diff --git a/changelog.d/17566.misc b/changelog.d/17566.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7210753fa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/17566.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Speed up responding to media requests.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/synapse/server.py b/synapse/server.py
index 8b07bb39a0..d6c9cbdac0 100644
--- a/synapse/server.py
+++ b/synapse/server.py
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ from synapse.http.client import (
 )
 from synapse.http.matrixfederationclient import MatrixFederationHttpClient
 from synapse.media.media_repository import MediaRepository
+from synapse.metrics import register_threadpool
 from synapse.metrics.common_usage_metrics import CommonUsageMetricsManager
 from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi
 from synapse.module_api.callbacks import ModuleApiCallbacks
@@ -959,4 +960,7 @@ class HomeServer(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
             "during", "shutdown", media_threadpool.stop
         )
 
+        # Register the threadpool with our metrics.
+        register_threadpool("media", media_threadpool)
+
         return media_threadpool