diff --git a/lib/sidekiq/client.rb b/lib/sidekiq/client.rb
index 2fe87b99..2b991a2d 100644
--- a/lib/sidekiq/client.rb
+++ b/lib/sidekiq/client.rb
@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@
 
 require "securerandom"
 require "sidekiq/middleware/chain"
+require "sidekiq/job_util"
 
 module Sidekiq
   class Client
+    include Sidekiq::JobUtil
+
     ##
     # Define client-side middleware:
     #
@@ -76,21 +79,6 @@ module Sidekiq
       end
     end
 
-    def perform_inline(item)
-      normed = normalize_item(item)
-      payload = process_single(item["class"], normed)
-
-      msg = Sidekiq.load_json(Sidekiq.dump_json(payload))
-      klass = msg['class'].constantize
-      job = klass.new
-      job.jid = msg['jid']
-      msg['id'] ||= SecureRandom.hex(12)
-
-      Sidekiq.server_middleware.invoke(job, msg, msg['queue']) do
-        job.perform(*msg['args'])
-      end
-    end
-
     ##
     # Push a large number of jobs to Redis. This method cuts out the redis
     # network round trip latency.  I wouldn't recommend pushing more than
@@ -233,42 +221,5 @@ module Sidekiq
         item
       end
     end
-
-    def validate(item)
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job must be a Hash with 'class' and 'args' keys: `#{item}`") unless item.is_a?(Hash) && item.key?("class") && item.key?("args")
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job args must be an Array: `#{item}`") unless item["args"].is_a?(Array)
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job class must be either a Class or String representation of the class name: `#{item}`") unless item["class"].is_a?(Class) || item["class"].is_a?(String)
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job 'at' must be a Numeric timestamp: `#{item}`") if item.key?("at") && !item["at"].is_a?(Numeric)
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job tags must be an Array: `#{item}`") if item["tags"] && !item["tags"].is_a?(Array)
-    end
-
-    def normalize_item(item)
-      validate(item)
-      # raise(ArgumentError, "Arguments must be native JSON types, see https://github.com/mperham/sidekiq/wiki/Best-Practices") unless JSON.load(JSON.dump(item['args'])) == item['args']
-
-      # merge in the default sidekiq_options for the item's class and/or wrapped element
-      # this allows ActiveJobs to control sidekiq_options too.
-      defaults = normalized_hash(item["class"])
-      defaults = defaults.merge(item["wrapped"].get_sidekiq_options) if item["wrapped"].respond_to?("get_sidekiq_options")
-      item = defaults.merge(item)
-
-      raise(ArgumentError, "Job must include a valid queue name") if item["queue"].nil? || item["queue"] == ""
-
-      item["class"] = item["class"].to_s
-      item["queue"] = item["queue"].to_s
-      item["jid"] ||= SecureRandom.hex(12)
-      item["created_at"] ||= Time.now.to_f
-
-      item
-    end
-
-    def normalized_hash(item_class)
-      if item_class.is_a?(Class)
-        raise(ArgumentError, "Message must include a Sidekiq::Worker class, not class name: #{item_class.ancestors.inspect}") unless item_class.respond_to?("get_sidekiq_options")
-        item_class.get_sidekiq_options
-      else
-        Sidekiq.default_worker_options
-      end
-    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/sidekiq/job_util.rb b/lib/sidekiq/job_util.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e9a14cc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/sidekiq/job_util.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+require "securerandom"
+require "time"
+
+module Sidekiq
+  module JobUtil
+    # These functions encapsulate various job utilities.
+    # They must be simple and free from side effects.
+
+    def validate(item)
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job must be a Hash with 'class' and 'args' keys: `#{item}`") unless item.is_a?(Hash) && item.key?("class") && item.key?("args")
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job args must be an Array: `#{item}`") unless item["args"].is_a?(Array)
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job class must be either a Class or String representation of the class name: `#{item}`") unless item["class"].is_a?(Class) || item["class"].is_a?(String)
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job 'at' must be a Numeric timestamp: `#{item}`") if item.key?("at") && !item["at"].is_a?(Numeric)
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job tags must be an Array: `#{item}`") if item["tags"] && !item["tags"].is_a?(Array)
+    end
+
+    def normalize_item(item)
+      validate(item)
+      # raise(ArgumentError, "Arguments must be native JSON types, see https://github.com/mperham/sidekiq/wiki/Best-Practices") unless JSON.load(JSON.dump(item['args'])) == item['args']
+
+      # merge in the default sidekiq_options for the item's class and/or wrapped element
+      # this allows ActiveJobs to control sidekiq_options too.
+      defaults = normalized_hash(item["class"])
+      defaults = defaults.merge(item["wrapped"].get_sidekiq_options) if item["wrapped"].respond_to?("get_sidekiq_options")
+      item = defaults.merge(item)
+
+      raise(ArgumentError, "Job must include a valid queue name") if item["queue"].nil? || item["queue"] == ""
+
+      item["class"] = item["class"].to_s
+      item["queue"] = item["queue"].to_s
+      item["jid"] ||= SecureRandom.hex(12)
+      item["created_at"] ||= Time.now.to_f
+
+      item
+    end
+
+    def normalized_hash(item_class)
+      if item_class.is_a?(Class)
+        raise(ArgumentError, "Message must include a Sidekiq::Worker class, not class name: #{item_class.ancestors.inspect}") unless item_class.respond_to?("get_sidekiq_options")
+        item_class.get_sidekiq_options
+      else
+        Sidekiq.default_worker_options
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/sidekiq/worker.rb b/lib/sidekiq/worker.rb
index 438eb0b8..8d78895c 100644
--- a/lib/sidekiq/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/sidekiq/worker.rb
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ module Sidekiq
     #     SomeWorker.set(queue: 'foo').perform_async(....)
     #
     class Setter
+      include Sidekiq::JobUtil
+
       def initialize(klass, opts)
         @klass = klass
         @opts = opts
@@ -191,10 +193,40 @@ module Sidekiq
         @klass.client_push(@opts.merge("args" => args, "class" => @klass))
       end
 
-      # Inline execution of job's perform method after passing through Sidekiq.client_middleware and Sidekiq.server_middleware
+      # Explicit inline execution of a job. Returns nil if the job did not
+      # execute, true otherwise.
       def perform_inline(*args)
-        item = @opts.merge('args' => args, 'class' => @klass).transform_keys(&:to_s)
-        Sidekiq::Client.new.perform_inline(item)
+        raw = @opts.merge("args" => args, "class" => @klass).transform_keys(&:to_s)
+
+        # validate and normalize payload
+        item = normalize_item(raw)
+        queue = item["queue"]
+
+        # run client-side middleware
+        result = Sidekiq.client_middleware.invoke(item["class"], item, queue, Sidekiq.redis_pool) do
+          item
+        end
+        return nil unless result
+
+        # round-trip the payload via JSON
+        msg = Sidekiq.load_json(Sidekiq.dump_json(item))
+
+        # prepare the job instance
+        klass = msg["class"].constantize
+        job = klass.new
+        job.jid = msg["jid"]
+        job.bid = msg["bid"] if job.respond_to?(:bid)
+
+        # run the job through server-side middleware
+        result = Sidekiq.server_middleware.invoke(job, msg, msg["queue"]) do
+          # perform it
+          job.perform(*msg["args"])
+          true
+        end
+        return nil unless result
+        # jobs do not return a result. they should store any
+        # modified state.
+        true
       end
 
       def perform_bulk(args, batch_size: 1_000)
@@ -249,8 +281,7 @@ module Sidekiq
 
       # Inline execution of job's perform method after passing through Sidekiq.client_middleware and Sidekiq.server_middleware
       def perform_inline(*args)
-        item = {"class" => self, "args" => args }
-        Sidekiq::Client.new.perform_inline(item)
+        Setter.new(self, {}).perform_inline(*args)
       end
 
       ##