diff --git a/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/file_format.rs b/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/file_format.rs
index c4faedf571f6d..c3082ac4dd28c 100644
--- a/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/file_format.rs
+++ b/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/file_format.rs
@@ -485,22 +485,42 @@ impl FileFormat for ParquetFormat {
                 .await?;
         let file_metadata_cache =
             state.runtime_env().cache_manager.get_file_metadata_cache();
-        let metadata = DFParquetMetadata::new(store, object)
-            .with_metadata_size_hint(self.metadata_size_hint())
-            .with_decryption_properties(file_decryption_properties)
-            .with_file_metadata_cache(Some(file_metadata_cache))
-            .fetch_metadata()
-            .await?;
-        let statistics = DFParquetMetadata::statistics_from_parquet_metadata(
-            &metadata,
-            &table_schema,
-        )?;
-        let ordering =
-            crate::metadata::ordering_from_parquet_metadata(&metadata, &table_schema)?;
-        Ok(
-            datafusion_datasource::file_format::FileMeta::new(statistics)
-                .with_ordering(ordering),
-        )
+        let store = Arc::clone(store);
+        let object = object.clone();
+        let metadata_size_hint = self.metadata_size_hint();
+        let fetch_and_parse = async move {
+            let metadata = DFParquetMetadata::new(&store, &object)
+                .with_metadata_size_hint(metadata_size_hint)
+                .with_decryption_properties(file_decryption_properties)
+                .with_file_metadata_cache(Some(file_metadata_cache))
+                .fetch_metadata()
+                .await?;
+            let statistics = DFParquetMetadata::statistics_from_parquet_metadata(
+                &metadata,
+                &table_schema,
+            )?;
+            let ordering = crate::metadata::ordering_from_parquet_metadata(
+                &metadata,
+                &table_schema,
+            )?;
+            Ok::<_, DataFusionError>(
+                datafusion_datasource::file_format::FileMeta::new(statistics)
+                    .with_ordering(ordering),
+            )
+        };
+
+        // Parse metadata and extract statistics on a separate thread so that
+        // multiple concurrent calls (e.g. from `list_files_for_scan`) can run
+        // the CPU-heavy work in parallel rather than serializing on a single
+        // async task.
+        if tokio::runtime::Handle::try_current().is_ok() {
+            let handle = tokio::runtime::Handle::current();
+            SpawnedTask::spawn_blocking(move || handle.block_on(fetch_and_parse))
+                .await
+                .map_err(|e| DataFusionError::ExecutionJoin(Box::new(e)))?
+        } else {
+            fetch_and_parse.await
+        }
     }
 
     async fn create_physical_plan(