diff --git a/core/src/subgraph/instance_manager.rs b/core/src/subgraph/instance_manager.rs
index c4982a243e6..ab0cdbce3fe 100644
--- a/core/src/subgraph/instance_manager.rs
+++ b/core/src/subgraph/instance_manager.rs
@@ -446,8 +446,10 @@ where
         // forward; this is easier than updating the existing block stream.
         //
         // This task has many calls to the store, so mark it as `blocking`.
-        graph::spawn_thread(deployment_id.to_string(), move || {
-            if let Err(e) = graph::block_on(run_subgraph(ctx)) {
+        // This call is the reason why the size of the blocking thread pool
+        // size must always be well above the number of deployed subgraphs.
+        graph::spawn_blocking(async move {
+            if let Err(e) = run_subgraph(ctx).await {
                 error!(
                     &logger,
                     "Subgraph instance failed to run: {}",
diff --git a/docs/environment-variables.md b/docs/environment-variables.md
index 49e188f163b..45626bb1bba 100644
--- a/docs/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/environment-variables.md
@@ -154,3 +154,8 @@ those.
   given the other load management configuration settings, but never
   actually decline to run a query, instead log about load management
   decisions. Set to `true` to turn simulation on, defaults to `false`
+- `GRAPH_MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS`:  Maximum number of blocking threads in the tokio blocking thread
+  pool. In an index node this should always be well above the number of subgraphs deployed to it,
+  because each subgraph permanently takes up one thread. Graphql queries are currently also run on
+  the blocking thread pool, but the DB connection pool size is usually the limiting factor for
+  queries. Defaults to 2000.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/graph/src/lib.rs b/graph/src/lib.rs
index 45ef0885668..3f7e3cac1d0 100644
--- a/graph/src/lib.rs
+++ b/graph/src/lib.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ pub mod mock {
 /// Wrapper for spawning tasks that abort on panic, which is our default.
 mod task_spawn;
 pub use task_spawn::{
-    block_on, spawn, spawn_allow_panic, spawn_blocking, spawn_blocking_allow_panic, spawn_thread,
+    block_on, spawn, spawn_allow_panic, spawn_blocking, spawn_blocking_allow_panic,
 };
 
 pub use bytes;
diff --git a/graph/src/task_spawn.rs b/graph/src/task_spawn.rs
index f886beaff22..913641b569a 100644
--- a/graph/src/task_spawn.rs
+++ b/graph/src/task_spawn.rs
@@ -54,14 +54,3 @@ pub fn spawn_blocking_allow_panic<R: 'static + Send>(
 pub fn block_on<T>(f: impl Future03<Output = T>) -> T {
     tokio::runtime::Handle::current().block_on(f)
 }
-
-/// Spawns a thread with access to the tokio runtime. Panics if the thread cannot be spawned.
-pub fn spawn_thread(name: String, f: impl 'static + FnOnce() + Send) {
-    let conf = std::thread::Builder::new().name(name);
-    let runtime = tokio::runtime::Handle::current();
-    conf.spawn(move || {
-        let _runtime_guard = runtime.enter();
-        f()
-    })
-    .unwrap();
-}
diff --git a/node/src/main.rs b/node/src/main.rs
index c97c6dd5e46..8bdd7f20d21 100644
--- a/node/src/main.rs
+++ b/node/src/main.rs
@@ -55,6 +55,15 @@ lazy_static! {
         .map(|s| BlockNumber::from_str(&s)
              .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("failed to parse env var ETHEREUM_ANCESTOR_COUNT")))
         .unwrap_or(50);
+
+    // Maximum number of blocking threads in the tokio blocking thread pool. This should always be
+    // well above the number of subgraphs deployed to an index node, because each subgraph takes up
+    // one thread. Defaults to 2000.
+    static ref MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS: usize = env::var("GRAPH_MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS")
+        .ok()
+        .map(|s| usize::from_str(&s)
+             .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("failed to parse env var ETHEREUM_ANCESTOR_COUNT")))
+        .unwrap_or(2000);
 }
 
 /// How long we will hold up node startup to get the net version and genesis
@@ -93,8 +102,16 @@ fn read_expensive_queries() -> Result<Vec<Arc<q::Document>>, std::io::Error> {
     Ok(queries)
 }
 
-#[tokio::main]
-async fn main() {
+fn main() {
+    tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread()
+        .enable_all()
+        .max_blocking_threads(*MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS)
+        .build()
+        .unwrap()
+        .block_on(async { async_main().await })
+}
+
+async fn async_main() {
     env_logger::init();
 
     // Allow configuring fail points on debug builds. Used for integration tests.