diff --git a/runtime/src/accounts.rs b/runtime/src/accounts.rs
index 5ae1c5ce656aa2..fe9f77d93b284e 100644
--- a/runtime/src/accounts.rs
+++ b/runtime/src/accounts.rs
@@ -870,13 +870,17 @@ impl Accounts {
         )
     }
 
-    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(&self, range: &R, start_holding: bool)
-    where
-        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + std::fmt::Debug,
+    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(
+        &self,
+        range: &R,
+        start_holding: bool,
+        thread_pool: &rayon::ThreadPool,
+    ) where
+        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + std::fmt::Debug + Sync,
     {
         self.accounts_db
             .accounts_index
-            .hold_range_in_memory(range, start_holding)
+            .hold_range_in_memory(range, start_holding, thread_pool)
     }
 
     pub fn load_to_collect_rent_eagerly<R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + std::fmt::Debug>(
@@ -1331,12 +1335,12 @@ mod tests {
     fn test_hold_range_in_memory() {
         let accts = Accounts::default_for_tests();
         let range = Pubkey::new(&[0; 32])..=Pubkey::new(&[0xff; 32]);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false);
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false, &test_thread_pool());
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1353,7 +1357,7 @@ mod tests {
         let range2_inclusive = range2.start..=range2.end;
         assert_eq!(0, idx.bin_calculator.bin_from_pubkey(&range2.start));
         assert_eq!(0, idx.bin_calculator.bin_from_pubkey(&range2.end));
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true);
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, true, &test_thread_pool());
         idx.account_maps.iter().enumerate().for_each(|(_bin, map)| {
             let map = map.read().unwrap();
             assert_eq!(
@@ -1361,7 +1365,7 @@ mod tests {
                 vec![range.clone()]
             );
         });
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range2, true);
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range2, true, &test_thread_pool());
         idx.account_maps.iter().enumerate().for_each(|(bin, map)| {
             let map = map.read().unwrap();
             let expected = if bin == 0 {
@@ -1376,8 +1380,12 @@ mod tests {
                 bin
             );
         });
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false);
-        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range2, false);
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range, false, &test_thread_pool());
+        accts.hold_range_in_memory(&range2, false, &test_thread_pool());
+    }
+
+    fn test_thread_pool() -> rayon::ThreadPool {
+        crate::accounts_db::make_min_priority_thread_pool()
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/runtime/src/accounts_index.rs b/runtime/src/accounts_index.rs
index dfaeb84588d25a..34a9b76e09167b 100644
--- a/runtime/src/accounts_index.rs
+++ b/runtime/src/accounts_index.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ use {
     log::*,
     ouroboros::self_referencing,
     rand::{thread_rng, Rng},
+    rayon::{
+        iter::{IntoParallelIterator, ParallelIterator},
+        ThreadPool,
+    },
     solana_measure::measure::Measure,
     solana_sdk::{
         clock::{BankId, Slot},
@@ -742,21 +746,22 @@ impl<'a, T: IndexValue> AccountsIndexIterator<'a, T> {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(&self, range: &R, start_holding: bool)
+    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(&self, range: &R, start_holding: bool, thread_pool: &ThreadPool)
     where
-        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + Debug,
+        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + Debug + Sync,
     {
         // forward this hold request ONLY to the bins which contain keys in the specified range
         let (start_bin, bin_range) = self.bin_start_and_range();
-        self.account_maps
-            .iter()
-            .skip(start_bin)
-            .take(bin_range)
-            .for_each(|map| {
+        // the idea is this range shouldn't be more than a few buckets, but the process of loading from disk buckets is very slow
+        // so, parallelize the bucket loads
+        thread_pool.install(|| {
+            (0..bin_range).into_par_iter().for_each(|idx| {
+                let map = &self.account_maps[idx + start_bin];
                 map.read()
                     .unwrap()
                     .hold_range_in_memory(range, start_holding);
             });
+        });
     }
 }
 
@@ -1460,12 +1465,12 @@ impl<T: IndexValue> AccountsIndex<T> {
         rv.map(|index| slice.len() - 1 - index)
     }
 
-    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(&self, range: &R, start_holding: bool)
+    pub fn hold_range_in_memory<R>(&self, range: &R, start_holding: bool, thread_pool: &ThreadPool)
     where
-        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + Debug,
+        R: RangeBounds<Pubkey> + Debug + Sync,
     {
         let iter = self.iter(Some(range), true);
-        iter.hold_range_in_memory(range, start_holding);
+        iter.hold_range_in_memory(range, start_holding, thread_pool);
     }
 
     pub fn set_startup(&self, value: bool) {
diff --git a/runtime/src/bank.rs b/runtime/src/bank.rs
index da555c2d6cc36d..d7e6f243efc8c3 100644
--- a/runtime/src/bank.rs
+++ b/runtime/src/bank.rs
@@ -4179,7 +4179,10 @@ impl Bank {
     fn collect_rent_in_partition(&self, partition: Partition) -> usize {
         let subrange = Self::pubkey_range_from_partition(partition);
 
-        self.rc.accounts.hold_range_in_memory(&subrange, true);
+        let thread_pool = &self.rc.accounts.accounts_db.thread_pool;
+        self.rc
+            .accounts
+            .hold_range_in_memory(&subrange, true, thread_pool);
 
         let accounts = self
             .rc
@@ -4213,7 +4216,9 @@ impl Bank {
             .unwrap()
             .extend(rent_debits.into_unordered_rewards_iter());
 
-        self.rc.accounts.hold_range_in_memory(&subrange, false);
+        self.rc
+            .accounts
+            .hold_range_in_memory(&subrange, false, thread_pool);
         account_count
     }