diff --git a/asgiref/sync.py b/asgiref/sync.py
index 53f1900b..9a43c4a4 100644
--- a/asgiref/sync.py
+++ b/asgiref/sync.py
@@ -180,12 +180,7 @@ class SyncToAsync:
     rather than just blocking.
     """
 
-    # If they've set ASGI_THREADS, update the default asyncio executor for now
-    if "ASGI_THREADS" in os.environ:
-        loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
-        loop.set_default_executor(
-            ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=int(os.environ["ASGI_THREADS"]))
-        )
+    executor = None
 
     # Maps launched threads to the coroutines that spawned them
     launch_map = {}
@@ -205,6 +200,14 @@ def __init__(self, func, thread_sensitive=False):
         except AttributeError:
             pass
 
+        if self.__class__.executor is None:
+            executor_kwargs = {}
+            if "ASGI_THREADS" in os.environ:
+                executor_kwargs["max_workers"] = int(os.environ["ASGI_THREADS"])
+            if sys.version_info >= (3, 6):
+                executor_kwargs["thread_name_prefix"] = "sync_to_async"
+            self.__class__.executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(**executor_kwargs)
+
     async def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
 
@@ -217,7 +220,7 @@ async def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                 # Otherwise, we run it in a fixed single thread
                 executor = self.single_thread_executor
         else:
-            executor = None  # Use default
+            executor = self.__class__.executor  # Use default
 
         if contextvars is not None:
             context = contextvars.copy_context()
diff --git a/tests/test_sync.py b/tests/test_sync.py
index 5a6e3547..e1f665ba 100644
--- a/tests/test_sync.py
+++ b/tests/test_sync.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_sync_to_async():
+async def test_sync_to_async(monkeypatch):
     """
     Tests we can call sync functions from an async thread
     (even if the number of thread workers is less than the number of calls)
@@ -29,18 +29,44 @@ def sync_function():
     end = time.monotonic()
     assert result == 42
     assert end - start >= 1
+
     # Set workers to 1, call it twice and make sure that works right
-    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
-    old_executor = loop._default_executor
-    loop.set_default_executor(ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1))
-    try:
-        start = time.monotonic()
-        await asyncio.wait([async_function(), async_function()])
-        end = time.monotonic()
-        # It should take at least 2 seconds as there's only one worker.
-        assert end - start >= 2
-    finally:
-        loop.set_default_executor(old_executor)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sync_to_async, "executor", ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1))
+    async_function = sync_to_async(sync_function)
+    start = time.monotonic()
+    await asyncio.wait([async_function(), async_function()])
+    end = time.monotonic()
+    # It should take at least 2 seconds as there's only one worker.
+    assert end - start >= 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_sync_to_async_ASGI_THREADS(monkeypatch):
+    def sync_function():
+        time.sleep(0.5)
+        return 42
+
+    # Set workers to 1 via env, call it twice and make sure that works right
+    monkeypatch.setenv("ASGI_THREADS", 1)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sync_to_async, "executor", None)
+
+    async_function = sync_to_async(sync_function)
+    assert async_function.executor._max_workers == 1
+    start = time.monotonic()
+    await asyncio.wait([async_function(), async_function()])
+    end = time.monotonic()
+    # It should take at least 1 second as there's only one worker.
+    assert end - start >= 1
+
+    # Uses existing executor instance on class.
+    monkeypatch.setenv("ASGI_THREADS", 99)
+    orig_executor = async_function.executor
+    async_function = sync_to_async(sync_function)
+    assert async_function.executor is orig_executor
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sync_to_async, "executor", None)
+    async_function = sync_to_async(sync_function)
+    assert async_function.executor is not orig_executor
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio