diff --git a/backend/open_webui/routers/retrieval.py b/backend/open_webui/routers/retrieval.py
index e31d5c01d..4444581f5 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/routers/retrieval.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/routers/retrieval.py
@@ -1238,7 +1238,7 @@ def search_web(request: Request, engine: str, query: str) -> list[SearchResult]:
 
 
 @router.post("/process/web/search")
-async def process_web_search(
+def process_web_search(
     request: Request, form_data: SearchForm, user=Depends(get_verified_user)
 ):
     try:
diff --git a/backend/open_webui/utils/middleware.py b/backend/open_webui/utils/middleware.py
index 078c1e07e..9e55596da 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/utils/middleware.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/utils/middleware.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import random
 import json
 import inspect
 from uuid import uuid4
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 
 
 from fastapi import Request
@@ -412,15 +413,22 @@ async def chat_web_search_handler(
     )
 
     try:
-        results = await process_web_search(
-            request,
-            SearchForm(
-                **{
-                    "query": searchQuery,
-                }
-            ),
-            user,
-        )
+
+        # Offload process_web_search to a separate thread
+        loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+        with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
+            results = await loop.run_in_executor(
+                executor,
+                lambda: process_web_search(
+                    request,
+                    SearchForm(
+                        **{
+                            "query": searchQuery,
+                        }
+                    ),
+                    user,
+                ),
+            )
 
         if results:
             await event_emitter(