diff --git a/src/main/AppConnector.cpp b/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
index a387154fa6..50b3048ddc 100644
--- a/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
+++ b/src/main/AppConnector.cpp
@@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ AppConnector::checkScheduledAndCache(
     return mApp.getOverlayManager().checkScheduledAndCache(msgTracker);
 }
 
+bool
+AppConnector::threadIsType(Application::ThreadType type) const
+{
+    return mApp.threadIsType(type);
+}
+
 SearchableHotArchiveSnapshotConstPtr
 AppConnector::copySearchableHotArchiveBucketListSnapshot()
 {
diff --git a/src/main/AppConnector.h b/src/main/AppConnector.h
index 756a768bba..b0c50e0545 100644
--- a/src/main/AppConnector.h
+++ b/src/main/AppConnector.h
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include "bucket/BucketUtils.h"
+#include "main/Application.h"
 #include "main/Config.h"
 #include "medida/metrics_registry.h"
 
 namespace stellar
 {
-class Application;
 class OverlayManager;
 class LedgerManager;
 class Herder;
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ class AppConnector
     checkScheduledAndCache(std::shared_ptr<CapacityTrackedMessage> msgTracker);
     SorobanNetworkConfig const& getSorobanNetworkConfigReadOnly() const;
     SorobanNetworkConfig const& getSorobanNetworkConfigForApply() const;
+    bool threadIsType(Application::ThreadType type) const;
 
     medida::MetricsRegistry& getMetrics() const;
     SearchableHotArchiveSnapshotConstPtr
diff --git a/src/main/Application.h b/src/main/Application.h
index 3b1eaa67b4..f7fb181e72 100644
--- a/src/main/Application.h
+++ b/src/main/Application.h
@@ -164,6 +164,16 @@ class Application
         APP_NUM_STATE
     };
 
+    // Types of threads that may be running
+    enum class ThreadType
+    {
+        MAIN,
+        WORKER,
+        EVICTION,
+        OVERLAY,
+        APPLY
+    };
+
     virtual ~Application(){};
 
     virtual void initialize(bool createNewDB, bool forceRebuild) = 0;
@@ -330,6 +340,9 @@ class Application
         return ret;
     }
 
+    // Returns true iff the calling thread has the same type as `type`
+    virtual bool threadIsType(ThreadType type) const = 0;
+
     virtual AppConnector& getAppConnector() = 0;
 
   protected:
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
index f9f64795f2..37032bdd8c 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.cpp
@@ -160,11 +160,14 @@ ApplicationImpl::ApplicationImpl(VirtualClock& clock, Config const& cfg)
     releaseAssert(mConfig.WORKER_THREADS > 0);
     releaseAssert(mEvictionIOContext);
 
+    mThreadTypes[std::this_thread::get_id()] = ThreadType::MAIN;
+
     // Allocate one thread for Eviction scan
     mEvictionThread = std::thread{[this]() {
         runCurrentThreadWithMediumPriority();
         mEvictionIOContext->run();
     }};
+    mThreadTypes[mEvictionThread->get_id()] = ThreadType::EVICTION;
 
     --t;
 
@@ -174,6 +177,7 @@ ApplicationImpl::ApplicationImpl(VirtualClock& clock, Config const& cfg)
             runCurrentThreadWithLowPriority();
             mWorkerIOContext.run();
         }};
+        mThreadTypes[thread.get_id()] = ThreadType::WORKER;
         mWorkerThreads.emplace_back(std::move(thread));
     }
 
@@ -181,12 +185,14 @@ ApplicationImpl::ApplicationImpl(VirtualClock& clock, Config const& cfg)
     {
         // Keep priority unchanged as overlay processes time-sensitive tasks
         mOverlayThread = std::thread{[this]() { mOverlayIOContext->run(); }};
+        mThreadTypes[mOverlayThread->get_id()] = ThreadType::OVERLAY;
     }
 
     if (mConfig.parallelLedgerClose())
     {
         mLedgerCloseThread =
             std::thread{[this]() { mLedgerCloseIOContext->run(); }};
+        mThreadTypes[mLedgerCloseThread->get_id()] = ThreadType::APPLY;
     }
 }
 
@@ -1197,6 +1203,14 @@ ApplicationImpl::getMetrics()
     return *mMetrics;
 }
 
+bool
+ApplicationImpl::threadIsType(ThreadType type) const
+{
+    auto it = mThreadTypes.find(std::this_thread::get_id());
+    releaseAssert(it != mThreadTypes.end());
+    return it->second == type;
+}
+
 void
 ApplicationImpl::syncOwnMetrics()
 {
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.h b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.h
index 6780a719d1..98ad3d3cc4 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationImpl.h
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationImpl.h
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ class ApplicationImpl : public Application
     manualClose(std::optional<uint32_t> const& manualLedgerSeq,
                 std::optional<TimePoint> const& manualCloseTime) override;
 
+    bool threadIsType(ThreadType type) const override;
+
 #ifdef BUILD_TESTS
     virtual void generateLoad(GeneratedLoadConfig cfg) override;
 
@@ -220,6 +222,11 @@ class ApplicationImpl : public Application
     // thread for eviction scans.
     std::optional<std::thread> mEvictionThread;
 
+    // NOTE: It is important that this map not be updated outside of the
+    // constructor. `unordered_map` is safe for multiple threads to read from,
+    // so long as there are no concurrent writers.
+    std::unordered_map<std::thread::id, Application::ThreadType> mThreadTypes;
+
     asio::signal_set mStopSignals;
 
     bool mStarted;
diff --git a/src/overlay/Peer.cpp b/src/overlay/Peer.cpp
index c331c8d170..dcb9fafa6a 100644
--- a/src/overlay/Peer.cpp
+++ b/src/overlay/Peer.cpp
@@ -460,7 +460,8 @@ void
 Peer::maybeExecuteInBackground(std::string const& jobName,
                                std::function<void(std::shared_ptr<Peer>)> f)
 {
-    if (useBackgroundThread() && threadIsMain())
+    if (useBackgroundThread() &&
+        !mAppConnector.threadIsType(Application::ThreadType::OVERLAY))
     {
         mAppConnector.postOnOverlayThread(
             [self = shared_from_this(), f]() { f(self); }, jobName);