diff --git a/config/initializers/10-patches.rb b/config/initializers/10-patches.rb
index 5fbb91abf..d1235d93f 100644
--- a/config/initializers/10-patches.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/10-patches.rb
@@ -15,3 +15,17 @@ ActiveRecord::Errors.default_error_messages = {
 } if ActiveRecord::Errors.respond_to?('default_error_messages=')
 
 ActionView::Base.field_error_proc = Proc.new{ |html_tag, instance| "#{html_tag}" }
+
+# Adds :async_smtp and :async_sendmail delivery methods
+# to perform email deliveries asynchronously
+module AsynchronousMailer
+  %w(smtp sendmail).each do |type|
+    define_method("perform_delivery_async_#{type}") do |mail|
+      Thread.start do
+        send "perform_delivery_#{type}", mail
+      end      
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+ActionMailer::Base.send :include, AsynchronousMailer