguration.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAnnotationDrivenConfiguration.java
index bedeec2844a..f7a103305f0 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAnnotationDrivenConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAnnotationDrivenConfiguration.java
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ import java.util.function.Function;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.ObjectProvider;
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnClass;
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnMissingBean;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnThreading;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.thread.Threading;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.core.task.SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor;
 import org.springframework.kafka.annotation.EnableKafka;
 import org.springframework.kafka.config.ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory;
 import org.springframework.kafka.config.ContainerCustomizer;
@@ -49,6 +52,7 @@ import org.springframework.kafka.transaction.KafkaAwareTransactionManager;
  * @author Gary Russell
  * @author Eddú Meléndez
  * @author Thomas Kåsene
+ * @author Moritz Halbritter
  */
 @Configuration(proxyBeanMethods = false)
 @ConditionalOnClass(EnableKafka.class)
@@ -107,7 +111,23 @@ class KafkaAnnotationDrivenConfiguration {
 
 	@Bean
 	@ConditionalOnMissingBean
+	@ConditionalOnThreading(Threading.PLATFORM)
 	ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer kafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer() {
+		return configurer();
+	}
+
+	@Bean(name = "kafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer")
+	@ConditionalOnMissingBean
+	@ConditionalOnThreading(Threading.VIRTUAL)
+	ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer kafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerVirtualThreads() {
+		ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer configurer = configurer();
+		SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor executor = new SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor("kafka-");
+		executor.setVirtualThreads(true);
+		configurer.setListenerTaskExecutor(executor);
+		return configurer;
+	}
+
+	private ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer configurer() {
 		ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer configurer = new ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer();
 		configurer.setKafkaProperties(this.properties);
 		configurer.setBatchMessageConverter(this.batchMessageConverter);
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerTests.java
index b82a6efcabd..779d9974d3f 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerTests.java
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@ import java.util.function.Function;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import org.springframework.core.task.SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor;
 import org.springframework.kafka.config.ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory;
 import org.springframework.kafka.core.ConsumerFactory;
 import org.springframework.kafka.listener.MessageListenerContainer;
 
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.then;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
@@ -70,4 +72,12 @@ class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurerTests {
 		then(this.factory).should().setChangeConsumerThreadName(true);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void shouldApplyListenerTaskExecutor() {
+		SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor executor = new SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor();
+		this.configurer.setListenerTaskExecutor(executor);
+		this.configurer.configure(this.factory, this.consumerFactory);
+		assertThat(this.factory.getContainerProperties().getListenerTaskExecutor()).isEqualTo(executor);
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
index f274a3b5177..516db167450 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ import org.apache.kafka.streams.StreamsBuilder;
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.StreamsConfig;
 import org.assertj.core.api.InstanceOfAssertFactories;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.EnabledForJreRange;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.JRE;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
 
@@ -47,8 +49,11 @@ import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.AutoConfigurations;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.assertj.AssertableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.runner.ApplicationContextRunner;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.runner.ContextConsumer;
+import org.springframework.boot.testsupport.assertj.SimpleAsyncTaskExecutorAssert;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.core.task.AsyncTaskExecutor;
+import org.springframework.core.task.SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor;
 import org.springframework.kafka.annotation.EnableKafkaStreams;
 import org.springframework.kafka.annotation.KafkaStreamsDefaultConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.kafka.config.AbstractKafkaListenerContainerFactory;
@@ -570,6 +575,31 @@ class KafkaAutoConfigurationTests {
 		});
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void shouldUsePlatformThreadsByDefault() {
+		this.contextRunner.run((context) -> {
+			ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory<?, ?> factory = context
+				.getBean(ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory.class);
+			assertThat(factory).isNotNull();
+			AsyncTaskExecutor listenerTaskExecutor = factory.getContainerProperties().getListenerTaskExecutor();
+			assertThat(listenerTaskExecutor).isNull();
+		});
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@EnabledForJreRange(min = JRE.JAVA_21)
+	void shouldUseVirtualThreadsIfEnabled() {
+		this.contextRunner.withPropertyValues("spring.threads.virtual.enabled=true").run((context) -> {
+			ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory<?, ?> factory = context
+				.getBean(ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactory.class);
+			assertThat(factory).isNotNull();
+			AsyncTaskExecutor listenerTaskExecutor = factory.getContainerProperties().getListenerTaskExecutor();
+			assertThat(listenerTaskExecutor).isInstanceOf(SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor.class);
+			SimpleAsyncTaskExecutorAssert.assertThat((SimpleAsyncTaskExecutor) listenerTaskExecutor)
+				.usesVirtualThreads();
+		});
+	}
+
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	@Test
 	void listenerProperties() {