diff --git a/dist-scripts/dist-cores.sh b/dist-scripts/dist-cores.sh
index 0acb52bd8e..13f603c9b0 100755
--- a/dist-scripts/dist-cores.sh
+++ b/dist-scripts/dist-cores.sh
@@ -205,6 +205,9 @@ for f in `ls -v *_${platform}.${EXT}`; do
    whole_archive=
    big_stack=
 
+   if [ $PLATFORM = "emscripten" ]; then
+      async=1 #emscripten needs async to sleep
+   fi
    if [ $name = "nxengine" ] ; then
       echo "Applying whole archive linking..."
       whole_archive="WHOLE_ARCHIVE_LINK=1"
diff --git a/libretro-common/include/retro_timers.h b/libretro-common/include/retro_timers.h
index 04a860a26b..00e059e290 100644
--- a/libretro-common/include/retro_timers.h
+++ b/libretro-common/include/retro_timers.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 #include <psp2/kernel/threadmgr.h>
 #elif defined(_3DS)
 #include <3ds.h>
+#elif defined(EMSCRIPTEN)
+#include <emscripten/emscripten.h>
 #else
 #include <time.h>
 #endif
@@ -99,6 +101,8 @@ static int nanosleepDOS(const struct timespec *rqtp, struct timespec *rmtp)
 #define retro_sleep(msec) (usleep(1000 * (msec)))
 #elif defined(WIIU)
 #define retro_sleep(msec) (OSSleepTicks(ms_to_ticks((msec))))
+#elif defined(EMSCRIPTEN)
+#define retro_sleep(msec) (emscripten_sleep(msec))
 #else
 static INLINE void retro_sleep(unsigned msec)
 {