diff --git a/cpp/include/rapidsmpf/memory/spill_manager.hpp b/cpp/include/rapidsmpf/memory/spill_manager.hpp
index 43892fb7a..773a61d5e 100644
--- a/cpp/include/rapidsmpf/memory/spill_manager.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/rapidsmpf/memory/spill_manager.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <map>
 #include <mutex>
 #include <optional>
+#include <shared_mutex>
 
 #include <rapidsmpf/pausable_thread_loop.hpp>
 #include <rapidsmpf/utils/misc.hpp>
@@ -113,7 +114,11 @@ class SpillManager {
     std::size_t spill_to_make_headroom(std::int64_t headroom = 0);
 
   private:
-    mutable std::mutex mutex_;
+    // `spill()` takes a shared lock so spill work runs in parallel; add/remove take
+    // exclusive, which drains in-flight spillers before returning -- callers rely on this
+    // for safe teardown. SpillFunctions must be safe to invoke concurrently
+    // with themselves.
+    std::shared_mutex mutex_;
     BufferResource* br_;
     std::size_t spill_function_id_counter_{0};
     std::map<SpillFunctionID, SpillFunction> spill_functions_;
diff --git a/cpp/src/memory/spill_manager.cpp b/cpp/src/memory/spill_manager.cpp
index 6b20150d7..8c8f2ca6e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/memory/spill_manager.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/memory/spill_manager.cpp
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ SpillManager::~SpillManager() {
 SpillManager::SpillFunctionID SpillManager::add_spill_function(
     SpillFunction spill_function, int priority
 ) {
-    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
+    std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
     auto const id = spill_function_id_counter_++;
     RAPIDSMPF_EXPECTS(
         spill_functions_.insert({id, std::move(spill_function)}).second,
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ SpillManager::SpillFunctionID SpillManager::add_spill_function(
 }
 
 void SpillManager::remove_spill_function(SpillFunctionID fid) {
-    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
+    std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
     auto& prio = spill_function_priorities_;
     for (auto it = prio.begin(); it != prio.end(); ++it) {
         if (it->second == fid) {
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ void SpillManager::remove_spill_function(SpillFunctionID fid) {
 std::size_t SpillManager::spill(std::size_t amount) {
     RAPIDSMPF_NVTX_FUNC_RANGE();
     std::size_t spilled{0};
-    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
+    std::shared_lock lock(mutex_);
     for (auto const [_, fid] : spill_function_priorities_) {
         if (spilled >= amount) {
             break;
diff --git a/cpp/tests/test_spill_manager.cpp b/cpp/tests/test_spill_manager.cpp
index e4cbc541e..ac46bf010 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/test_spill_manager.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/test_spill_manager.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
  */
 
 
+#include <chrono>
+#include <condition_variable>
+#include <future>
+#include <mutex>
+#include <numeric>
+#include <vector>
+
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 #include <cudf_test/base_fixture.hpp>
@@ -74,3 +81,56 @@ TEST(SpillManager, SpillFunction) {
     EXPECT_EQ(br.spill_manager().spill_to_make_headroom(-100_KiB), 0);
     EXPECT_EQ(br.memory_available(MemoryType::DEVICE)(), 100_KiB);
 }
+
+// Verify that multiple concurrent `spill()` calls execute the spill function in
+// parallel. The spill function blocks at a rendezvous point until all worker
+// threads have entered it; with an exclusive lock this would deadlock and the
+// test would time out.
+TEST(SpillManager, ConcurrentSpill) {
+    constexpr int num_threads = 4;
+    constexpr auto rendezvous_timeout = std::chrono::seconds(5);
+
+    BufferResource br{
+        cudf::get_current_device_resource_ref(),
+        rapidsmpf::PinnedMemoryResource::Disabled,
+        {{MemoryType::DEVICE, []() -> std::int64_t { return 0; }}}
+    };
+
+    std::mutex m;
+    std::condition_variable cv;
+    int entered = 0;
+
+    SpillManager::SpillFunction func = [&](std::size_t amount) -> std::size_t {
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(m);
+        ++entered;
+        if (entered == num_threads) {
+            cv.notify_all();
+        }
+        // If spill() calls run in parallel, all threads quickly reach
+        // `entered == num_threads` and proceed. If they're serialized, every
+        // thread but the last times out here, so a successful (non-timeout)
+        // wait_for is proof that the calls actually overlapped.
+        EXPECT_TRUE(cv.wait_for(lock, rendezvous_timeout, [&] {
+            return entered == num_threads;
+        })) << "spill() calls did not run concurrently";
+        return amount;
+    };
+
+    br.spill_manager().add_spill_function(func, /* priority = */ 0);
+
+    std::vector<std::future<std::size_t>> futures;
+    futures.reserve(num_threads);
+    for (int i = 0; i < num_threads; ++i) {
+        futures.emplace_back(std::async(std::launch::async, [&] {
+            return br.spill_manager().spill(1_KiB);
+        }));
+    }
+    auto const total_spilled = std::accumulate(
+        futures.begin(),
+        futures.end(),
+        std::size_t{0},
+        [](std::size_t sum, std::future<std::size_t>& f) { return sum + f.get(); }
+    );
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(total_spilled, num_threads * 1_KiB);
+}