diff --git a/src/waitFor.js b/src/waitFor.js
index 5275643e5..1820dbe88 100644
--- a/src/waitFor.js
+++ b/src/waitFor.js
@@ -1,16 +1,25 @@
 // @flow
 
+import * as React from 'react';
+import act from './act';
 import { throwRemovedFunctionError } from './helpers/errors';
 
 const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 4500;
 const DEFAULT_INTERVAL = 50;
 
+function checkReactVersionAtLeast(major: number, minor: number): boolean {
+  if (React.version === undefined) return false;
+  const [actualMajor, actualMinor] = React.version.split('.').map(Number);
+
+  return actualMajor > major || (actualMajor === major && actualMinor >= minor);
+}
+
 export type WaitForOptions = {
   timeout?: number,
   interval?: number,
 };
 
-export default function waitFor<T>(
+function waitForInternal<T>(
   expectation: () => T,
   options?: WaitForOptions
 ): Promise<T> {
@@ -38,6 +47,25 @@ export default function waitFor<T>(
   });
 }
 
+export default async function waitFor<T>(
+  expectation: () => T,
+  options?: WaitForOptions
+): Promise<T> {
+  if (!checkReactVersionAtLeast(16, 9)) {
+    return waitForInternal(expectation, options);
+  }
+
+  let result: T;
+
+  //$FlowFixMe: `act` has incorrect flow typing
+  await act(async () => {
+    result = await waitForInternal(expectation, options);
+  });
+
+  //$FlowFixMe: either we have result or `waitFor` threw error
+  return result;
+}
+
 export function waitForElement<T>(
   expectation: () => T,
   _timeout: number = 4500,
diff --git a/website/docs/API.md b/website/docs/API.md
index 5d2adc734..a5ad19ed1 100644
--- a/website/docs/API.md
+++ b/website/docs/API.md
@@ -336,6 +336,10 @@ function waitFor<T>(
 
 Waits for non-deterministic periods of time until your element appears or times out. `waitFor` periodically calls `expectation` every `interval` milliseconds to determine whether the element appeared or not.
 
+:::info
+In order to properly use `waitFor` you need at least React >=16.9.0 (featuring async `act`) or React Native >=0.60 (which comes with React >=16.9.0).
+:::
+
 ```jsx
 import { render, waitFor } from 'react-testing-library';
 
@@ -403,4 +407,4 @@ expect(submitButtons).toHaveLength(3); // expect 3 elements
 
 ## `act`
 
-Useful function to help testing components that use hooks API. By default any `render`, `update`, and `fireEvent` calls are wrapped by this function, so there is no need to wrap it manually. This method is re-exported from [`react-test-renderer`](https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/packages/react-test-renderer/src/ReactTestRenderer.js#L567]).
+Useful function to help testing components that use hooks API. By default any `render`, `update`, `fireEvent`, and `waitFor` calls are wrapped by this function, so there is no need to wrap it manually. This method is re-exported from [`react-test-renderer`](https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/packages/react-test-renderer/src/ReactTestRenderer.js#L567]).
diff --git a/website/docs/GettingStarted.md b/website/docs/GettingStarted.md
index dc69fac3e..ebe68f750 100644
--- a/website/docs/GettingStarted.md
+++ b/website/docs/GettingStarted.md
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ This library has a peerDependencies listing for `react-test-renderer` and, of co
 
 As you may have noticed, it's not tied to React Native at all – you can safely use it in your React components if you feel like not interacting directly with DOM.
 
+:::info
+In order to properly use helpers for async tests (`findBy` queries and `waitFor`) you need at least React >=16.9.0 (featuring async `act`) or React Native >=0.60 (which comes with React >=16.9.0).
+:::
+
 ### Additional Jest matchers
 
 In order to use addtional React Native-specific jest matchers from [@testing-library/jest-native](https://github.com/testing-library/jest-native) package add it to your project:
diff --git a/website/docs/MigrationV2.md b/website/docs/MigrationV2.md
index 9c1c08f53..2a0a5a98c 100644
--- a/website/docs/MigrationV2.md
+++ b/website/docs/MigrationV2.md
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ export default function waitFor<T>(
 
 Both changes should improve code readibility.
 
+`waitFor` calls (and hence also `findBy` queries) are now wrapped in `act` by default, so that you should no longer need to use `act` directly in your tests.
+
 :::tip
 You can usually avoid `waitFor` by a proper use of `findBy` asynchronous queries. It will result in more streamlined testing experience.
 :::
diff --git a/website/docs/Queries.md b/website/docs/Queries.md
index a0c0fd705..5a288b119 100644
--- a/website/docs/Queries.md
+++ b/website/docs/Queries.md
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ title: Queries
 
 `findAllBy` queries return a promise which resolves to an array when any matching elements are found. The promise is rejected if no elements match after a default timeout of 4500ms.
 
+:::info
+In order to properly use `findBy` and `findAllBy` queries you need at least React >=16.9.0 (featuring async `act`) or React Native >=0.60 (which comes with React >=16.9.0).
+:::
+
 :::info
 `findBy` and `findAllBy` queries accept optional `waitForOptions` object argument which can contain `timeout` and `interval` properies which have the same meaning as respective options for [`waitFor`](https://callstack.github.io/react-native-testing-library/docs/api#waitfor) function.
 :::