diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/asciidoc/eventbus.adoc b/vertx-core/src/main/asciidoc/eventbus.adoc
index c94011962af..5d61a8f1c48 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/asciidoc/eventbus.adoc
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/asciidoc/eventbus.adoc
@@ -240,6 +240,25 @@ persisted in storage, or `false` if not.
 * A message consumer which processes an order might acknowledge with `true` when the order has been successfully processed
 so it can be deleted from the database
 
+==== Observability and Message Processing
+
+When messages are consumed, Vert.x automatically manages observability signals such as tracing to track the message processing lifecycle.
+By default, these signals are completed when the message handler returns.
+
+This works well for synchronous handlers but may not be ideal for asynchronous or blocking operations.
+
+For example, if your handler performs work on a worker thread, the tracer span would be closed before the actual work completes, resulting in inaccurate trace timing and context loss.
+
+For asynchronous processing, you can register a processor with {@link io.vertx.core.eventbus.MessageConsumer#processor(java.util.function.Function)}.
+The future returned by the processor signals the completion of message processing.
+
+[source,$lang]
+----
+{@link examples.EventBusExamples#example13}
+----
+
+IMPORTANT: When a processor is used, the returned future completion defines the end of processing for all event bus messaging paradigms except request/reply.
+
 ==== Sending with timeouts
 
 When sending a message with a reply handler, you can specify a timeout in the {@link io.vertx.core.eventbus.DeliveryOptions}.
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/java/examples/EventBusExamples.java b/vertx-core/src/main/java/examples/EventBusExamples.java
index b4fa8054a08..05f26514330 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/java/examples/EventBusExamples.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/java/examples/EventBusExamples.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 package examples;
 
+import io.vertx.core.Future;
 import io.vertx.core.Vertx;
 import io.vertx.core.VertxOptions;
 import io.vertx.core.eventbus.*;
@@ -173,4 +174,19 @@ public void headers(EventBus eventBus) {
   class MyPOJO {
 
   }
+
+  public void example13(Vertx vertx) {
+    EventBus eb = vertx.eventBus();
+
+    eb.<String>consumer("order.process").processor(message -> {
+      String orderId = message.body();
+      Future<Void> future = processOrderAsync(orderId);
+      return future;
+    });
+  }
+
+  private Future<Void> processOrderAsync(String orderId) {
+    // Simulated async operation
+    return Future.succeededFuture();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/MessageConsumer.java b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/MessageConsumer.java
index 4956130a80e..f6e783deb8d 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/MessageConsumer.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/MessageConsumer.java
@@ -11,11 +11,16 @@
 
 package io.vertx.core.eventbus;
 
+import io.vertx.codegen.annotations.GenIgnore;
 import io.vertx.codegen.annotations.VertxGen;
 import io.vertx.core.Future;
 import io.vertx.core.Handler;
 import io.vertx.core.streams.ReadStream;
 
+import java.util.function.Function;
+
+import static io.vertx.codegen.annotations.GenIgnore.PERMITTED_TYPE;
+
 /**
  * An event bus consumer object representing a stream of message to an {@link EventBus} address that can
  * be read from.
@@ -38,6 +43,17 @@ public interface MessageConsumer<T> extends ReadStream<Message<T>> {
   @Override
   MessageConsumer<T> handler(Handler<Message<T>> handler);
 
+  /**
+   * Set a processor for the consumer.
+   * <p>
+   * The returned future completion signals the completion of message processing.
+   *
+   * @param processor the processor
+   * @return this consumer
+   */
+  @GenIgnore(PERMITTED_TYPE)
+  MessageConsumer<T> processor(Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor);
+
   @Override
   MessageConsumer<T> pause();
 
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/HandlerRegistration.java b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/HandlerRegistration.java
index dbca4538e46..4f5b983aa24 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/HandlerRegistration.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/HandlerRegistration.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import io.vertx.core.tracing.TracingPolicy;
 
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
 public abstract class HandlerRegistration<T> implements Closeable {
 
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ public String address() {
 
   protected abstract void doReceive(Message<T> msg);
 
-  protected abstract void dispatchMessage(Message<T> msg, ContextInternal context, Handler<Message<T>> handler);
+  protected abstract void dispatchMessage(Message<T> msg, ContextInternal context, Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor, Completable<Void> completion);
 
   synchronized void register(boolean broadcast, boolean localOnly, Completable<Void> promise) {
     if (registered != null) {
@@ -91,18 +92,18 @@ public Future<Void> unregister() {
     return promise.future();
   }
 
-  void dispatchMessage(Handler<Message<T>> handler, MessageImpl<?, T> message, ContextInternal context) {
+  void dispatchMessage(Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor, MessageImpl<?, T> message, ContextInternal context) {
     Handler<DeliveryContext<?>>[] interceptors = message.bus.inboundInterceptors();
     if (interceptors.length > 0) {
-      Runnable dispatch = () -> dispatch(context, message, handler);
+      Runnable dispatch = () -> dispatch(context, message, processor);
       DeliveryContextImpl<T> deliveryCtx = new DeliveryContextImpl<>(message, interceptors, context, message.receivedBody, dispatch);
       deliveryCtx.next();
     } else {
-      dispatch(context, message, handler);
+      dispatch(context, message, processor);
     }
   }
 
-  private void dispatch(ContextInternal ctx, MessageImpl<?, T> message, Handler<Message<T>> handler) {
+  private void dispatch(ContextInternal ctx, MessageImpl<?, T> message, Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor) {
     Object m = metric;
     VertxTracer tracer = ctx.tracer();
     if (bus.metrics != null) {
@@ -110,16 +111,43 @@ private void dispatch(ContextInternal ctx, MessageImpl<?, T> message, Handler<Me
     }
     if (tracer != null && !src) {
       message.trace = tracer.receiveRequest(ctx, SpanKind.RPC, TracingPolicy.PROPAGATE, message, message.isSend() ? "send" : "publish", message.headers(), MessageTagExtractor.INSTANCE);
-      dispatchMessage(message, ctx, handler);
-      Object trace = message.trace;
-      if (message.replyAddress == null && trace != null) {
-        tracer.sendResponse(ctx, null, trace, null, TagExtractor.empty());
+      Promise<Void> completion = ctx.promise();
+      dispatchMessage(message, ctx, processor, completion);
+      if (message.replyAddress == null && message.trace != null) {
+        completion.future().onComplete(new TraceNoReplyCompletion(tracer, ctx, message.trace));
       }
     } else {
-      dispatchMessage(message, ctx, handler);
+      dispatchMessage(message, ctx, processor, NO_OP);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static class TraceNoReplyCompletion implements Handler<AsyncResult<Void>> {
+    final VertxTracer tracer;
+    final ContextInternal ctx;
+    final Object trace;
+
+    TraceNoReplyCompletion(VertxTracer tracer, ContextInternal ctx, Object trace) {
+      this.tracer = tracer;
+      this.ctx = ctx;
+      this.trace = trace;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void handle(AsyncResult<Void> ar) {
+      if (ar.succeeded()) {
+        tracer.sendResponse(ctx, null, trace, null, TagExtractor.empty());
+      } else {
+        tracer.sendResponse(ctx, null, trace, ar.cause(), TagExtractor.empty());
+      }
     }
   }
 
+  private static final Completable<Void> NO_OP = new Completable<>() {
+    @Override
+    public void complete(Void result, Throwable failure) {
+    }
+  };
+
   void discardMessage(Message<T> msg) {
     if (bus.metrics != null) {
       bus.metrics.discardMessage(metric, ((MessageImpl)msg).isLocal(), msg);
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageConsumerImpl.java b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageConsumerImpl.java
index 319259497c0..dc337ce5875 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageConsumerImpl.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageConsumerImpl.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 import io.vertx.core.internal.logging.LoggerFactory;
 import io.vertx.core.streams.ReadStream;
 
+import java.util.function.Function;
+
 /**
  */
 public class MessageConsumerImpl<T> extends HandlerRegistration<T> implements MessageConsumer<T> {
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ public class MessageConsumerImpl<T> extends HandlerRegistration<T> implements Me
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MessageConsumerImpl.class);
 
   private final boolean localOnly;
-  private Handler<Message<T>> handler;
+  private Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor;
   private Handler<Void> endHandler;
   private Handler<Message<T>> discardHandler;
   private final int maxBufferedMessages;
@@ -52,12 +54,12 @@ protected void handlePause() {
       }
       @Override
       protected void handleMessage(Message<T> msg) {
-        Handler<Message<T>> handler;
+        Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor;
         synchronized (MessageConsumerImpl.this) {
-          handler = MessageConsumerImpl.this.handler;
+          processor = MessageConsumerImpl.this.processor;
         }
-        if (handler != null) {
-          dispatchMessage(handler, (MessageImpl<?, T>) msg, context.duplicate());
+        if (processor != null) {
+          dispatchMessage(processor, (MessageImpl<?, T>) msg, context.duplicate());
         } else {
           handleDiscard(msg, false);
         }
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ public synchronized Future<Void> completion() {
 
   @Override
   public synchronized Future<Void> unregister() {
-    handler = null;
+    processor = null;
     if (endHandler != null) {
       endHandler.handle(null);
     }
@@ -118,11 +120,22 @@ protected void doReceive(Message<T> message) {
   }
 
   @Override
-  protected void dispatchMessage(Message<T> msg, ContextInternal context, Handler<Message<T>> handler) {
-    if (handler == null) {
+  protected void dispatchMessage(Message<T> msg, ContextInternal context, Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor, Completable<Void> completion) {
+    if (processor == null) {
       throw new NullPointerException();
     }
-    context.dispatch(msg, handler);
+    context.dispatch(msg, message -> {
+      try {
+        Future<Void> future = processor.apply(message);
+        if (future == null) {
+          completion.fail(new NullPointerException("processor returned null"));
+        } else {
+          future.onComplete(completion);
+        }
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        completion.fail(e);
+      }
+    });
   }
 
   /*
@@ -135,28 +148,55 @@ public synchronized void discardHandler(Handler<Message<T>> handler) {
   @Override
   public synchronized MessageConsumer<T> handler(Handler<Message<T>> h) {
     if (h != null) {
-      synchronized (this) {
-        handler = h;
-        if (!registered) {
-          registered = true;
-          Promise<Void> p = result;
-          Promise<Void> registration = context.promise();
-          register(true, localOnly, registration);
-          registration.future().onComplete(ar -> {
-            if (ar.succeeded()) {
-              p.tryComplete();
-            } else {
-              p.tryFail(ar.cause());
-            }
-          });
-        }
-      }
+      processor = new HandlerAdapter<>(h);
+      registerIfNeeded();
+    } else {
+      unregister();
+    }
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  private static class HandlerAdapter<BODY_TYPE> implements Function<Message<BODY_TYPE>, Future<Void>> {
+    final Handler<Message<BODY_TYPE>> h;
+
+    HandlerAdapter(Handler<Message<BODY_TYPE>> h) {
+      this.h = h;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Future<Void> apply(Message<BODY_TYPE> msg) {
+      h.handle(msg);
+      return Future.succeededFuture();
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public synchronized MessageConsumer<T> processor(Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor) {
+    if (processor != null) {
+      this.processor = processor;
+      registerIfNeeded();
     } else {
       unregister();
     }
     return this;
   }
 
+  private void registerIfNeeded() {
+    if (!registered) {
+      registered = true;
+      Promise<Void> p = result;
+      Promise<Void> registration = context.promise();
+      register(true, localOnly, registration);
+      registration.future().onComplete(ar -> {
+        if (ar.succeeded()) {
+          p.tryComplete();
+        } else {
+          p.tryFail(ar.cause());
+        }
+      });
+    }
+  }
+
   @Override
   public ReadStream<T> bodyStream() {
     return new BodyReadStream<>(this);
@@ -195,8 +235,4 @@ public synchronized MessageConsumer<T> endHandler(Handler<Void> endHandler) {
   public synchronized MessageConsumer<T> exceptionHandler(Handler<Throwable> handler) {
     return this;
   }
-
-  public synchronized Handler<Message<T>> getHandler() {
-    return handler;
-  }
 }
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/ReplyHandler.java b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/ReplyHandler.java
index 730b5e3a917..efdeff328d4 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/ReplyHandler.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/ReplyHandler.java
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 import io.vertx.core.spi.tracing.TagExtractor;
 import io.vertx.core.spi.tracing.VertxTracer;
 
+import java.util.function.Function;
+
 class ReplyHandler<T> extends HandlerRegistration<T> implements Handler<Long> {
 
   private static final Completable<Void> NULL_COMPLETABLE = (res, err) -> {};
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ void register() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  protected void dispatchMessage(Message<T> reply, ContextInternal context, Handler<Message<T>> handler /* null */) {
+  protected void dispatchMessage(Message<T> reply, ContextInternal context, Function<Message<T>, Future<Void>> processor /* null */, Completable<Void> completion) {
     if (context.owner().cancelTimer(timeoutID)) {
       unregister();
       if (reply.body() instanceof ReplyException) {
@@ -93,5 +95,6 @@ protected void dispatchMessage(Message<T> reply, ContextInternal context, Handle
         result.complete(reply);
       }
     }
+    completion.succeed();
   }
 }
diff --git a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/tracing/EventBusTracerTestBase.java b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/tracing/EventBusTracerTestBase.java
index 14211cca3f1..3dcfe4e46be 100644
--- a/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/tracing/EventBusTracerTestBase.java
+++ b/vertx-core/src/test/java/io/vertx/tests/tracing/EventBusTracerTestBase.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 package io.vertx.tests.tracing;
 
 import io.vertx.core.Context;
+import io.vertx.core.Promise;
 import io.vertx.core.Vertx;
 import io.vertx.core.eventbus.DeliveryOptions;
 import io.vertx.core.eventbus.Message;
@@ -301,4 +302,68 @@ public void testEventBusRequestReplyReply() throws Exception {
     assertEquals(Arrays.asList("sendRequest[the_address]", "receiveResponse[]", "sendRequest[generated]", "receiveResponse[]"), ebTracer.sendEvents);
     assertEquals(Arrays.asList("receiveRequest[the_address]", "sendResponse[]", "receiveRequest[generated]", "sendResponse[]"), ebTracer.receiveEvents);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEventBusSendProcessor() throws Exception {
+    EventBusTracer ebTracer = new EventBusTracer();
+    tracer = ebTracer;
+
+    Promise<Void> completion = Promise.promise();
+
+    vertx2.eventBus().<String>consumer("the_address")
+      .processor(msg -> {
+        assertEquals("msg", msg.body());
+        return completion.future();
+      }).completion().await();
+
+    vertx1.runOnContext(v -> {
+      Context ctx = vertx1.getOrCreateContext();
+      sendKey.put(ctx, ebTracer.sendVal);
+      vertx1.eventBus().send("the_address", "msg");
+    });
+
+    waitUntil(() -> ebTracer.receiveEvents.contains("receiveRequest[the_address]"));
+    assertFalse(ebTracer.receiveEvents.contains("sendResponse[]"));
+
+    completion.complete();
+    waitUntil(() -> ebTracer.sendEvents.size() + ebTracer.receiveEvents.size() == 4);
+    assertEquals(Arrays.asList("receiveRequest[the_address]", "sendResponse[]"), ebTracer.receiveEvents);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEventBusPublishProcessor() throws Exception {
+    EventBusTracer ebTracer = new EventBusTracer();
+    tracer = ebTracer;
+
+    Promise<Void> completion1 = Promise.promise();
+    Promise<Void> completion2 = Promise.promise();
+
+    vertx2.eventBus().<String>consumer("the_address")
+      .processor(msg -> {
+        assertEquals("msg", msg.body());
+        return completion1.future();
+      }).completion().await();
+
+    vertx2.eventBus().<String>consumer("the_address")
+      .processor(msg -> {
+        assertEquals("msg", msg.body());
+        return completion2.future();
+      }).completion().await();
+
+    vertx1.runOnContext(v -> {
+      Context ctx = vertx1.getOrCreateContext();
+      sendKey.put(ctx, ebTracer.sendVal);
+      vertx1.eventBus().publish("the_address", "msg");
+    });
+
+    waitUntil(() -> ebTracer.receiveEvents.stream().filter(e -> e.equals("receiveRequest[the_address]")).count() == 2);
+    assertEquals(0, ebTracer.receiveEvents.stream().filter(e -> e.equals("sendResponse[]")).count());
+
+    completion1.complete();
+    waitUntil(() -> ebTracer.receiveEvents.stream().filter(e -> e.equals("sendResponse[]")).count() == 1);
+
+    completion2.complete();
+    waitUntil(() -> ebTracer.sendEvents.size() + ebTracer.receiveEvents.size() == 6);
+    assertEquals(2, ebTracer.receiveEvents.stream().filter(e -> e.equals("sendResponse[]")).count());
+  }
 }