diff --git a/airflow/sensors/external_task.py b/airflow/sensors/external_task.py
index b5c1c1321f7ed..5e42820ffe997 100644
--- a/airflow/sensors/external_task.py
+++ b/airflow/sensors/external_task.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import attr
 from sqlalchemy import func
 
+from airflow.configuration import conf
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowSkipException, RemovedInAirflow3Warning
 from airflow.models.baseoperator import BaseOperatorLink
 from airflow.models.dag import DagModel
@@ -33,11 +34,13 @@
 from airflow.models.taskinstance import TaskInstance
 from airflow.operators.empty import EmptyOperator
 from airflow.sensors.base import BaseSensorOperator
+from airflow.triggers.external_task import TaskStateTrigger
 from airflow.utils.file import correct_maybe_zipped
 from airflow.utils.helpers import build_airflow_url_with_query
 from airflow.utils.session import NEW_SESSION, provide_session
 from airflow.utils.sqlalchemy import tuple_in_condition
 from airflow.utils.state import State, TaskInstanceState
+from airflow.utils.timezone import utcnow
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from sqlalchemy.orm import Query, Session
@@ -126,6 +129,8 @@ class ExternalTaskSensor(BaseSensorOperator):
         external_task_id is not None) or check if the DAG to wait for exists (when
         external_task_id is None), and immediately cease waiting if the external task
         or DAG does not exist (default value: False).
+    :param poll_interval: polling period in seconds to check for the status
+    :param deferrable: Run sensor in deferrable mode
     """
 
     template_fields = ["external_dag_id", "external_task_id", "external_task_ids", "external_task_group_id"]
@@ -145,9 +150,12 @@ def __init__(
         execution_delta: datetime.timedelta | None = None,
         execution_date_fn: Callable | None = None,
         check_existence: bool = False,
+        poll_interval: float = 2.0,
+        deferrable: bool = conf.getboolean("operators", "default_deferrable", fallback=False),
         **kwargs,
     ):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
+
         self.allowed_states = list(allowed_states) if allowed_states else [TaskInstanceState.SUCCESS.value]
         self.skipped_states = list(skipped_states) if skipped_states else []
         self.failed_states = list(failed_states) if failed_states else []
@@ -211,6 +219,8 @@ def __init__(
         self.external_task_group_id = external_task_group_id
         self.check_existence = check_existence
         self._has_checked_existence = False
+        self.deferrable = deferrable
+        self.poll_interval = poll_interval
 
     def _get_dttm_filter(self, context):
         if self.execution_delta:
@@ -318,6 +328,39 @@ def poke(self, context: Context, session: Session = NEW_SESSION) -> bool:
         count_allowed = self.get_count(dttm_filter, session, self.allowed_states)
         return count_allowed == len(dttm_filter)
 
+    def execute(self, context: Context) -> None:
+        """
+        Airflow runs this method on the worker and defers using the triggers
+        if deferrable is set to True.
+        """
+        if not self.deferrable:
+            super().execute(context)
+        else:
+            self.defer(
+                trigger=TaskStateTrigger(
+                    dag_id=self.external_dag_id,
+                    task_id=self.external_task_id,
+                    execution_dates=self._get_dttm_filter(context),
+                    states=self.allowed_states,
+                    trigger_start_time=utcnow(),
+                    poll_interval=self.poll_interval,
+                ),
+                method_name="execute_complete",
+            )
+
+    def execute_complete(self, context, event=None):
+        """Callback for when the trigger fires - returns immediately."""
+        if event["status"] == "success":
+            self.log.info("External task %s has executed successfully.", self.external_task_id)
+            return None
+        elif event["status"] == "timeout":
+            raise AirflowException("Dag was not started within 1 minute, assuming fail.")
+        else:
+            raise AirflowException(
+                "Error occurred while trying to retrieve task status. Please, check the "
+                "name of executed task and Dag."
+            )
+
     def _check_for_existence(self, session) -> None:
         dag_to_wait = DagModel.get_current(self.external_dag_id, session)
 
diff --git a/airflow/triggers/external_task.py b/airflow/triggers/external_task.py
index e739c7a7cb4e8..f179cba259ca4 100644
--- a/airflow/triggers/external_task.py
+++ b/airflow/triggers/external_task.py
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import asyncio
-import datetime
 import typing
+from datetime import datetime
 
 from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
 from sqlalchemy import func
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@
 from airflow.models import DagRun, TaskInstance
 from airflow.triggers.base import BaseTrigger, TriggerEvent
 from airflow.utils.session import NEW_SESSION, provide_session
-from airflow.utils.state import DagRunState
+from airflow.utils.state import DagRunState, TaskInstanceState
+from airflow.utils.timezone import utcnow
 
 
 class TaskStateTrigger(BaseTrigger):
@@ -36,20 +37,26 @@ class TaskStateTrigger(BaseTrigger):
 
     :param dag_id: The dag_id that contains the task you want to wait for
     :param task_id: The task_id that contains the task you want to
-        wait for. If ``None`` (default value) the sensor waits for the DAG
+        wait for.
     :param states: allowed states, default is ``['success']``
-    :param execution_dates:
+    :param execution_dates: task execution time interval
     :param poll_interval: The time interval in seconds to check the state.
         The default value is 5 sec.
+    :param trigger_start_time: time in Datetime format when the trigger was started. Is used
+        to control the execution of trigger to prevent infinite loop in case if specified name
+        of the dag does not exist in database. It will wait period of time equals _timeout_sec parameter
+        from the time, when the trigger was started and if the execution lasts more time than expected,
+        the trigger will terminate with 'timeout' status.
     """
 
     def __init__(
         self,
         dag_id: str,
-        task_id: str,
-        states: list[str],
-        execution_dates: list[datetime.datetime],
-        poll_interval: float = 5.0,
+        execution_dates: list[datetime],
+        trigger_start_time: datetime,
+        states: list[str] | None = None,
+        task_id: str | None = None,
+        poll_interval: float = 2.0,
     ):
         super().__init__()
         self.dag_id = dag_id
@@ -57,6 +64,9 @@ def __init__(
         self.states = states
         self.execution_dates = execution_dates
         self.poll_interval = poll_interval
+        self.trigger_start_time = trigger_start_time
+        self.states = states if states else [TaskInstanceState.SUCCESS.value]
+        self._timeout_sec = 60
 
     def serialize(self) -> tuple[str, dict[str, typing.Any]]:
         """Serializes TaskStateTrigger arguments and classpath."""
@@ -68,17 +78,52 @@ def serialize(self) -> tuple[str, dict[str, typing.Any]]:
                 "states": self.states,
                 "execution_dates": self.execution_dates,
                 "poll_interval": self.poll_interval,
+                "trigger_start_time": self.trigger_start_time,
             },
         )
 
     async def run(self) -> typing.AsyncIterator[TriggerEvent]:
-        """Checks periodically in the database to see if the task exists and has hit one of the states."""
+        """
+        Checks periodically in the database to see if the dag exists and is in the running state. If found,
+        wait until the task specified will reach one of the expected states. If dag with specified name was
+        not in the running state after _timeout_sec seconds after starting execution process of the trigger,
+        terminate with status 'timeout'.
+        """
         while True:
-            # mypy confuses typing here
-            num_tasks = await self.count_tasks()  # type: ignore[call-arg]
-            if num_tasks == len(self.execution_dates):
-                yield TriggerEvent(True)
-            await asyncio.sleep(self.poll_interval)
+            try:
+                delta = utcnow() - self.trigger_start_time
+                if delta.total_seconds() < self._timeout_sec:
+                    # mypy confuses typing here
+                    if await self.count_running_dags() == 0:  # type: ignore[call-arg]
+                        self.log.info("Waiting for DAG to start execution...")
+                        await asyncio.sleep(self.poll_interval)
+                else:
+                    yield TriggerEvent({"status": "timeout"})
+                    return
+                # mypy confuses typing here
+                if await self.count_tasks() == len(self.execution_dates):  # type: ignore[call-arg]
+                    yield TriggerEvent({"status": "success"})
+                    return
+                self.log.info("Task is still running, sleeping for %s seconds...", self.poll_interval)
+                await asyncio.sleep(self.poll_interval)
+            except Exception:
+                yield TriggerEvent({"status": "failed"})
+                return
+
+    @sync_to_async
+    @provide_session
+    def count_running_dags(self, session: Session):
+        """Count how many dag instances in running state in the database."""
+        dags = (
+            session.query(func.count("*"))
+            .filter(
+                TaskInstance.dag_id == self.dag_id,
+                TaskInstance.execution_date.in_(self.execution_dates),
+                TaskInstance.state.in_(["running", "success"]),
+            )
+            .scalar()
+        )
+        return dags
 
     @sync_to_async
     @provide_session
@@ -112,7 +157,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         dag_id: str,
         states: list[DagRunState],
-        execution_dates: list[datetime.datetime],
+        execution_dates: list[datetime],
         poll_interval: float = 5.0,
     ):
         super().__init__()
@@ -134,7 +179,10 @@ def serialize(self) -> tuple[str, dict[str, typing.Any]]:
         )
 
     async def run(self) -> typing.AsyncIterator[TriggerEvent]:
-        """Checks periodically in the database to see if the dag run exists and has hit one of the states."""
+        """
+        Checks periodically in the database to see if the dag run exists, and has
+        hit one of the states yet, or not.
+        """
         while True:
             # mypy confuses typing here
             num_dags = await self.count_dags()  # type: ignore[call-arg]
diff --git a/docs/apache-airflow/howto/operator/external_task_sensor.rst b/docs/apache-airflow/howto/operator/external_task_sensor.rst
index 923f8ec3d1161..f6f53f87e55fa 100644
--- a/docs/apache-airflow/howto/operator/external_task_sensor.rst
+++ b/docs/apache-airflow/howto/operator/external_task_sensor.rst
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ via ``allowed_states`` and ``failed_states`` parameters.
     :start-after: [START howto_operator_external_task_sensor]
     :end-before: [END howto_operator_external_task_sensor]
 
+Also for this action you can use sensor in the deferrable mode:
+
+.. exampleinclude:: /../../tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_parent_deferrable.py
+    :language: python
+    :dedent: 4
+    :start-after: [START howto_external_task_async_sensor]
+    :end-before: [END howto_external_task_async_sensor]
+
+
 ExternalTaskSensor with task_group dependency
 ---------------------------------------------
 In Addition, we can also use the :class:`~airflow.sensors.external_task.ExternalTaskSensor` to make tasks on a DAG
diff --git a/tests/sensors/test_external_task_sensor.py b/tests/sensors/test_external_task_sensor.py
index a5259084b13f6..e84b3f69f48e0 100644
--- a/tests/sensors/test_external_task_sensor.py
+++ b/tests/sensors/test_external_task_sensor.py
@@ -22,12 +22,13 @@
 import tempfile
 import zipfile
 from datetime import time, timedelta
+from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
 
 from airflow import exceptions, settings
 from airflow.decorators import task as task_deco
-from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowSensorTimeout
+from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException, AirflowSensorTimeout, TaskDeferred
 from airflow.models import DagBag, DagRun, TaskInstance
 from airflow.models.dag import DAG
 from airflow.models.serialized_dag import SerializedDagModel
@@ -35,9 +36,14 @@
 from airflow.operators.bash import BashOperator
 from airflow.operators.empty import EmptyOperator
 from airflow.operators.python import PythonOperator
-from airflow.sensors.external_task import ExternalTaskMarker, ExternalTaskSensor, ExternalTaskSensorLink
+from airflow.sensors.external_task import (
+    ExternalTaskMarker,
+    ExternalTaskSensor,
+    ExternalTaskSensorLink,
+)
 from airflow.sensors.time_sensor import TimeSensor
 from airflow.serialization.serialized_objects import SerializedBaseOperator
+from airflow.triggers.external_task import TaskStateTrigger
 from airflow.utils.hashlib_wrapper import md5
 from airflow.utils.session import create_session, provide_session
 from airflow.utils.state import DagRunState, State, TaskInstanceState
@@ -54,6 +60,9 @@
 TEST_TASK_ID_ALTERNATE = "time_sensor_check_alternate"
 TEST_TASK_GROUP_ID = "time_sensor_group_id"
 DEV_NULL = "/dev/null"
+TASK_ID = "external_task_sensor_check"
+EXTERNAL_DAG_ID = "child_dag"  # DAG the external task sensor is waiting on
+EXTERNAL_TASK_ID = "child_task"  # Task the external task sensor is waiting on
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
@@ -829,6 +838,75 @@ def test_external_task_group_when_there_is_no_TIs(self):
             )
 
 
+class TestExternalTaskAsyncSensor:
+    TASK_ID = "external_task_sensor_check"
+    EXTERNAL_DAG_ID = "child_dag"  # DAG the external task sensor is waiting on
+    EXTERNAL_TASK_ID = "child_task"  # Task the external task sensor is waiting on
+
+    def test_defer_and_fire_task_state_trigger(self):
+        """
+        Asserts that a task is deferred and TaskStateTrigger will be fired
+        when the ExternalTaskAsyncSensor is provided with all required arguments
+        (i.e. including the external_task_id).
+        """
+        sensor = ExternalTaskSensor(
+            task_id=TASK_ID,
+            external_task_id=EXTERNAL_TASK_ID,
+            external_dag_id=EXTERNAL_DAG_ID,
+            deferrable=True,
+        )
+
+        with pytest.raises(TaskDeferred) as exc:
+            sensor.execute(context=mock.MagicMock())
+
+        assert isinstance(exc.value.trigger, TaskStateTrigger), "Trigger is not a TaskStateTrigger"
+
+    def test_defer_and_fire_failed_state_trigger(self):
+        """Tests that an AirflowException is raised in case of error event"""
+        sensor = ExternalTaskSensor(
+            task_id=TASK_ID,
+            external_task_id=EXTERNAL_TASK_ID,
+            external_dag_id=EXTERNAL_DAG_ID,
+            deferrable=True,
+        )
+
+        with pytest.raises(AirflowException):
+            sensor.execute_complete(
+                context=mock.MagicMock(), event={"status": "error", "message": "test failure message"}
+            )
+
+    def test_defer_and_fire_timeout_state_trigger(self):
+        """Tests that an AirflowException is raised in case of timeout event"""
+        sensor = ExternalTaskSensor(
+            task_id=TASK_ID,
+            external_task_id=EXTERNAL_TASK_ID,
+            external_dag_id=EXTERNAL_DAG_ID,
+            deferrable=True,
+        )
+
+        with pytest.raises(AirflowException):
+            sensor.execute_complete(
+                context=mock.MagicMock(),
+                event={"status": "timeout", "message": "Dag was not started within 1 minute, assuming fail."},
+            )
+
+    def test_defer_execute_check_correct_logging(self):
+        """Asserts that logging occurs as expected"""
+        sensor = ExternalTaskSensor(
+            task_id=TASK_ID,
+            external_task_id=EXTERNAL_TASK_ID,
+            external_dag_id=EXTERNAL_DAG_ID,
+            deferrable=True,
+        )
+
+        with mock.patch.object(sensor.log, "info") as mock_log_info:
+            sensor.execute_complete(
+                context=mock.MagicMock(),
+                event={"status": "success"},
+            )
+        mock_log_info.assert_called_with("External task %s has executed successfully.", EXTERNAL_TASK_ID)
+
+
 def test_external_task_sensor_check_zipped_dag_existence(dag_zip_maker):
     with dag_zip_maker("test_external_task_sensor_check_existense.py") as dagbag:
         with create_session() as session:
diff --git a/tests/system/providers/core/__init__.py b/tests/system/providers/core/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..13a83393a9124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/system/providers/core/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you 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.
diff --git a/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_child_deferrable.py b/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_child_deferrable.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f75eb4f23479f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_child_deferrable.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you 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.
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from datetime import datetime
+
+from airflow import DAG
+from airflow.operators.bash import BashOperator
+
+with DAG(
+    dag_id="child_dag",
+    start_date=datetime(2022, 1, 1),
+    schedule="@once",
+    catchup=False,
+    tags=["example", "async", "core"],
+) as dag:
+    dummy_task = BashOperator(
+        task_id="child_task",
+        bash_command="echo 1; sleep 1; echo 2; sleep 2; echo 3; sleep 3",
+    )
+
+
+from tests.system.utils import get_test_run
+
+# Needed to run the example DAG with pytest (see: tests/system/README.md#run_via_pytest)
+test_run = get_test_run(dag)
diff --git a/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_parent_deferrable.py b/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_parent_deferrable.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7cec2ce13815a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/system/providers/core/example_external_task_parent_deferrable.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you 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.
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from airflow import DAG
+from airflow.operators.dummy import DummyOperator
+from airflow.operators.trigger_dagrun import TriggerDagRunOperator
+from airflow.sensors.external_task import ExternalTaskSensor
+from airflow.utils.timezone import datetime
+
+with DAG(
+    dag_id="example_external_task",
+    start_date=datetime(2022, 1, 1),
+    schedule="@once",
+    catchup=False,
+    tags=["example", "async", "core"],
+) as dag:
+    start = DummyOperator(task_id="start")
+
+    # [START howto_external_task_async_sensor]
+    external_task_sensor = ExternalTaskSensor(
+        task_id="parent_task_sensor",
+        external_task_id="child_task",
+        external_dag_id="child_dag",
+        deferrable=True,
+    )
+    # [END howto_external_task_async_sensor]
+
+    trigger_child_task = TriggerDagRunOperator(
+        task_id="trigger_child_task",
+        trigger_dag_id="child_dag",
+        allowed_states=[
+            "success",
+            "failed",
+        ],
+        execution_date="{{execution_date}}",
+        poke_interval=5,
+        reset_dag_run=True,
+        wait_for_completion=True,
+    )
+
+    end = DummyOperator(task_id="end")
+
+    start >> [trigger_child_task, external_task_sensor] >> end
+
+    from tests.system.utils.watcher import watcher
+
+    # This test needs watcher in order to properly mark success/failure
+    # when "teardown" task with trigger rule is part of the DAG
+    list(dag.tasks) >> watcher()
+
+
+from tests.system.utils import get_test_run
+
+# Needed to run the example DAG with pytest (see: tests/system/README.md#run_via_pytest)
+test_run = get_test_run(dag)
diff --git a/tests/triggers/test_external_task.py b/tests/triggers/test_external_task.py
index e8a4a67ba5d57..a8569a9c558d1 100644
--- a/tests/triggers/test_external_task.py
+++ b/tests/triggers/test_external_task.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 from airflow.triggers.external_task import DagStateTrigger, TaskStateTrigger
 from airflow.utils import timezone
 from airflow.utils.state import DagRunState, TaskInstanceState
+from airflow.utils.timezone import utcnow
 
 
 class TestTaskStateTrigger:
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ async def test_task_state_trigger(self, session):
         Asserts that the TaskStateTrigger only goes off on or after a TaskInstance
         reaches an allowed state (i.e. SUCCESS).
         """
+        trigger_start_time = utcnow()
         dag = DAG(self.DAG_ID, start_date=timezone.datetime(2022, 1, 1))
         dag_run = DagRun(
             dag_id=dag.dag_id,
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ async def test_task_state_trigger(self, session):
             states=self.STATES,
             execution_dates=[timezone.datetime(2022, 1, 1)],
             poll_interval=0.2,
+            trigger_start_time=trigger_start_time,
         )
 
         task = asyncio.create_task(trigger.run().__anext__())
@@ -83,12 +86,14 @@ def test_serialization(self):
         Asserts that the TaskStateTrigger correctly serializes its arguments
         and classpath.
         """
+        trigger_start_time = utcnow()
         trigger = TaskStateTrigger(
             dag_id=self.DAG_ID,
             task_id=self.TASK_ID,
             states=self.STATES,
             execution_dates=[timezone.datetime(2022, 1, 1)],
             poll_interval=5,
+            trigger_start_time=trigger_start_time,
         )
         classpath, kwargs = trigger.serialize()
         assert classpath == "airflow.triggers.external_task.TaskStateTrigger"
@@ -98,6 +103,7 @@ def test_serialization(self):
             "states": self.STATES,
             "execution_dates": [timezone.datetime(2022, 1, 1)],
             "poll_interval": 5,
+            "trigger_start_time": trigger_start_time,
         }
 
 
