diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
index 4ade4fd2af1e..3283d3281e5b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-check.yml
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           run: npm run testSingleWorkspace
           working-directory: ${{ env.special-working-directory }}
-        if: matrix.test-suite == 'venv' && matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+        if: matrix.test-suite == 'venv'
 
       - name: Run single-workspace tests
         env:
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5c25b2b84832..068f04114cae 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -538,6 +538,7 @@
                             "pythonSurveyNotification",
                             "pythonPromptNewToolsExt",
                             "pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation",
+                            "pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers",
                             "pythonTestAdapter",
                             "pythonREPLSmartSend",
                             "pythonRecommendTensorboardExt"
@@ -547,6 +548,7 @@
                             "%python.experiments.pythonSurveyNotification.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonPromptNewToolsExt.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation.description%",
+                            "%python.experiments.pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonTestAdapter.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonREPLSmartSend.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonRecommendTensorboardExt.description%"
@@ -565,6 +567,7 @@
                             "pythonSurveyNotification",
                             "pythonPromptNewToolsExt",
                             "pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation",
+                            "pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers",
                             "pythonTestAdapter",
                             "pythonREPLSmartSend"
                         ],
@@ -573,6 +576,7 @@
                             "%python.experiments.pythonSurveyNotification.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonPromptNewToolsExt.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation.description%",
+                            "%python.experiments.pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonTestAdapter.description%",
                             "%python.experiments.pythonREPLSmartSend.description%"
                         ]
diff --git a/package.nls.json b/package.nls.json
index 71b146b5fac2..ab1eec6d3065 100644
--- a/package.nls.json
+++ b/package.nls.json
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
     "python.experiments.pythonSurveyNotification.description": "Denotes the Python Survey Notification experiment.",
     "python.experiments.pythonPromptNewToolsExt.description": "Denotes the Python Prompt New Tools Extension experiment.",
     "python.experiments.pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation.description": "Enables use of environment variables to activate terminals instead of sending activation commands.",
+    "python.experiments.pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers.description": "Enables use of worker threads to do heavy computation when discovering interpreters.",
     "python.experiments.pythonTestAdapter.description": "Denotes the Python Test Adapter experiment.",
     "python.experiments.pythonREPLSmartSend.description": "Denotes the Python REPL Smart Send experiment.",
     "python.experiments.pythonRecommendTensorboardExt.description": "Denotes the Tensorboard Extension recommendation experiment.",
diff --git a/src/client/common/experiments/groups.ts b/src/client/common/experiments/groups.ts
index 8f8ecc631caf..5e302c926ccb 100644
--- a/src/client/common/experiments/groups.ts
+++ b/src/client/common/experiments/groups.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ export enum TerminalEnvVarActivation {
     experiment = 'pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation',
 }
 
+export enum DiscoveryUsingWorkers {
+    experiment = 'pythonDiscoveryUsingWorkers',
+}
+
 // Experiment to enable the new testing rewrite.
 export enum EnableTestAdapterRewrite {
     experiment = 'pythonTestAdapter',
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locator.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locator.ts
index ab3b17629bc5..8fefe8e2d0dd 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locator.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locator.ts
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ export interface ILocator<I = PythonEnvInfo, E = PythonEnvsChangedEvent> extends
      * @param query - if provided, the locator will limit results to match
      * @returns - the fast async iterator of Python envs, which may have incomplete info
      */
-    iterEnvs(query?: QueryForEvent<E>): IPythonEnvsIterator<I>;
+    iterEnvs(query?: QueryForEvent<E>, useWorkerThreads?: boolean): IPythonEnvsIterator<I>;
 }
 
 export type ICompositeLocator<I = PythonEnvInfo, E = PythonEnvsChangedEvent> = Omit<ILocator<I, E>, 'providerId'>;
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
index 0cca49e2b4c5..fd45b4909aff 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ async function updateEnvUsingRegistry(env: PythonEnvInfo): Promise<void> {
     let interpreters = getRegistryInterpretersSync();
     if (!interpreters) {
         traceError('Expected registry interpreter cache to be initialized already');
-        interpreters = await getRegistryInterpreters();
+        interpreters = await getRegistryInterpreters(true);
     }
     const data = interpreters.find((i) => arePathsSame(i.interpreterPath, env.executable.filename));
     if (data) {
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.ts
index b52e9c35779f..947d90ee9cb5 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.ts
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ export class WindowsRegistryLocator extends Locator<BasicEnvInfo> {
     public readonly providerId: string = 'windows-registry';
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line class-methods-use-this
-    public iterEnvs(): IPythonEnvsIterator<BasicEnvInfo> {
+    public iterEnvs(_?: unknown, useWorkerThreads = true): IPythonEnvsIterator<BasicEnvInfo> {
         const iterator = async function* () {
             traceVerbose('Searching for windows registry interpreters');
-            const interpreters = await getRegistryInterpreters();
+            const interpreters = await getRegistryInterpreters(useWorkerThreads);
             for (const interpreter of interpreters) {
                 try {
                     // Filter out Microsoft Store app directories. We have a store app locator that handles this.
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/wrappers.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/wrappers.ts
index bfaede584f6f..1334c60fa2e0 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/wrappers.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/wrappers.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line max-classes-per-file
 import { Uri } from 'vscode';
+import { DiscoveryUsingWorkers } from '../../../common/experiments/groups';
 import { IDisposable } from '../../../common/types';
 import { iterEmpty } from '../../../common/utils/async';
 import { getURIFilter } from '../../../common/utils/misc';
 import { Disposables } from '../../../common/utils/resourceLifecycle';
+import { traceLog } from '../../../logging';
+import { inExperiment } from '../../common/externalDependencies';
 import { PythonEnvInfo } from '../info';
 import { BasicEnvInfo, ILocator, IPythonEnvsIterator, PythonLocatorQuery } from '../locator';
 import { combineIterators, Locators } from '../locators';
@@ -17,6 +20,8 @@ import { LazyResourceBasedLocator } from './common/resourceBasedLocator';
  */
 
 export class ExtensionLocators<I = PythonEnvInfo> extends Locators<I> {
+    private readonly useWorkerThreads: boolean;
+
     constructor(
         // These are expected to be low-level locators (e.g. system).
         private readonly nonWorkspace: ILocator<I>[],
@@ -25,6 +30,10 @@ export class ExtensionLocators<I = PythonEnvInfo> extends Locators<I> {
         private readonly workspace: ILocator<I>,
     ) {
         super([...nonWorkspace, workspace]);
+        this.useWorkerThreads = inExperiment(DiscoveryUsingWorkers.experiment);
+        if (this.useWorkerThreads) {
+            traceLog('Using worker threads for discovery...');
+        }
     }
 
     public iterEnvs(query?: PythonLocatorQuery): IPythonEnvsIterator<I> {
@@ -33,7 +42,7 @@ export class ExtensionLocators<I = PythonEnvInfo> extends Locators<I> {
             const nonWorkspace = query?.providerId
                 ? this.nonWorkspace.filter((locator) => query.providerId === locator.providerId)
                 : this.nonWorkspace;
-            iterators.push(...nonWorkspace.map((loc) => loc.iterEnvs(query)));
+            iterators.push(...nonWorkspace.map((loc) => loc.iterEnvs(query, this.useWorkerThreads)));
         }
         return combineIterators(iterators);
     }
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/conda.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/conda.ts
index 8f048ddd0676..842f81b99a4e 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/conda.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/conda.ts
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ export class Conda {
         }
 
         async function* getCandidatesFromRegistry() {
-            const interps = await getRegistryInterpreters();
+            const interps = await getRegistryInterpreters(true);
             const candidates = interps
                 .filter((interp) => interp.interpreterPath && interp.distroOrgName === 'ContinuumAnalytics')
                 .map((interp) => path.join(path.win32.dirname(interp.interpreterPath), suffix));
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/externalDependencies.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/externalDependencies.ts
index b64d47f42269..357967236c9e 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/externalDependencies.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/externalDependencies.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 
 import * as fsapi from 'fs-extra';
 import * as path from 'path';
+import { Worker } from 'worker_threads';
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import { IWorkspaceService } from '../../common/application/types';
 import { ExecutionResult, IProcessServiceFactory, ShellOptions, SpawnOptions } from '../../common/process/types';
-import { IDisposable, IConfigurationService } from '../../common/types';
+import { IDisposable, IConfigurationService, IExperimentService } from '../../common/types';
 import { chain, iterable } from '../../common/utils/async';
 import { getOSType, OSType } from '../../common/utils/platform';
 import { IServiceContainer } from '../../ioc/types';
@@ -29,6 +30,11 @@ export async function exec(file: string, args: string[], options: SpawnOptions =
     return service.exec(file, args, options);
 }
 
+export function inExperiment(experimentName: string): boolean {
+    const service = internalServiceContainer.get<IExperimentService>(IExperimentService);
+    return service.inExperimentSync(experimentName);
+}
+
 // Workspace
 
 export function isVirtualWorkspace(): boolean {
@@ -195,3 +201,25 @@ export function onDidChangePythonSetting(name: string, callback: () => void, roo
         }
     });
 }
+
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any, @typescript-eslint/explicit-module-boundary-types
+export async function executeWorkerFile(workerFileName: string, workerData: any): Promise<any> {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        const worker = new Worker(workerFileName, { workerData });
+        worker.on('message', (res: { err: Error; res: unknown }) => {
+            if (res.err) {
+                reject(res.err);
+            }
+            resolve(res.res);
+        });
+        worker.on('error', (ex: Error) => {
+            traceError(`Error in worker ${workerFileName}`, ex);
+            reject(ex);
+        });
+        worker.on('exit', (code) => {
+            if (code !== 0) {
+                reject(new Error(`Worker ${workerFileName} stopped with exit code ${code}`));
+            }
+        });
+    });
+}
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryKeysWorker.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryKeysWorker.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..05996d057f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryKeysWorker.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { Registry } from 'winreg';
+import { parentPort, workerData } from 'worker_threads';
+import { IRegistryKey } from './windowsRegistry';
+
+const WinReg = require('winreg');
+
+const regKey = new WinReg(workerData);
+
+function copyRegistryKeys(keys: IRegistryKey[]): IRegistryKey[] {
+    // Use the map function to create a new array with copies of the specified properties.
+    return keys.map((key) => ({
+        hive: key.hive,
+        arch: key.arch,
+        key: key.key,
+    }));
+}
+
+regKey.keys((err: Error, res: Registry[]) => {
+    if (!parentPort) {
+        throw new Error('Not in a worker thread');
+    }
+    const messageRes = copyRegistryKeys(res);
+    parentPort.postMessage({ err, res: messageRes });
+});
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryValuesWorker.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryValuesWorker.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..eaef7cbd58a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/registryValuesWorker.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { RegistryItem } from 'winreg';
+import { parentPort, workerData } from 'worker_threads';
+import { IRegistryValue } from './windowsRegistry';
+
+const WinReg = require('winreg');
+
+const regKey = new WinReg(workerData);
+
+function copyRegistryValues(values: IRegistryValue[]): IRegistryValue[] {
+    // Use the map function to create a new array with copies of the specified properties.
+    return values.map((value) => ({
+        hive: value.hive,
+        arch: value.arch,
+        key: value.key,
+        name: value.name,
+        type: value.type,
+        value: value.value,
+    }));
+}
+
+regKey.values((err: Error, res: RegistryItem[]) => {
+    if (!parentPort) {
+        throw new Error('Not in a worker thread');
+    }
+    const messageRes = copyRegistryValues(res);
+    parentPort.postMessage({ err, res: messageRes });
+});
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsRegistry.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsRegistry.ts
index 30047e1c9907..efac5bb3209f 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsRegistry.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsRegistry.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any */
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
 import { HKCU, HKLM, Options, REG_SZ, Registry, RegistryItem } from 'winreg';
+import * as path from 'path';
 import { createDeferred } from '../../common/utils/async';
+import { executeWorkerFile } from './externalDependencies';
 
 export { HKCU, HKLM, REG_SZ, Options };
 
@@ -22,30 +25,36 @@ export interface IRegistryValue {
     value: string;
 }
 
-export async function readRegistryValues(options: Options): Promise<IRegistryValue[]> {
-    // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
-    const WinReg = require('winreg');
-    const regKey = new WinReg(options);
-    const deferred = createDeferred<RegistryItem[]>();
-    regKey.values((err: Error, res: RegistryItem[]) => {
-        if (err) {
-            deferred.reject(err);
-        }
-        deferred.resolve(res);
-    });
-    return deferred.promise;
+export async function readRegistryValues(options: Options, useWorkerThreads: boolean): Promise<IRegistryValue[]> {
+    if (!useWorkerThreads) {
+        // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
+        const WinReg = require('winreg');
+        const regKey = new WinReg(options);
+        const deferred = createDeferred<RegistryItem[]>();
+        regKey.values((err: Error, res: RegistryItem[]) => {
+            if (err) {
+                deferred.reject(err);
+            }
+            deferred.resolve(res);
+        });
+        return deferred.promise;
+    }
+    return executeWorkerFile(path.join(__dirname, 'registryValuesWorker.js'), options);
 }
 
-export async function readRegistryKeys(options: Options): Promise<IRegistryKey[]> {
-    // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
-    const WinReg = require('winreg');
-    const regKey = new WinReg(options);
-    const deferred = createDeferred<Registry[]>();
-    regKey.keys((err: Error, res: Registry[]) => {
-        if (err) {
-            deferred.reject(err);
-        }
-        deferred.resolve(res);
-    });
-    return deferred.promise;
+export async function readRegistryKeys(options: Options, useWorkerThreads: boolean): Promise<IRegistryKey[]> {
+    if (!useWorkerThreads) {
+        // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
+        const WinReg = require('winreg');
+        const regKey = new WinReg(options);
+        const deferred = createDeferred<Registry[]>();
+        regKey.keys((err: Error, res: Registry[]) => {
+            if (err) {
+                deferred.reject(err);
+            }
+            deferred.resolve(res);
+        });
+        return deferred.promise;
+    }
+    return executeWorkerFile(path.join(__dirname, 'registryKeysWorker.js'), options);
 }
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsUtils.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsUtils.ts
index a47025ceef6f..e9210371be05 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsUtils.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/windowsUtils.ts
@@ -54,13 +54,14 @@ export interface IRegistryInterpreterData {
 async function getInterpreterDataFromKey(
     { arch, hive, key }: IRegistryKey,
     distroOrgName: string,
+    useWorkerThreads: boolean,
 ): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData | undefined> {
     const result: IRegistryInterpreterData = {
         interpreterPath: '',
         distroOrgName,
     };
 
-    const values: IRegistryValue[] = await readRegistryValues({ arch, hive, key });
+    const values: IRegistryValue[] = await readRegistryValues({ arch, hive, key }, useWorkerThreads);
     for (const value of values) {
         switch (value.name) {
             case 'SysArchitecture':
@@ -80,10 +81,10 @@ async function getInterpreterDataFromKey(
         }
     }
 
-    const subKeys: IRegistryKey[] = await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key });
+    const subKeys: IRegistryKey[] = await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key }, useWorkerThreads);
     const subKey = subKeys.map((s) => s.key).find((s) => s.endsWith('InstallPath'));
     if (subKey) {
-        const subKeyValues: IRegistryValue[] = await readRegistryValues({ arch, hive, key: subKey });
+        const subKeyValues: IRegistryValue[] = await readRegistryValues({ arch, hive, key: subKey }, useWorkerThreads);
         const value = subKeyValues.find((v) => v.name === 'ExecutablePath');
         if (value) {
             result.interpreterPath = value.value;
@@ -103,10 +104,13 @@ export async function getInterpreterDataFromRegistry(
     arch: string,
     hive: string,
     key: string,
+    useWorkerThreads: boolean,
 ): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> {
-    const subKeys = await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key });
+    const subKeys = await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key }, useWorkerThreads);
     const distroOrgName = key.substr(key.lastIndexOf('\\') + 1);
-    const allData = await Promise.all(subKeys.map((subKey) => getInterpreterDataFromKey(subKey, distroOrgName)));
+    const allData = await Promise.all(
+        subKeys.map((subKey) => getInterpreterDataFromKey(subKey, distroOrgName, useWorkerThreads)),
+    );
     return (allData.filter((data) => data !== undefined) || []) as IRegistryInterpreterData[];
 }
 
@@ -122,15 +126,15 @@ export function getRegistryInterpretersSync(): IRegistryInterpreterData[] | unde
 
 let registryInterpretersPromise: Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> | undefined;
 
-export async function getRegistryInterpreters(): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> {
+export async function getRegistryInterpreters(useWorkerThreads: boolean): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> {
     if (!isTestExecution() && registryInterpretersPromise !== undefined) {
         return registryInterpretersPromise;
     }
-    registryInterpretersPromise = getRegistryInterpretersImpl();
+    registryInterpretersPromise = getRegistryInterpretersImpl(useWorkerThreads);
     return registryInterpretersPromise;
 }
 
-async function getRegistryInterpretersImpl(): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> {
+async function getRegistryInterpretersImpl(useWorkerThreads: boolean): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]> {
     let registryData: IRegistryInterpreterData[] = [];
 
     for (const arch of ['x64', 'x86']) {
@@ -138,13 +142,15 @@ async function getRegistryInterpretersImpl(): Promise<IRegistryInterpreterData[]
             const root = '\\SOFTWARE\\Python';
             let keys: string[] = [];
             try {
-                keys = (await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key: root })).map((k) => k.key);
+                keys = (await readRegistryKeys({ arch, hive, key: root }, useWorkerThreads)).map((k) => k.key);
             } catch (ex) {
                 traceError(`Failed to access Registry: ${arch}\\${hive}\\${root}`, ex);
             }
 
             for (const key of keys) {
-                registryData = registryData.concat(await getInterpreterDataFromRegistry(arch, hive, key));
+                registryData = registryData.concat(
+                    await getInterpreterDataFromRegistry(arch, hive, key, useWorkerThreads),
+                );
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.testvirtualenvs.ts b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.testvirtualenvs.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6f0ff0e1bb5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator.testvirtualenvs.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+import { getEnvs } from '../../../../../client/pythonEnvironments/base/locatorUtils';
+import { WindowsRegistryLocator } from '../../../../../client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/windowsRegistryLocator';
+import { assertBasicEnvsEqual } from '../envTestUtils';
+import { TEST_TIMEOUT } from '../../../../constants';
+import { getOSType, OSType } from '../../../../../client/common/utils/platform';
+
+suite('Windows Registry Locator', async () => {
+    let locator: WindowsRegistryLocator;
+
+    setup(function () {
+        if (getOSType() !== OSType.Windows) {
+            return this.skip();
+        }
+        locator = new WindowsRegistryLocator();
+        return undefined;
+    });
+
+    test('Make sure worker thread to fetch environments is working', async () => {
+        const items = await getEnvs(locator.iterEnvs(undefined, false));
+        const workerItems = await getEnvs(locator.iterEnvs(undefined, true));
+        console.log('Number of items Windows registry locator returned:', items.length);
+        // Make sure items returned when using worker threads v/s not are the same.
+        assertBasicEnvsEqual(items, workerItems);
+    }).timeout(TEST_TIMEOUT * 2);
+});