diff --git a/src/execution/__tests__/subscribe-test.ts b/src/execution/__tests__/subscribe-test.ts
index d943ef4006..03e3da2839 100644
--- a/src/execution/__tests__/subscribe-test.ts
+++ b/src/execution/__tests__/subscribe-test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import { expectJSON } from '../../__testUtils__/expectJSON';
 import { resolveOnNextTick } from '../../__testUtils__/resolveOnNextTick';
 
 import { isAsyncIterable } from '../../jsutils/isAsyncIterable';
+import { isPromise } from '../../jsutils/isPromise';
+import type { PromiseOrValue } from '../../jsutils/PromiseOrValue';
 
 import { parse } from '../../language/parser';
 
@@ -123,28 +125,49 @@ function createSubscription(pubsub: SimplePubSub<Email>) {
   return subscribe({ schema: emailSchema, document, rootValue: data });
 }
 
-async function expectPromise(promise: Promise<unknown>) {
-  let caughtError: Error;
-
-  try {
-    /* c8 ignore next 2 */
-    await promise;
-    expect.fail('promise should have thrown but did not');
-  } catch (error) {
-    caughtError = error;
-  }
+// TODO: consider adding this method to testUtils (with tests)
+function expectPromise(maybePromise: unknown) {
+  assert(isPromise(maybePromise));
 
   return {
-    toReject() {
-      expect(caughtError).to.be.an.instanceOf(Error);
+    toResolve() {
+      return maybePromise;
     },
-    toRejectWith(message: string) {
+    async toRejectWith(message: string) {
+      let caughtError: Error;
+
+      try {
+        /* c8 ignore next 2 */
+        await maybePromise;
+        expect.fail('promise should have thrown but did not');
+      } catch (error) {
+        caughtError = error;
+      }
+
       expect(caughtError).to.be.an.instanceOf(Error);
       expect(caughtError).to.have.property('message', message);
     },
   };
 }
 
+// TODO: consider adding this method to testUtils (with tests)
+function expectEqualPromisesOrValues<T>(
+  value1: PromiseOrValue<T>,
+  value2: PromiseOrValue<T>,
+): PromiseOrValue<T> {
+  if (isPromise(value1)) {
+    assert(isPromise(value2));
+    return Promise.all([value1, value2]).then((resolved) => {
+      expectJSON(resolved[1]).toDeepEqual(resolved[0]);
+      return resolved[0];
+    });
+  }
+
+  assert(!isPromise(value2));
+  expectJSON(value2).toDeepEqual(value1);
+  return value1;
+}
+
 const DummyQueryType = new GraphQLObjectType({
   name: 'Query',
   fields: {
@@ -152,9 +175,9 @@ const DummyQueryType = new GraphQLObjectType({
   },
 });
 
-async function subscribeWithBadFn(
+function subscribeWithBadFn(
   subscribeFn: () => unknown,
-): Promise<ExecutionResult> {
+): PromiseOrValue<ExecutionResult | AsyncIterable<unknown>> {
   const schema = new GraphQLSchema({
     query: DummyQueryType,
     subscription: new GraphQLObjectType({
@@ -165,13 +188,11 @@ async function subscribeWithBadFn(
     }),
   });
   const document = parse('subscription { foo }');
-  const result = await subscribe({ schema, document });
 
-  assert(!isAsyncIterable(result));
-  expectJSON(await createSourceEventStream(schema, document)).toDeepEqual(
-    result,
+  return expectEqualPromisesOrValues(
+    subscribe({ schema, document }),
+    createSourceEventStream(schema, document),
   );
-  return result;
 }
 
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/require-await */
@@ -193,7 +214,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
       yield { foo: 'FooValue' };
     }
 
-    const subscription = await subscribe({
+    const subscription = subscribe({
       schema,
       document: parse('subscription { foo }'),
       rootValue: { foo: fooGenerator },
@@ -229,7 +250,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
       }),
     });
 
-    const subscription = await subscribe({
+    const subscription = subscribe({
       schema,
       document: parse('subscription { foo }'),
     });
@@ -267,10 +288,13 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
       }),
     });
 
-    const subscription = await subscribe({
+    const promise = subscribe({
       schema,
       document: parse('subscription { foo }'),
     });
+    assert(isPromise(promise));
+
+    const subscription = await promise;
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     expect(await subscription.next()).to.deep.equal({
@@ -299,7 +323,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
       yield { foo: 'FooValue' };
     }
 
-    const subscription = await subscribe({
+    const subscription = subscribe({
       schema,
       document: parse('subscription { foo }'),
       rootValue: { customFoo: fooGenerator },
@@ -349,7 +373,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
       }),
     });
 
-    const subscription = await subscribe({
+    const subscription = subscribe({
       schema,
       document: parse('subscription { foo bar }'),
     });
@@ -379,31 +403,29 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
     });
 
     // @ts-expect-error (schema must not be null)
-    (await expectPromise(subscribe({ schema: null, document }))).toRejectWith(
+    expect(() => subscribe({ schema: null, document })).to.throw(
       'Expected null to be a GraphQL schema.',
     );
 
     // @ts-expect-error
-    (await expectPromise(subscribe({ document }))).toRejectWith(
+    expect(() => subscribe({ document })).to.throw(
       'Expected undefined to be a GraphQL schema.',
     );
 
     // @ts-expect-error (document must not be null)
-    (await expectPromise(subscribe({ schema, document: null }))).toRejectWith(
+    expect(() => subscribe({ schema, document: null })).to.throw(
       'Must provide document.',
     );
 
     // @ts-expect-error
-    (await expectPromise(subscribe({ schema }))).toRejectWith(
-      'Must provide document.',
-    );
+    expect(() => subscribe({ schema })).to.throw('Must provide document.');
   });
 
   it('resolves to an error if schema does not support subscriptions', async () => {
     const schema = new GraphQLSchema({ query: DummyQueryType });
     const document = parse('subscription { unknownField }');
 
-    const result = await subscribe({ schema, document });
+    const result = subscribe({ schema, document });
     expectJSON(result).toDeepEqual({
       errors: [
         {
@@ -427,7 +449,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
     });
     const document = parse('subscription { unknownField }');
 
-    const result = await subscribe({ schema, document });
+    const result = subscribe({ schema, document });
     expectJSON(result).toDeepEqual({
       errors: [
         {
@@ -450,11 +472,11 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
     });
 
     // @ts-expect-error
-    (await expectPromise(subscribe({ schema, document: {} }))).toReject();
+    expect(() => subscribe({ schema, document: {} })).to.throw();
   });
 
   it('throws an error if subscribe does not return an iterator', async () => {
-    expectJSON(await subscribeWithBadFn(() => 'test')).toDeepEqual({
+    const expectedResult = {
       errors: [
         {
           message:
@@ -463,7 +485,15 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
           path: ['foo'],
         },
       ],
-    });
+    };
+
+    expectJSON(subscribeWithBadFn(() => 'test')).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
+
+    expectJSON(
+      await expectPromise(
+        subscribeWithBadFn(() => Promise.resolve('test')),
+      ).toResolve(),
+    ).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
   });
 
   it('resolves to an error for subscription resolver errors', async () => {
@@ -479,24 +509,28 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
 
     expectJSON(
       // Returning an error
-      await subscribeWithBadFn(() => new Error('test error')),
+      subscribeWithBadFn(() => new Error('test error')),
     ).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
 
     expectJSON(
       // Throwing an error
-      await subscribeWithBadFn(() => {
+      subscribeWithBadFn(() => {
         throw new Error('test error');
       }),
     ).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
 
     expectJSON(
       // Resolving to an error
-      await subscribeWithBadFn(() => Promise.resolve(new Error('test error'))),
+      await expectPromise(
+        subscribeWithBadFn(() => Promise.resolve(new Error('test error'))),
+      ).toResolve(),
     ).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
 
     expectJSON(
       // Rejecting with an error
-      await subscribeWithBadFn(() => Promise.reject(new Error('test error'))),
+      await expectPromise(
+        subscribeWithBadFn(() => Promise.reject(new Error('test error'))),
+      ).toResolve(),
     ).toDeepEqual(expectedResult);
   });
 
@@ -523,7 +557,7 @@ describe('Subscription Initialization Phase', () => {
 
     // If we receive variables that cannot be coerced correctly, subscribe() will
     // resolve to an ExecutionResult that contains an informative error description.
-    const result = await subscribe({ schema, document, variableValues });
+    const result = subscribe({ schema, document, variableValues });
     expectJSON(result).toDeepEqual({
       errors: [
         {
@@ -541,10 +575,10 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
   it('produces a payload for multiple subscribe in same subscription', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
 
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
-    const secondSubscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const secondSubscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(secondSubscription));
 
     const payload1 = subscription.next();
@@ -583,7 +617,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
 
   it('produces a payload per subscription event', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     // Wait for the next subscription payload.
@@ -672,7 +706,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
 
   it('produces a payload when there are multiple events', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     let payload = subscription.next();
@@ -738,7 +772,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
 
   it('should not trigger when subscription is already done', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     let payload = subscription.next();
@@ -792,7 +826,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
 
   it('should not trigger when subscription is thrown', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     let payload = subscription.next();
@@ -845,7 +879,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
 
   it('event order is correct for multiple publishes', async () => {
     const pubsub = new SimplePubSub<Email>();
-    const subscription = await createSubscription(pubsub);
+    const subscription = createSubscription(pubsub);
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     let payload = subscription.next();
@@ -936,7 +970,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
     });
 
     const document = parse('subscription { newMessage }');
-    const subscription = await subscribe({ schema, document });
+    const subscription = subscribe({ schema, document });
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     expect(await subscription.next()).to.deep.equal({
@@ -997,7 +1031,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
     });
 
     const document = parse('subscription { newMessage }');
-    const subscription = await subscribe({ schema, document });
+    const subscription = subscribe({ schema, document });
     assert(isAsyncIterable(subscription));
 
     expect(await subscription.next()).to.deep.equal({
@@ -1007,7 +1041,7 @@ describe('Subscription Publish Phase', () => {
       },
     });
 
-    (await expectPromise(subscription.next())).toRejectWith('test error');
+    await expectPromise(subscription.next()).toRejectWith('test error');
 
     expect(await subscription.next()).to.deep.equal({
       done: true,
diff --git a/src/execution/subscribe.ts b/src/execution/subscribe.ts
index e54949830c..9ff7cd2112 100644
--- a/src/execution/subscribe.ts
+++ b/src/execution/subscribe.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import { inspect } from '../jsutils/inspect';
 import { isAsyncIterable } from '../jsutils/isAsyncIterable';
+import { isPromise } from '../jsutils/isPromise';
 import type { Maybe } from '../jsutils/Maybe';
 import { addPath, pathToArray } from '../jsutils/Path';
+import type { PromiseOrValue } from '../jsutils/PromiseOrValue';
 
 import { GraphQLError } from '../error/GraphQLError';
 import { locatedError } from '../error/locatedError';
@@ -47,9 +49,11 @@ import { getArgumentValues } from './values';
  *
  * Accepts either an object with named arguments, or individual arguments.
  */
-export async function subscribe(
+export function subscribe(
   args: ExecutionArgs,
-): Promise<AsyncGenerator<ExecutionResult, void, void> | ExecutionResult> {
+): PromiseOrValue<
+  AsyncGenerator<ExecutionResult, void, void> | ExecutionResult
+> {
   const {
     schema,
     document,
@@ -61,7 +65,7 @@ export async function subscribe(
     subscribeFieldResolver,
   } = args;
 
-  const resultOrStream = await createSourceEventStream(
+  const resultOrStream = createSourceEventStream(
     schema,
     document,
     rootValue,
@@ -71,6 +75,42 @@ export async function subscribe(
     subscribeFieldResolver,
   );
 
+  if (isPromise(resultOrStream)) {
+    return resultOrStream.then((resolvedResultOrStream) =>
+      mapSourceToResponse(
+        schema,
+        document,
+        resolvedResultOrStream,
+        contextValue,
+        variableValues,
+        operationName,
+        fieldResolver,
+      ),
+    );
+  }
+
+  return mapSourceToResponse(
+    schema,
+    document,
+    resultOrStream,
+    contextValue,
+    variableValues,
+    operationName,
+    fieldResolver,
+  );
+}
+
+function mapSourceToResponse(
+  schema: GraphQLSchema,
+  document: DocumentNode,
+  resultOrStream: ExecutionResult | AsyncIterable<unknown>,
+  contextValue?: unknown,
+  variableValues?: Maybe<{ readonly [variable: string]: unknown }>,
+  operationName?: Maybe<string>,
+  fieldResolver?: Maybe<GraphQLFieldResolver<any, any>>,
+): PromiseOrValue<
+  AsyncGenerator<ExecutionResult, void, void> | ExecutionResult
+> {
   if (!isAsyncIterable(resultOrStream)) {
     return resultOrStream;
   }
@@ -81,7 +121,7 @@ export async function subscribe(
   // the GraphQL specification. The `execute` function provides the
   // "ExecuteSubscriptionEvent" algorithm, as it is nearly identical to the
   // "ExecuteQuery" algorithm, for which `execute` is also used.
-  const mapSourceToResponse = (payload: unknown) =>
+  return mapAsyncIterator(resultOrStream, (payload: unknown) =>
     execute({
       schema,
       document,
@@ -90,10 +130,8 @@ export async function subscribe(
       variableValues,
       operationName,
       fieldResolver,
-    });
-
-  // Map every source value to a ExecutionResult value as described above.
-  return mapAsyncIterator(resultOrStream, mapSourceToResponse);
+    }),
+  );
 }
 
 /**
@@ -124,7 +162,7 @@ export async function subscribe(
  * or otherwise separating these two steps. For more on this, see the
  * "Supporting Subscriptions at Scale" information in the GraphQL specification.
  */
-export async function createSourceEventStream(
+export function createSourceEventStream(
   schema: GraphQLSchema,
   document: DocumentNode,
   rootValue?: unknown,
@@ -132,7 +170,7 @@ export async function createSourceEventStream(
   variableValues?: Maybe<{ readonly [variable: string]: unknown }>,
   operationName?: Maybe<string>,
   subscribeFieldResolver?: Maybe<GraphQLFieldResolver<any, any>>,
-): Promise<AsyncIterable<unknown> | ExecutionResult> {
+): PromiseOrValue<AsyncIterable<unknown> | ExecutionResult> {
   // If arguments are missing or incorrectly typed, this is an internal
   // developer mistake which should throw an early error.
   assertValidExecutionArguments(schema, document, variableValues);
@@ -155,7 +193,10 @@ export async function createSourceEventStream(
   }
 
   try {
-    const eventStream = await executeSubscription(exeContext);
+    const eventStream = executeSubscription(exeContext);
+    if (isPromise(eventStream)) {
+      return eventStream.then(undefined, (error) => ({ errors: [error] }));
+    }
 
     return eventStream;
   } catch (error) {
@@ -163,9 +204,9 @@ export async function createSourceEventStream(
   }
 }
 
-async function executeSubscription(
+function executeSubscription(
   exeContext: ExecutionContext,
-): Promise<AsyncIterable<unknown>> {
+): PromiseOrValue<AsyncIterable<unknown>> {
   const { schema, fragments, operation, variableValues, rootValue } =
     exeContext;
 
@@ -220,22 +261,32 @@ async function executeSubscription(
     // Call the `subscribe()` resolver or the default resolver to produce an
     // AsyncIterable yielding raw payloads.
     const resolveFn = fieldDef.subscribe ?? exeContext.subscribeFieldResolver;
-    const eventStream = await resolveFn(rootValue, args, contextValue, info);
+    const result = resolveFn(rootValue, args, contextValue, info);
 
-    if (eventStream instanceof Error) {
-      throw eventStream;
+    if (isPromise(result)) {
+      return result.then(assertEventStream).then(undefined, (error) => {
+        throw locatedError(error, fieldNodes, pathToArray(path));
+      });
     }
 
-    // Assert field returned an event stream, otherwise yield an error.
-    if (!isAsyncIterable(eventStream)) {
-      throw new GraphQLError(
-        'Subscription field must return Async Iterable. ' +
-          `Received: ${inspect(eventStream)}.`,
-      );
-    }
-
-    return eventStream;
+    return assertEventStream(result);
   } catch (error) {
     throw locatedError(error, fieldNodes, pathToArray(path));
   }
 }
+
+function assertEventStream(result: unknown): AsyncIterable<unknown> {
+  if (result instanceof Error) {
+    throw result;
+  }
+
+  // Assert field returned an event stream, otherwise yield an error.
+  if (!isAsyncIterable(result)) {
+    throw new GraphQLError(
+      'Subscription field must return Async Iterable. ' +
+        `Received: ${inspect(result)}.`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}