diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
index 57eb907cf4d..020470fdfdf 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ Flags:
       --audit-purge-duration duration                               Duration for which audit logs are held before being purged. Should be in multiples of days (default 168h0m0s)
       --audit-to-backend                                            Whether to store the audit log in the VTOrc database
       --audit-to-syslog                                             Whether to store the audit log in the syslog
+      --backend-read-concurrency int                                Maximum concurrency for reads to the backend (default 32)
+      --backend-write-concurrency int                               Maximum concurrency for writes to the backend (default 24)
       --bind-address string                                         Bind address for the server. If empty, the server will listen on all available unicast and anycast IP addresses of the local system.
       --catch-sigpipe                                               catch and ignore SIGPIPE on stdout and stderr if specified
       --change-tablets-with-errant-gtid-to-drained                  Whether VTOrc should be changing the type of tablets with errant GTIDs to DRAINED
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go b/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
index db367673aeb..a96465acac4 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
@@ -121,6 +121,24 @@ var (
 		},
 	)
 
+	backendReadConcurrency = viperutil.Configure(
+		"backend-read-concurrency",
+		viperutil.Options[int64]{
+			FlagName: "backend-read-concurrency",
+			Default:  32,
+			Dynamic:  true,
+		},
+	)
+
+	backendWriteConcurrency = viperutil.Configure(
+		"backend-write-concurrency",
+		viperutil.Options[int64]{
+			FlagName: "backend-write-concurrency",
+			Default:  24,
+			Dynamic:  true,
+		},
+	)
+
 	waitReplicasTimeout = viperutil.Configure(
 		"wait-replicas-timeout",
 		viperutil.Options[time.Duration]{
@@ -199,6 +217,8 @@ func registerFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.Bool("audit-to-backend", auditToBackend.Default(), "Whether to store the audit log in the VTOrc database")
 	fs.Bool("audit-to-syslog", auditToSyslog.Default(), "Whether to store the audit log in the syslog")
 	fs.Duration("audit-purge-duration", auditPurgeDuration.Default(), "Duration for which audit logs are held before being purged. Should be in multiples of days")
+	fs.Int64("backend-read-concurrency", backendReadConcurrency.Default(), "Maximum concurrency for reads to the backend")
+	fs.Int64("backend-write-concurrency", backendWriteConcurrency.Default(), "Maximum concurrency for writes to the backend")
 	fs.Bool("prevent-cross-cell-failover", preventCrossCellFailover.Default(), "Prevent VTOrc from promoting a primary in a different cell than the current primary in case of a failover")
 	fs.Duration("wait-replicas-timeout", waitReplicasTimeout.Default(), "Duration for which to wait for replica's to respond when issuing RPCs")
 	fs.Duration("tolerable-replication-lag", tolerableReplicationLag.Default(), "Amount of replication lag that is considered acceptable for a tablet to be eligible for promotion when Vitess makes the choice of a new primary in PRS")
@@ -218,6 +238,8 @@ func registerFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 		auditToBackend,
 		auditToSyslog,
 		auditPurgeDuration,
+		backendReadConcurrency,
+		backendWriteConcurrency,
 		waitReplicasTimeout,
 		tolerableReplicationLag,
 		topoInformationRefreshDuration,
@@ -303,6 +325,16 @@ func SetAuditPurgeDays(days int64) {
 	auditPurgeDuration.Set(time.Duration(days) * 24 * time.Hour)
 }
 
+// GetBackendReadConcurrency returns the max backend read concurrency.
+func GetBackendReadConcurrency() int64 {
+	return backendReadConcurrency.Get()
+}
+
+// GetBackendWriteConcurrency returns the max backend write concurrency.
+func GetBackendWriteConcurrency() int64 {
+	return backendWriteConcurrency.Get()
+}
+
 // GetWaitReplicasTimeout is a getter function.
 func GetWaitReplicasTimeout() time.Duration {
 	return waitReplicasTimeout.Get()
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/instance_dao.go b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/instance_dao.go
index 9e35e6e3e0b..7dab1669643 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/instance_dao.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/instance_dao.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package inst
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/patrickmn/go-cache"
 	"github.com/sjmudd/stopwatch"
+	"golang.org/x/sync/semaphore"
 
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/replication"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/stats"
@@ -47,13 +49,11 @@ import (
 	topodatapb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/topodata"
 )
 
-const (
-	backendDBConcurrency = 20
-)
+const maxBackendOpTime = time.Second * 5
 
 var (
-	instanceReadChan  = make(chan bool, backendDBConcurrency)
-	instanceWriteChan = make(chan bool, backendDBConcurrency)
+	instanceReadSem  = semaphore.NewWeighted(config.GetBackendReadConcurrency())
+	instanceWriteSem = semaphore.NewWeighted(config.GetBackendWriteConcurrency())
 )
 
 var forgetAliases *cache.Cache
@@ -88,7 +88,12 @@ func initializeInstanceDao() {
 func ExecDBWriteFunc(f func() error) error {
 	m := query.NewMetric()
 
-	instanceWriteChan <- true
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), maxBackendOpTime)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	if err := instanceWriteSem.Acquire(ctx, 1); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	m.WaitLatency = time.Since(m.Timestamp)
 
 	// catch the exec time and error if there is one
@@ -106,7 +111,7 @@ func ExecDBWriteFunc(f func() error) error {
 		}
 		m.ExecuteLatency = time.Since(m.Timestamp.Add(m.WaitLatency))
 		_ = backendWrites.Append(m)
-		<-instanceWriteChan // assume this takes no time
+		instanceWriteSem.Release(1)
 	}()
 	res := f()
 	return res
@@ -646,10 +651,16 @@ func readInstancesByCondition(condition string, args []any, sort string) ([](*In
 		}
 		return instances, err
 	}
-	instanceReadChan <- true
-	instances, err := readFunc()
-	<-instanceReadChan
-	return instances, err
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), maxBackendOpTime)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	if err := instanceReadSem.Acquire(ctx, 1); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer instanceReadSem.Release(1)
+
+	return readFunc()
 }
 
 // ReadInstance reads an instance from the vtorc backend database