diff --git a/core/java/android/app/SystemServiceRegistry.java b/core/java/android/app/SystemServiceRegistry.java
index 9d7f7246a25da..2987fbc4f33de 100644
--- a/core/java/android/app/SystemServiceRegistry.java
+++ b/core/java/android/app/SystemServiceRegistry.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import android.media.soundtrigger.SoundTriggerManager;
 import android.media.tv.ITvInputManager;
 import android.media.tv.TvInputManager;
 import android.net.ConnectivityManager;
+import android.net.ConnectivityThread;
 import android.net.EthernetManager;
 import android.net.IConnectivityManager;
 import android.net.IEthernetManager;
@@ -500,7 +501,8 @@ final class SystemServiceRegistry {
             public WifiManager createService(ContextImpl ctx) {
                 IBinder b = ServiceManager.getService(Context.WIFI_SERVICE);
                 IWifiManager service = IWifiManager.Stub.asInterface(b);
-                return new WifiManager(ctx.getOuterContext(), service);
+                return new WifiManager(ctx.getOuterContext(), service,
+                        ConnectivityThread.getInstanceLooper());
             }});
 
         registerService(Context.WIFI_P2P_SERVICE, WifiP2pManager.class,
diff --git a/core/java/android/net/ConnectivityThread.java b/core/java/android/net/ConnectivityThread.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..55c3402bf39db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/java/android/net/ConnectivityThread.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package android.net;
+
+import android.os.HandlerThread;
+import android.os.Looper;
+
+/**
+ * Shared singleton connectivity thread for the system.  This is a thread for
+ * connectivity operations such as AsyncChannel connections to system services.
+ * Various connectivity manager objects can use this singleton as a common
+ * resource for their handlers instead of creating separate threads of their own.
+ * @hide
+ */
+public final class ConnectivityThread extends HandlerThread {
+    private static ConnectivityThread sInstance;
+
+    private ConnectivityThread() {
+        super("ConnectivityThread");
+    }
+
+    private static synchronized ConnectivityThread getInstance() {
+        if (sInstance == null) {
+            sInstance = new ConnectivityThread();
+            sInstance.start();
+        }
+        return sInstance;
+    }
+
+    public static ConnectivityThread get() {
+        return getInstance();
+    }
+
+    public static Looper getInstanceLooper() {
+        return getInstance().getLooper();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.java b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.java
index c040b06778df9..8c1fbc3a6def1 100644
--- a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.java
+++ b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.java
@@ -671,9 +671,7 @@ public class WifiManager {
 
     private AsyncChannel mAsyncChannel;
     private CountDownLatch mConnected;
-
-    /* TODO(b/27432949): Use a common connectivity thread for this. */
-    private HandlerThread mHandlerThread;
+    private Looper mLooper;
 
     /**
      * Create a new WifiManager instance.
@@ -685,9 +683,10 @@ public class WifiManager {
      * @hide - hide this because it takes in a parameter of type IWifiManager, which
      * is a system private class.
      */
-    public WifiManager(Context context, IWifiManager service) {
+    public WifiManager(Context context, IWifiManager service, Looper looper) {
         mContext = context;
         mService = service;
+        mLooper = looper;
         mTargetSdkVersion = context.getApplicationInfo().targetSdkVersion;
     }
 
@@ -1978,12 +1977,10 @@ public class WifiManager {
                         "getWifiServiceMessenger() returned null!  This is invalid.");
             }
 
-            mHandlerThread = new HandlerThread("WifiManager");
             mAsyncChannel = new AsyncChannel();
             mConnected = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
-            mHandlerThread.start();
-            Handler handler = new ServiceHandler(mHandlerThread.getLooper());
+            Handler handler = new ServiceHandler(mLooper);
             mAsyncChannel.connect(mContext, handler, messenger);
             try {
                 mConnected.await();