diff --git a/CHANGES/1208.feature b/CHANGES/1208.feature
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd132fc14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/1208.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Started signing manifests asynchronously. This feature improves the performance of signing tasks.
+Additionally, setting ``MAX_PARALLEL_SIGNING_TASKS`` was introduced to cap the number of threads
+used for parallel signing (defaults to ``10``).
diff --git a/pulp_container/app/settings.py b/pulp_container/app/settings.py
index f01a50938..583216689 100644
--- a/pulp_container/app/settings.py
+++ b/pulp_container/app/settings.py
@@ -48,3 +48,6 @@
 }
 
 FLATPAK_INDEX = False
+
+# The number of allowed threads to sign manifests in parallel
+MAX_PARALLEL_SIGNING_TASKS = 10
diff --git a/pulp_container/app/tasks/sign.py b/pulp_container/app/tasks/sign.py
index 18b485dc9..38329419a 100644
--- a/pulp_container/app/tasks/sign.py
+++ b/pulp_container/app/tasks/sign.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+import asyncio
 import base64
 import hashlib
-import os
-import tempfile
 
+from aiofiles import tempfile
+from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
 from django.conf import settings
 
 from pulpcore.plugin.models import Repository
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@
     SIGNATURE_TYPE,
 )
 
+semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(settings.MAX_PARALLEL_SIGNING_TASKS)
+
 
 def sign(repository_pk, signing_service_pk, reference, tags_list=None):
     """
@@ -27,8 +30,8 @@ def sign(repository_pk, signing_service_pk, reference, tags_list=None):
     Create signature for each manifest that is specified and add it to the repo.
     If no manifests were specified, then sign all manifests in the repo.
 
-    What manifests to sign is identified by tag.
-    Manifest lists are not signed. Image manifests from manifest list are signed by digest.
+    What manifests to sign is identified by tags.
+    Manifest lists are signed too. Image manifests from the manifest lists are signed by tags.
 
     Args:
         repository_pk (uuid): A pk for a Repository for which a new Repository Version should be
@@ -47,26 +50,39 @@ def sign(repository_pk, signing_service_pk, reference, tags_list=None):
         )
     else:
         latest_repo_content_tags = latest_version.content.filter(pulp_type=Tag.get_pulp_type())
-    latest_repo_tags = Tag.objects.filter(pk__in=latest_repo_content_tags)
+    latest_repo_tags = Tag.objects.filter(pk__in=latest_repo_content_tags).select_related(
+        "tagged_manifest"
+    )
     signing_service = ManifestSigningService.objects.get(pk=signing_service_pk)
-    added_signatures = []
-    for tag in latest_repo_tags:
-        tagged_manifest = tag.tagged_manifest
-        docker_reference = ":".join((reference, tag.name))
-        signature_pk = create_signature(tagged_manifest, docker_reference, signing_service)
-        added_signatures.append(signature_pk)
-        if tagged_manifest.media_type in MANIFEST_MEDIA_TYPES.LIST:
-            # parse ML and sign per-arches
-            for manifest in tagged_manifest.listed_manifests.iterator():
-                signature_pk = create_signature(manifest, docker_reference, signing_service)
-                added_signatures.append(signature_pk)
 
+    async def sign_manifests():
+        added_signatures = []
+
+        async for tag in latest_repo_tags.aiterator():
+            tagged_manifest = tag.tagged_manifest
+            docker_reference = ":".join((reference, tag.name))
+            signature_pk = await create_signature(
+                tagged_manifest, docker_reference, signing_service
+            )
+            added_signatures.append(signature_pk)
+            if tagged_manifest.media_type in MANIFEST_MEDIA_TYPES.LIST:
+                # parse ML and sign per-arches
+                manifests_iterator = tagged_manifest.listed_manifests.aiterator()
+                async for manifest in manifests_iterator:
+                    signature_pk = await create_signature(
+                        manifest, docker_reference, signing_service
+                    )
+                    added_signatures.append(signature_pk)
+
+        return added_signatures
+
+    added_signatures = asyncio.run(sign_manifests())
     added_signatures_qs = ManifestSignature.objects.filter(pk__in=added_signatures)
     with repository.new_version() as new_version:
         new_version.add_content(added_signatures_qs)
 
 
-def create_signature(manifest, reference, signing_service):
+async def create_signature(manifest, reference, signing_service):
     """
     Create manifest signature.
 
@@ -81,20 +97,23 @@ def create_signature(manifest, reference, signing_service):
         pk of created ManifestSignature.
 
     """
-    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=".") as working_directory:
+    async with semaphore:
         # download and write file for object storage
+        artifact = await manifest._artifacts.aget()
         if settings.DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE != "pulpcore.app.models.storage.FileSystem":
-            manifest_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=working_directory, delete=False)
-            artifact = manifest._artifacts.get()
-            manifest_file.write(artifact.file.read())
-            manifest_file.flush()
+            async with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=".", mode="wb", delete=False) as tf:
+                await tf.write(await sync_to_async(artifact.file.read)())
+                await tf.flush()
+
             artifact.file.close()
-            manifest_path = manifest_file.name
+            manifest_path = tf.name
         else:
-            manifest_path = manifest._artifacts.get().file.path
-        sig_path = os.path.join(working_directory, "signature")
+            manifest_path = artifact.file.path
+
+        async with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=".", prefix="signature") as tf:
+            sig_path = tf.name
 
-        signed = signing_service.sign(
+        signed = await signing_service.asign(
             manifest_path, env_vars={"REFERENCE": reference, "SIG_PATH": sig_path}
         )
 
@@ -115,6 +134,6 @@ def create_signature(manifest, reference, signing_service):
                 data=encoded_sig,
                 signed_manifest=manifest,
             )
-            signature.save()
+            await signature.asave()
 
     return signature.pk