diff --git a/headroom/onnx_runtime.py b/headroom/onnx_runtime.py
index aa3e7f7b2..8157c2202 100644
--- a/headroom/onnx_runtime.py
+++ b/headroom/onnx_runtime.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 # Override for the CPU memory-arena default below: "1"/"true" forces the
 # arena ON, "0"/"false" forces it OFF, unset/"auto" uses the platform default.
 ONNX_CPU_ARENA_ENV = "HEADROOM_ONNX_CPU_ARENA"
+ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV = "HEADROOM_ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING"
 
 _TRUTHY = frozenset({"1", "true", "yes", "on"})
 _FALSY = frozenset({"0", "false", "no", "off"})
@@ -46,6 +47,22 @@ def cpu_arena_enabled() -> bool:
     return sys.platform == "win32"
 
 
+def onnx_thread_spinning_enabled() -> bool:
+    """Whether ONNX Runtime intra/inter-op thread pools may spin-wait when idle.
+
+    ORT's thread pools spin-wait on every core between inferences by default, so
+    a long-lived proxy that keeps compression/embedding models loaded pegs all
+    cores even while completely idle — the machine slows to a crawl after a
+    while (#2495). Default to blocking idle threads (spinning off). Set
+    ``HEADROOM_ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING=1`` to restore ORT's spinning for peak
+    throughput on a dedicated/batch box.
+    """
+    override = _env_flag(ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV)
+    if override is not None:
+        return override
+    return False
+
+
 # Pin model artifacts to immutable commit SHAs so a changed or compromised
 # upstream HuggingFace repo cannot be pulled silently (supply-chain integrity).
 # Repos not listed here fall back to the floating default ref. Set
@@ -159,6 +176,20 @@ def create_cpu_session_options(
     if inter_op_num_threads is not None:
         sess_options.inter_op_num_threads = inter_op_num_threads
 
+    if not onnx_thread_spinning_enabled():
+        # ORT's thread pools spin-wait on all cores between inferences by
+        # default, so idle-but-loaded models peg every core in a long-lived
+        # proxy (#2495). Make idle threads block instead. Best-effort: older ORT
+        # builds may not recognize a key.
+        for spin_key in (
+            "session.intra_op.allow_spinning",
+            "session.inter_op.allow_spinning",
+        ):
+            try:
+                sess_options.add_session_config_entry(spin_key, "0")
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
     if not cpu_arena_enabled():
         if hasattr(sess_options, "enable_cpu_mem_arena"):
             sess_options.enable_cpu_mem_arena = False
diff --git a/tests/test_onnx_runtime.py b/tests/test_onnx_runtime.py
index 63d29abe6..3e7f6f949 100644
--- a/tests/test_onnx_runtime.py
+++ b/tests/test_onnx_runtime.py
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ import os
 import sys
 
 from headroom.onnx_runtime import (
+    ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV,
     ONNX_CPU_ARENA_ENV,
     cpu_arena_enabled,
     create_cpu_session_options,
     hf_entry_known_absent,
+    onnx_thread_spinning_enabled,
 )
 
 
@@ -15,6 +17,10 @@ class _FakeSessionOptions:
         self.inter_op_num_threads = None
         self.enable_cpu_mem_arena = True
         self.enable_mem_pattern = True
+        self.config_entries: dict[str, str] = {}
+
+    def add_session_config_entry(self, key: str, value: str) -> None:
+        self.config_entries[key] = value
 
 
 class _FakeOrt:
@@ -26,6 +32,10 @@ class _FakeSessionOptionsWithoutToggles:
         self.intra_op_num_threads = None
         self.inter_op_num_threads = None
 
+    def add_session_config_entry(self, key: str, value: str) -> None:
+        # No config storage on this stand-in; ORT here just accepts the call.
+        return None
+
 
 class _FakeOrtWithoutToggles:
     SessionOptions = _FakeSessionOptionsWithoutToggles
@@ -108,6 +118,53 @@ def test_create_cpu_session_options_handles_older_session_options(monkeypatch):
     assert options.inter_op_num_threads is None
 
 
+def test_thread_spinning_disabled_by_default(monkeypatch):
+    # #2495: ORT thread pools spin-wait on all cores between inferences, so a
+    # long-lived proxy pegs every core while idle. Disable spinning by default.
+    monkeypatch.delenv(ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv(ONNX_CPU_ARENA_ENV, raising=False)
+
+    assert onnx_thread_spinning_enabled() is False
+    options = create_cpu_session_options(_FakeOrt)
+    assert options.config_entries.get("session.intra_op.allow_spinning") == "0"
+    assert options.config_entries.get("session.inter_op.allow_spinning") == "0"
+
+
+def test_thread_spinning_env_can_reenable(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv(ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV, "1")
+    monkeypatch.delenv(ONNX_CPU_ARENA_ENV, raising=False)
+
+    assert onnx_thread_spinning_enabled() is True
+    options = create_cpu_session_options(_FakeOrt)
+    assert "session.intra_op.allow_spinning" not in options.config_entries
+    assert "session.inter_op.allow_spinning" not in options.config_entries
+
+
+def test_thread_spinning_env_explicit_off(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv(ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV, "0")
+
+    assert onnx_thread_spinning_enabled() is False
+    options = create_cpu_session_options(_FakeOrt)
+    assert options.config_entries.get("session.intra_op.allow_spinning") == "0"
+
+
+def test_spinning_disable_is_best_effort_on_older_ort(monkeypatch):
+    # An ORT build that rejects the config key must not break session creation.
+    monkeypatch.delenv(ONNX_ALLOW_SPINNING_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "platform", "linux")
+
+    class _RejectingSessionOptions(_FakeSessionOptions):
+        def add_session_config_entry(self, key: str, value: str) -> None:
+            raise RuntimeError(f"unknown config key: {key}")
+
+    class _RejectingOrt:
+        SessionOptions = _RejectingSessionOptions
+
+    # Must not raise.
+    options = create_cpu_session_options(_RejectingOrt)
+    assert options.enable_cpu_mem_arena is False
+
+
 def _write_fake_hf_cache(
     root: str, repo_id: str, revision: str, *, no_exist_files: list[str]
 ) -> None: