--- a/mobile/android/base/Favicons.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/Favicons.java
@@ -1,30 +1,31 @@
 /* -*- Mode: Java; c-basic-offset: 4; tab-width: 20; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
  * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
  * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
  * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
 
 package org.mozilla.gecko;
 
 import org.mozilla.gecko.db.BrowserDB;
-import org.mozilla.gecko.util.GeckoBackgroundThread;
+import org.mozilla.gecko.util.GeckoAsyncTask;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.util.GeckoJarReader;
 
 import org.apache.http.HttpEntity;
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
 import org.apache.http.entity.BufferedHttpEntity;
 
+import android.app.Activity;
 import android.content.ContentResolver;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.graphics.Bitmap;
 import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
 import android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable;
 import android.net.http.AndroidHttpClient;
-import android.os.AsyncTask;
+import android.os.Handler;
 import android.support.v4.util.LruCache;
 import android.util.Log;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
@@ -106,17 +107,17 @@ public class Favicons {
 
         // Check if favicon is mem cached
         Bitmap image = getFaviconFromMemCache(pageUrl);
         if (image != null) {
             dispatchResult(pageUrl, image, listener);
             return -1;
         }
 
-        LoadFaviconTask task = new LoadFaviconTask(pageUrl, faviconUrl, persist, listener);
+        LoadFaviconTask task = new LoadFaviconTask(GeckoApp.mAppContext, GeckoAppShell.getHandler(), pageUrl, faviconUrl, persist, listener);
 
         long taskId = task.getId();
         mLoadTasks.put(taskId, task);
 
         task.execute();
 
         return taskId;
     }
@@ -193,25 +194,28 @@ public class Favicons {
         if (sFaviconSmallSize < 0) {
             sFaviconSmallSize = Math.round(mContext.getResources().getDimension(R.dimen.awesomebar_row_favicon_size_small));
         }
         if (sFaviconLargeSize < 0) {
             sFaviconLargeSize = Math.round(mContext.getResources().getDimension(R.dimen.awesomebar_row_favicon_size_large));
         }
     }
 
-    private class LoadFaviconTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Bitmap> {
+    private class LoadFaviconTask extends GeckoAsyncTask<Void, Void, Bitmap> {
         private long mId;
         private String mPageUrl;
         private String mFaviconUrl;
         private OnFaviconLoadedListener mListener;
         private boolean mPersist;
 
-        public LoadFaviconTask(String pageUrl, String faviconUrl, boolean persist,
-                OnFaviconLoadedListener listener) {
+        public LoadFaviconTask(Activity activity, Handler backgroundThreadHandler,
+                               String pageUrl, String faviconUrl, boolean persist,
+                               OnFaviconLoadedListener listener) {
+            super(activity, backgroundThreadHandler);
+
             synchronized(this) {
                 mId = ++mNextFaviconLoadId;
             }
 
             mPageUrl = pageUrl;
             mFaviconUrl = faviconUrl;
             mListener = listener;
             mPersist = persist;
@@ -224,25 +228,18 @@ public class Favicons {
         }
 
         // Runs in background thread
         private void saveFaviconToDb(final Bitmap favicon) {
             if (!mPersist) {
                 return;
             }
 
-            // Even though this code is in a background thread, all DB writes
-            // should happen in GeckoBackgroundThread or we could get locked
-            // databases.
-            GeckoBackgroundThread.post(new Runnable() {
-                public void run() {
-                    ContentResolver resolver = mContext.getContentResolver();
-                    BrowserDB.updateFaviconForUrl(resolver, mPageUrl, favicon, mFaviconUrl);
-                }
-            });
+            ContentResolver resolver = mContext.getContentResolver();
+            BrowserDB.updateFaviconForUrl(resolver, mPageUrl, favicon, mFaviconUrl);
         }
 
         // Runs in background thread
         private Bitmap downloadFavicon(URL faviconUrl) {
             if (mFaviconUrl.startsWith("jar:jar:")) {
                 BitmapDrawable d = GeckoJarReader.getBitmapDrawable(mContext.getResources(), mFaviconUrl);
                 return d.getBitmap();
             }

--- a/mobile/android/base/GeckoAsyncTask.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/GeckoAsyncTask.java
@@ -10,16 +10,17 @@ import android.os.Handler;
 
 // AsyncTask runs onPostExecute on the thread it is constructed on
 // We construct these off of the main thread, and we want that to run
 // on the main UI thread, so this is a convenience class to do that
 public abstract class GeckoAsyncTask<Params, Progress, Result> {
     public enum Priority { NORMAL, HIGH };
 
     private final Activity mActivity;
+    private volatile boolean mCancelled = false;
     private final Handler mBackgroundThreadHandler;
     private Priority mPriority = Priority.NORMAL;
 
     public GeckoAsyncTask(Activity activity, Handler backgroundThreadHandler) {
         mActivity = activity;
         mBackgroundThreadHandler = backgroundThreadHandler;
     }
 
@@ -27,19 +28,23 @@ public abstract class GeckoAsyncTask<Par
         private Params[] mParams;
 
         public BackgroundTaskRunnable(Params... params) {
             mParams = params;
         }
 
         public void run() {
             final Result result = doInBackground(mParams);
+
             mActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
                 public void run() {
-                    onPostExecute(result);
+                    if (mCancelled)
+                        onCancelled();
+                    else
+                        onPostExecute(result);
                 }
             });
         }
     }
 
     public final void execute(final Params... params) {
         mActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
             public void run() {
@@ -54,14 +59,23 @@ public abstract class GeckoAsyncTask<Par
         });
     }
 
     public final GeckoAsyncTask<Params, Progress, Result> setPriority(Priority priority) {
         mPriority = priority;
         return this;
     }
 
-    /* Empty stub method. Implementors can optionally override this if they need it */
+    @SuppressWarnings({"UnusedParameters"})
+    public final boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) {
+        mCancelled = true;
+        return mCancelled;
+    }
+
+    public final boolean isCancelled() {
+        return mCancelled;
+    }
+
     protected void onPreExecute() { }
     protected void onPostExecute(Result result) { }
-
+    protected void onCancelled() { }
     protected abstract Result doInBackground(Params... params);
 }