diff --git a/doc/APIreference/functions.rst b/doc/APIreference/functions.rst
index ca4d1c6f7b..36b2c13cdc 100644
--- a/doc/APIreference/functions.rst
+++ b/doc/APIreference/functions.rst
@@ -2903,6 +2903,15 @@ Adds a thread pool to mjData and configures it for multi-threaded use.
 
 Enqueue a task in a thread pool.
 
+.. _mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait:
+
+`mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait <#mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait>`__
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. mujoco-include:: mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait
+
+Set whether the thread pool should busy-wait for its task queue. Set to 1 to busy-wait, or 0 to use sleep.
+
 .. _mju_threadPoolDestroy:
 
 `mju_threadPoolDestroy <#mju_threadPoolDestroy>`__
diff --git a/doc/includes/references.h b/doc/includes/references.h
index c8bf05fa6d..c9195c6736 100644
--- a/doc/includes/references.h
+++ b/doc/includes/references.h
@@ -3420,6 +3420,7 @@ const mjpResourceProvider* mjp_getResourceProvider(const char* resource_name);
 const mjpResourceProvider* mjp_getResourceProviderAtSlot(int slot);
 mjThreadPool* mju_threadPoolCreate(size_t number_of_threads);
 void mju_bindThreadPool(mjData* d, void* thread_pool);
+void mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, int busy_wait);
 void mju_threadPoolEnqueue(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, mjTask* task);
 void mju_threadPoolDestroy(mjThreadPool* thread_pool);
 void mju_defaultTask(mjTask* task);
diff --git a/include/mujoco/mujoco.h b/include/mujoco/mujoco.h
index 9beac473bd..920f2db605 100644
--- a/include/mujoco/mujoco.h
+++ b/include/mujoco/mujoco.h
@@ -1429,6 +1429,9 @@ MJAPI void mju_bindThreadPool(mjData* d, void* thread_pool);
 // Enqueue a task in a thread pool.
 MJAPI void mju_threadPoolEnqueue(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, mjTask* task);
 
+// Set whether the thread pool should use busy-waiting for its task queue.
+MJAPI void mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, int busy_wait);
+
 // Destroy a thread pool.
 MJAPI void mju_threadPoolDestroy(mjThreadPool* thread_pool);
 
diff --git a/python/mujoco/introspect/functions.py b/python/mujoco/introspect/functions.py
index b9bb91e299..04eadb840d 100644
--- a/python/mujoco/introspect/functions.py
+++ b/python/mujoco/introspect/functions.py
@@ -8911,6 +8911,24 @@
          ),
          doc='Enqueue a task in a thread pool.',
      )),
+    ('mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait',
+     FunctionDecl(
+         name='mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait',
+         return_type=ValueType(name='void'),
+         parameters=(
+             FunctionParameterDecl(
+                 name='thread_pool',
+                 type=PointerType(
+                     inner_type=ValueType(name='mjThreadPool'),
+                 ),
+             ),
+             FunctionParameterDecl(
+                 name='busy_wait',
+                 type=ValueType(name='int'),
+             ),
+         ),
+         doc='Set whether the thread pool should busy-waiting for its task queue.',
+     )),
     ('mju_threadPoolDestroy',
      FunctionDecl(
          name='mju_threadPoolDestroy',
diff --git a/src/thread/thread_pool.cc b/src/thread/thread_pool.cc
index af117f6a2d..f9e350c58d 100644
--- a/src/thread/thread_pool.cc
+++ b/src/thread/thread_pool.cc
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ class ThreadPoolImpl : public mjThreadPool {
     thread_pool_bound_ = true;
   }
 
+  void SetQueueBusyWait(int busy_wait) {
+    lockless_queue_.SetBusyWait(busy_wait > 0);
+  }
+
   ~ThreadPoolImpl() { Shutdown(); }
 
  private:
@@ -278,6 +282,11 @@ size_t mju_threadPoolCurrentWorkerId(mjThreadPool* thread_pool) {
   return thread_pool_impl->GetWorkerId();
 }
 
+void mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, int busy_wait) {
+  auto thread_pool_impl = static_cast<ThreadPoolImpl*>(thread_pool);
+  thread_pool_impl->SetQueueBusyWait(busy_wait);
+}
+
 // start a task in the threadpool
 void mju_threadPoolEnqueue(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, mjTask* task) {
   auto thread_pool_impl = static_cast<ThreadPoolImpl*>(thread_pool);
diff --git a/src/thread/thread_pool.h b/src/thread/thread_pool.h
index 54d852d93d..4f0fd3c8ca 100644
--- a/src/thread/thread_pool.h
+++ b/src/thread/thread_pool.h
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ MJAPI size_t mju_threadPoolCurrentWorkerId(mjThreadPool* thread_pool);
 // Enqueue a task in a thread pool.
 MJAPI void mju_threadPoolEnqueue(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, mjTask* task);
 
+// Set whether the thread pool should use busy-waiting for its task queue.
+MJAPI void mju_threadPoolSetBusyWait(mjThreadPool* thread_pool, int busy_wait);
+
 // Locks the allocation mutex to protect Arena allocations.
 MJAPI void mju_threadPoolLockAllocMutex(mjThreadPool* thread_pool);
 
diff --git a/src/thread/thread_queue.h b/src/thread/thread_queue.h
index 3178f8ec68..e025756b3d 100644
--- a/src/thread/thread_queue.h
+++ b/src/thread/thread_queue.h
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ class LocklessQueue {
     return maximum_read_cursor_ == read_cursor_;
   }
 
+  void SetBusyWait(bool busy_wait) {
+    busy_wait_ = busy_wait;
+  }
+
   // Push an element into the queue.
   void push(const T& input) {
     // Reserve a slot in the queue
@@ -91,8 +95,13 @@ class LocklessQueue {
       // Wait until the queue has an element
       do {
         if (empty) {
-          std::this_thread::yield();
+          if (busy_wait_) {
+            std::this_thread::yield();
+          } else {
+            std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1));
+          }
         }
+
         current_read_cursor = read_cursor_.load();
         current_maximum_read_cursor = maximum_read_cursor_.load();
 
@@ -145,6 +154,8 @@ class LocklessQueue {
   std::atomic<size_t> maximum_read_cursor_ = 0;
 
   std::atomic<T> buffer_[(buffer_capacity + 1)];
+
+  int busy_wait_ = 1;
 };
 
 }  // namespace mujoco