diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index dae406e4ae..67054cf2c7 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3616,7 +3616,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async-compression",
  "async-stream",
- "async-trait",
  "byteorder",
  "bytes",
  "chrono",
diff --git a/pageserver/compaction/Cargo.toml b/pageserver/compaction/Cargo.toml
index 47f318db63..0fd1d81845 100644
--- a/pageserver/compaction/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pageserver/compaction/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ default = []
 anyhow.workspace = true
 async-compression.workspace = true
 async-stream.workspace = true
-async-trait.workspace = true
 byteorder.workspace = true
 bytes.workspace = true
 chrono = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
diff --git a/pageserver/compaction/src/helpers.rs b/pageserver/compaction/src/helpers.rs
index 22a410b4af..9de6363d6e 100644
--- a/pageserver/compaction/src/helpers.rs
+++ b/pageserver/compaction/src/helpers.rs
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ where
                 match top.deref_mut() {
                     LazyLoadLayer::Unloaded(ref mut l) => {
                         let fut = l.load_keys(this.ctx);
-                        this.load_future.set(Some(fut));
+                        this.load_future.set(Some(Box::pin(fut)));
                         continue;
                     }
                     LazyLoadLayer::Loaded(ref mut entries) => {
diff --git a/pageserver/compaction/src/interface.rs b/pageserver/compaction/src/interface.rs
index 2bb2e749c0..5dc62e506f 100644
--- a/pageserver/compaction/src/interface.rs
+++ b/pageserver/compaction/src/interface.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 //!
 //! All the heavy lifting is done by the create_image and create_delta
 //! functions that the implementor provides.
-use async_trait::async_trait;
 use futures::Future;
 use pageserver_api::{key::Key, keyspace::key_range_size};
 use std::ops::Range;
@@ -141,18 +140,16 @@ pub trait CompactionLayer<K: CompactionKey + ?Sized> {
 
     fn is_delta(&self) -> bool;
 }
-
-#[async_trait]
 pub trait CompactionDeltaLayer<E: CompactionJobExecutor + ?Sized>: CompactionLayer<E::Key> {
     type DeltaEntry<'a>: CompactionDeltaEntry<'a, E::Key>
     where
         Self: 'a;
 
     /// Return all keys in this delta layer.
-    async fn load_keys<'a>(
+    fn load_keys<'a>(
         &self,
         ctx: &E::RequestContext,
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<Self::DeltaEntry<'_>>>;
+    ) -> impl Future<Output = anyhow::Result<Vec<Self::DeltaEntry<'_>>>> + Send;
 }
 
 pub trait CompactionImageLayer<E: CompactionJobExecutor + ?Sized>: CompactionLayer<E::Key> {}
diff --git a/pageserver/compaction/src/simulator.rs b/pageserver/compaction/src/simulator.rs
index def7983e75..6c00df3a65 100644
--- a/pageserver/compaction/src/simulator.rs
+++ b/pageserver/compaction/src/simulator.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ mod draw;
 
 use draw::{LayerTraceEvent, LayerTraceFile, LayerTraceOp};
 
-use async_trait::async_trait;
 use futures::StreamExt;
 use rand::Rng;
 use tracing::info;
@@ -139,7 +138,6 @@ impl interface::CompactionLayer<Key> for Arc<MockDeltaLayer> {
     }
 }
 
-#[async_trait]
 impl interface::CompactionDeltaLayer<MockTimeline> for Arc<MockDeltaLayer> {
     type DeltaEntry<'a> = MockRecord;
 
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/compaction.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/compaction.rs
index ab001bf10d..8075775bbc 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/compaction.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/compaction.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ use super::layer_manager::LayerManager;
 use super::{CompactFlags, DurationRecorder, RecordedDuration, Timeline};
 
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Context};
-use async_trait::async_trait;
 use enumset::EnumSet;
 use fail::fail_point;
 use itertools::Itertools;
@@ -1122,7 +1121,6 @@ impl CompactionLayer<Key> for ResidentDeltaLayer {
     }
 }
 
-#[async_trait]
 impl CompactionDeltaLayer<TimelineAdaptor> for ResidentDeltaLayer {
     type DeltaEntry<'a> = DeltaEntry<'a>;