diff --git a/sentry_sdk/transport.py b/sentry_sdk/transport.py
index d612028250..f8328cac12 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/transport.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/transport.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 from sentry_sdk.consts import EndpointType
 from sentry_sdk.utils import Dsn, logger, capture_internal_exceptions
-from sentry_sdk.worker import BackgroundWorker
+from sentry_sdk.worker import BackgroundWorker, Worker
 from sentry_sdk.envelope import Envelope, Item, PayloadRef
 
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ def __init__(self: Self, options: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         Transport.__init__(self, options)
         assert self.parsed_dsn is not None
         self.options: Dict[str, Any] = options
-        self._worker = BackgroundWorker(queue_size=options["transport_queue_size"])
+        self._worker = self._create_worker(options)
         self._auth = self.parsed_dsn.to_auth("sentry.python/%s" % VERSION)
         self._disabled_until: Dict[Optional[str], datetime] = {}
         # We only use this Retry() class for the `get_retry_after` method it exposes
@@ -224,6 +224,10 @@ def __init__(self: Self, options: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         elif self._compression_algo == "br":
             self._compression_level = 4
 
+    def _create_worker(self: Self, options: Dict[str, Any]) -> Worker:
+        # For now, we only support the threaded sync background worker.
+        return BackgroundWorker(queue_size=options["transport_queue_size"])
+
     def record_lost_event(
         self: Self,
         reason: str,
diff --git a/sentry_sdk/worker.py b/sentry_sdk/worker.py
index d911e15623..555539dc3a 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/worker.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/worker.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 import os
 import threading
 
@@ -16,7 +17,65 @@
 _TERMINATOR = object()
 
 
-class BackgroundWorker:
+class Worker(ABC):
+    """
+    Base class for all workers.
+
+    A worker is used to process events in the background and send them to Sentry.
+    """
+
+    @property
+    @abstractmethod
+    def is_alive(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Checks whether the worker is alive and running.
+
+        Returns True if the worker is alive, False otherwise.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def kill(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Kills the worker.
+
+        This method is used to kill the worker. The queue will be drained up to the point where the worker is killed.
+        The worker will not be able to process any more events.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    def flush(
+        self, timeout: float, callback: Optional[Callable[[int, float], Any]] = None
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        Flush the worker.
+
+        This method blocks until the worker has flushed all events or the specified timeout is reached.
+        Default implementation is a no-op, since this method may only be relevant to some workers.
+        Subclasses should override this method if necessary.
+        """
+        return None
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def full(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Checks whether the worker's queue is full.
+
+        Returns True if the queue is full, False otherwise.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def submit(self, callback: Callable[[], Any]) -> bool:
+        """
+        Schedule a callback to be executed by the worker.
+
+        Returns True if the callback was scheduled, False if the queue is full.
+        """
+        pass
+
+
+class BackgroundWorker(Worker):
     def __init__(self, queue_size: int = DEFAULT_QUEUE_SIZE) -> None:
         self._queue: Queue = Queue(queue_size)
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
@@ -106,7 +165,7 @@ def _wait_flush(self, timeout: float, callback: Optional[Any]) -> None:
                 pending = self._queue.qsize() + 1
                 logger.error("flush timed out, dropped %s events", pending)
 
-    def submit(self, callback: Callable[[], None]) -> bool:
+    def submit(self, callback: Callable[[], Any]) -> bool:
         self._ensure_thread()
         try:
             self._queue.put_nowait(callback)