diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 91904fdb..7fd22a02 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -139,10 +139,16 @@ HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=10s --retries=3 \
         -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}' \
         | grep -q "VALIDATION_ERROR" || exit 1
 
+# Threaded workers, matching docker-compose.yml - see the reasoning there. A
+# compose file overrides this CMD, but an image run without one (a plain
+# `docker run`, a site's own orchestrator) would otherwise still get the
+# blocking sync default and the same starvation.
 CMD ["gunicorn", \
      "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5001", \
+     "--worker-class", "gthread", \
      "--workers", "4", \
-     "--timeout", "60", \
+     "--threads", "8", \
+     "--timeout", "30", \
      "--access-logfile", "-", \
      "--error-logfile", "-", \
      "wsgi:app"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ec2628a8..03780a73 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -79,18 +79,25 @@ services:
       - gunicorn
       - --bind
       - 0.0.0.0:5001
-      # Threaded workers so one blocked request (e.g. an agent that fails the TLS
-      # handshake and retries in a loop) cannot pin a whole worker and starve the
-      # UI. With sync workers a handful of stuck clients exhausted all capacity.
-      - --worker-class
-      - gthread
-      - --workers
-      - "4"
-      - --threads
-      - "8"
-      # Shorter timeout so a hung connection frees its thread quickly instead of
-      # holding it for a full minute.
-      - --timeout
+# Threaded workers, not the blocking sync default. An agent that fails
+# the TLS handshake retries in a loop, and with 4 sync workers a handful
+# of those pinned every worker: real UI requests queued 20+ seconds while
+# the CPU sat idle. A stuck connection now holds one THREAD, and 32
+# (4 x 8) have to be exhausted before a person waits.
+#
+# Found in production at the other site (their commit db75ca7). Their
+# server, our agent - so the same client behaviour will reach any site
+# running the endpoint agent, and the fix belongs in the product rather
+# than on one branch.
+- --worker-class
+- gthread
+- --workers
+- "4"
+- --threads
+- "8"
+# 30, not 60: a hung connection frees its thread in half the time, which
+# is what decides whether a retry storm is absorbed or queues.
+- --timeout
       - "30"
       - --access-logfile
       - "-"