diff --git a/pageserver/src/bin/pageserver.rs b/pageserver/src/bin/pageserver.rs
index 073655a598..26cab9338b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/bin/pageserver.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/bin/pageserver.rs
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ fn start_pageserver(
         conf,
     );
     if let Some(deletion_workers) = deletion_workers {
-        deletion_workers.spawn_with(*BACKGROUND_RUNTIME);
+        deletion_workers.spawn_with(BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle());
     }
 
     // Up to this point no significant I/O has been done: this should have been fast.  Record
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ fn start_pageserver(
             .with_graceful_shutdown(task_mgr::shutdown_watcher());
 
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *MGMT_REQUEST_RUNTIME,
+            MGMT_REQUEST_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::HttpEndpointListener,
             None,
             None,
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ fn start_pageserver(
         let local_disk_storage = conf.workdir.join("last_consumption_metrics.json");
 
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *crate::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            crate::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::MetricsCollection,
             None,
             None,
@@ -647,7 +647,7 @@ fn start_pageserver(
             DownloadBehavior::Error,
         );
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *COMPUTE_REQUEST_RUNTIME,
+            COMPUTE_REQUEST_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::LibpqEndpointListener,
             None,
             None,
@@ -682,6 +682,10 @@ fn start_pageserver(
                 .expect("forever() never returns None unless explicitly closed");
         });
         let signal = BACKGROUND_RUNTIME
+            // NB: in `NEON_PAGESERVER_USE_ONE_RUNTIME=current_thread`, this
+            // is where the executor is actually driven. In multi-threaded runtime
+            // modes, the executor threads are spawned internally, so, async execution
+            // is driven even before we reach here.
             .block_on(signal_handler)
             .expect("join error");
         match signal {
diff --git a/pageserver/src/consumption_metrics.rs b/pageserver/src/consumption_metrics.rs
index a09da56ee4..f5540e896f 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/consumption_metrics.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/consumption_metrics.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ pub async fn collect_metrics(
     let worker_ctx =
         ctx.detached_child(TaskKind::CalculateSyntheticSize, DownloadBehavior::Download);
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::CalculateSyntheticSize,
         None,
         None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/disk_usage_eviction_task.rs b/pageserver/src/disk_usage_eviction_task.rs
index e44ae21a36..6248424cee 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/disk_usage_eviction_task.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/disk_usage_eviction_task.rs
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ pub fn launch_disk_usage_global_eviction_task(
     info!("launching disk usage based eviction task");
 
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::DiskUsageEviction,
         None,
         None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/task_mgr.rs b/pageserver/src/task_mgr.rs
index 6cabe9c190..1d1dc22ead 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/task_mgr.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/task_mgr.rs
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ impl FromStr for TokioRuntimeMode {
 }
 
 static ONE_RUNTIME: Lazy<Option<tokio::runtime::Runtime>> = Lazy::new(|| {
-    let thread_name = "pageserver worker";
+    let thread_name = "tokio-executor";
     let Some(mode) = env::var("NEON_PAGESERVER_USE_ONE_RUNTIME") else {
         // If the env var is not set, leave this static as None.
         set_tokio_runtime_setup(
@@ -190,9 +190,9 @@ static ONE_RUNTIME: Lazy<Option<tokio::runtime::Runtime>> = Lazy::new(|| {
 /// otherwise.
 macro_rules! pageserver_runtime {
     ($varname:ident, $name:literal) => {
-        pub static $varname: Lazy<&'static tokio::runtime::Handle> = Lazy::new(|| {
+        pub static $varname: Lazy<&'static tokio::runtime::Runtime> = Lazy::new(|| {
             if let Some(runtime) = &*ONE_RUNTIME {
-                return runtime.handle();
+                return runtime;
             }
             static RUNTIME: Lazy<tokio::runtime::Runtime> = Lazy::new(|| {
                 tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread()
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ macro_rules! pageserver_runtime {
                     .build()
                     .expect(std::concat!("Failed to create runtime ", $name))
             });
-            RUNTIME.handle()
+            &*RUNTIME
         });
     };
 }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/delete.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/delete.rs
index 55e6704835..d1881f3897 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/delete.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/delete.rs
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ impl DeleteTenantFlow {
         let tenant_shard_id = tenant.tenant_shard_id;
 
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::TimelineDeletionWorker,
             Some(tenant_shard_id),
             None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
index 76973efaa8..b1b46d487b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
@@ -1849,7 +1849,7 @@ impl TenantManager {
         let task_tenant_id = None;
 
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::MgmtRequest,
             task_tenant_id,
             None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/remote_timeline_client.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/remote_timeline_client.rs
index 754395ed0c..9b1b5e7ed5 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/remote_timeline_client.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/remote_timeline_client.rs
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ impl RemoteTimelineClient {
                 // remote_timeline_client.rs tests rely on current-thread runtime
                 tokio::runtime::Handle::current()
             } else {
-                BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.clone()
+                BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle().clone()
             },
             tenant_shard_id,
             timeline_id,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
index f74ed8dbe5..19f36c722e 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ pub fn spawn_tasks(
         tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<CommandRequest<UploadCommand>>(16);
 
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::SecondaryDownloads,
         None,
         None,
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ pub fn spawn_tasks(
     );
 
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::SecondaryUploads,
         None,
         None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/tasks.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/tasks.rs
index fd16a12a54..74ed677ffe 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/tasks.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/tasks.rs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ pub fn start_background_loops(
 ) {
     let tenant_shard_id = tenant.tenant_shard_id;
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::Compaction,
         Some(tenant_shard_id),
         None,
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ pub fn start_background_loops(
         },
     );
     task_mgr::spawn(
-        *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+        BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
         TaskKind::GarbageCollector,
         Some(tenant_shard_id),
         None,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
index 9c2cf666ac..d3c8c5f66c 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
@@ -1962,7 +1962,7 @@ impl Timeline {
             initdb_optimization_count: 0,
         };
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             task_mgr::TaskKind::LayerFlushTask,
             Some(self.tenant_shard_id),
             Some(self.timeline_id),
@@ -2324,7 +2324,7 @@ impl Timeline {
             DownloadBehavior::Download,
         );
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             task_mgr::TaskKind::InitialLogicalSizeCalculation,
             Some(self.tenant_shard_id),
             Some(self.timeline_id),
@@ -2502,7 +2502,7 @@ impl Timeline {
             DownloadBehavior::Download,
         );
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             task_mgr::TaskKind::OndemandLogicalSizeCalculation,
             Some(self.tenant_shard_id),
             Some(self.timeline_id),
@@ -4484,7 +4484,7 @@ impl Timeline {
 
         let self_clone = Arc::clone(&self);
         let task_id = task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             task_mgr::TaskKind::DownloadAllRemoteLayers,
             Some(self.tenant_shard_id),
             Some(self.timeline_id),
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/delete.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/delete.rs
index f4fcbbdeda..af10c1c84b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/delete.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/delete.rs
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ impl DeleteTimelineFlow {
         let timeline_id = timeline.timeline_id;
 
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            task_mgr::BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::TimelineDeletionWorker,
             Some(tenant_shard_id),
             Some(timeline_id),
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/eviction_task.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/eviction_task.rs
index 78b9dfff47..522c5b57de 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/eviction_task.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline/eviction_task.rs
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ impl Timeline {
         let self_clone = Arc::clone(self);
         let background_tasks_can_start = background_tasks_can_start.cloned();
         task_mgr::spawn(
-            *BACKGROUND_RUNTIME,
+            BACKGROUND_RUNTIME.handle(),
             TaskKind::Eviction,
             Some(self.tenant_shard_id),
             Some(self.timeline_id),