diff --git a/pkg/server/server.go b/pkg/server/server.go
index ae5fe9a022ab..08a26c42b473 100644
--- a/pkg/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server/server.go
@@ -588,6 +588,7 @@ func NewServer(cfg Config, stopper *stop.Stopper) (serverctl.ServerStartupInterf
 	)
 	db.SQLKVResponseAdmissionQ = gcoords.Regular.GetWorkQueue(admission.SQLKVResponseWork)
 	db.AdmissionPacerFactory = gcoords.Elastic
+	goschedstats.RegisterSettings(st)
 	cbID := goschedstats.RegisterRunnableCountCallback(gcoords.Regular.CPULoad)
 	stopper.AddCloser(stop.CloserFn(func() {
 		goschedstats.UnregisterRunnableCountCallback(cbID)
diff --git a/pkg/util/goschedstats/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/util/goschedstats/BUILD.bazel
index b31ce88bef1f..5797a1a82381 100644
--- a/pkg/util/goschedstats/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/util/goschedstats/BUILD.bazel
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ go_library(
     importpath = "github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/goschedstats",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
+        "//pkg/settings",
+        "//pkg/settings/cluster",
         "//pkg/util/syncutil",
         "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@ go_test(
     srcs = ["runnable_test.go"],
     embed = [":goschedstats"],
     deps = [
+        "//pkg/settings/cluster",
         "//pkg/testutils",
         "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "@com_github_stretchr_testify//require",
diff --git a/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable.go b/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable.go
index 9d9395c25496..6edba1be59e2 100644
--- a/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable.go
+++ b/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable.go
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/syncutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
@@ -59,6 +61,12 @@ var _ = numRunnableGoroutines
 // interaction with processor idle state
 // https://github.com/golang/go/issues/30740#issuecomment-471634471. See
 // #66881.
+//
+// The use of underloadedRunnablePerProcThreshold does not provide sufficient
+// protection against sluggish response in the admission control system, which
+// uses these samples to adjust concurrency of request processing. So
+// goschedstats.always_use_short_sample_period.enabled can be set to true to
+// force this responsiveness.
 const samplePeriodShort = time.Millisecond
 const samplePeriodLong = 250 * time.Millisecond
 
@@ -73,6 +81,12 @@ const samplePeriodLong = 250 * time.Millisecond
 // 0.1 runnable goroutine per proc.
 const underloadedRunnablePerProcThreshold = 1 * toFixedPoint / 10
 
+var alwaysUseShortSamplePeriodEnabled = settings.RegisterBoolSetting(
+	settings.SystemOnly,
+	"goschedstats.always_use_short_sample_period.enabled",
+	"when set to true, the system always does 1ms sampling of runnable queue lengths",
+	false)
+
 // We "report" the average value every reportingPeriod.
 // Note: if this is changed from 1s, CumulativeNormalizedRunnableGoroutines()
 // needs to be updated to scale the sum accordingly.
@@ -108,6 +122,7 @@ var callbackInfo struct {
 	// Multiple cbs are used only for tests which can run multiple CockroachDB
 	// nodes in a process.
 	cbs []callbackWithID
+	st  *cluster.Settings
 }
 
 // RegisterRunnableCountCallback registers a callback to be run with the
@@ -155,6 +170,14 @@ func UnregisterRunnableCountCallback(id int64) {
 	callbackInfo.cbs = newCBs
 }
 
+// RegisterSettings provides a settings object that can be used to alter
+// callback frequency.
+func RegisterSettings(st *cluster.Settings) {
+	callbackInfo.mu.Lock()
+	defer callbackInfo.mu.Unlock()
+	callbackInfo.st = st
+}
+
 func init() {
 	go func() {
 		sst := schedStatsTicker{
@@ -167,8 +190,9 @@ func init() {
 			t := <-ticker.C
 			callbackInfo.mu.Lock()
 			cbs := callbackInfo.cbs
+			st := callbackInfo.st
 			callbackInfo.mu.Unlock()
-			sst.getStatsOnTick(t, cbs, ticker)
+			sst.getStatsOnTick(t, cbs, st, ticker)
 		}
 	}()
 }
@@ -194,9 +218,9 @@ type schedStatsTicker struct {
 	localTotal, localEWMA uint64
 }
 
-// getStatsOnTick gets scheduler stats as the ticker has ticked.
+// getStatsOnTick gets scheduler stats as the ticker has ticked. st can be nil.
 func (s *schedStatsTicker) getStatsOnTick(
-	t time.Time, cbs []callbackWithID, ticker timeTickerInterface,
+	t time.Time, cbs []callbackWithID, st *cluster.Settings, ticker timeTickerInterface,
 ) {
 	if t.Sub(s.lastTime) > reportingPeriod {
 		var avgValue uint64
@@ -216,7 +240,8 @@ func (s *schedStatsTicker) getStatsOnTick(
 		// Both the mean over the last 1s, and the exponentially weighted average
 		// must be low for the system to be considered underloaded.
 		if avgValue < underloadedRunnablePerProcThreshold &&
-			s.localEWMA < underloadedRunnablePerProcThreshold {
+			s.localEWMA < underloadedRunnablePerProcThreshold &&
+			(st == nil || !alwaysUseShortSamplePeriodEnabled.Get(&st.SV)) {
 			// Underloaded, so switch to longer sampling period.
 			nextPeriod = samplePeriodLong
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable_test.go b/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable_test.go
index 07e28e2dd57f..f65b68662713 100644
--- a/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/goschedstats/runnable_test.go
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@
 package goschedstats
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ func TestSchedStatsTicker(t *testing.T) {
 	// Tick every 1ms until the reportingPeriod has elapsed.
 	for i := 1; ; i++ {
 		now = now.Add(samplePeriodShort)
-		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, &tt)
+		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, nil, &tt)
 		if now.Sub(startTime) <= reportingPeriod {
 			// No reset of the time ticker.
 			require.Equal(t, 0, tt.numResets)
@@ -95,7 +97,7 @@ func TestSchedStatsTicker(t *testing.T) {
 	tt.numResets = 0
 	for i := 1; ; i++ {
 		now = now.Add(samplePeriodLong)
-		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, &tt)
+		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, nil, &tt)
 		if now.Sub(startTime) <= reportingPeriod {
 			// No reset of the time ticker.
 			require.Equal(t, 0, tt.numResets)
@@ -111,3 +113,64 @@ func TestSchedStatsTicker(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, tt.lastResetDuration)
 	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, callbackSamplePeriod)
 }
+
+func TestSchedStatsTickerShortPeriodOverride(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	var callbackSamplePeriod time.Duration
+	cb := func(numRunnable int, numProcs int, samplePeriod time.Duration) {
+		// Always underloaded.
+		require.Equal(t, 0, numRunnable)
+		require.Equal(t, 1, numProcs)
+		callbackSamplePeriod = samplePeriod
+	}
+	cbs := []callbackWithID{{cb, 0}}
+	now := timeutil.UnixEpoch
+	startTime := now
+	st := cluster.MakeTestingClusterSettings()
+	// Override to use short sample period.
+	alwaysUseShortSamplePeriodEnabled.Override(ctx, &st.SV, true)
+	// Start with long sample period.
+	sst := schedStatsTicker{
+		lastTime:              now,
+		curPeriod:             samplePeriodLong,
+		numRunnableGoroutines: func() (numRunnable int, numProcs int) { return 0, 1 },
+	}
+	tt := testTimeTicker{}
+	// Tick until the reportingPeriod has elapsed.
+	for i := 1; ; i++ {
+		now = now.Add(samplePeriodLong)
+		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, st, &tt)
+		if now.Sub(startTime) <= reportingPeriod {
+			// No reset of the time ticker.
+			require.Equal(t, 0, tt.numResets)
+			// Each tick causes a callback.
+			require.Equal(t, samplePeriodLong, callbackSamplePeriod)
+		} else {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	// Sample period resets to short.
+	require.Equal(t, 1, tt.numResets)
+	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, tt.lastResetDuration)
+	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, callbackSamplePeriod)
+
+	// Tick again until the reportingPeriod has elapsed.
+	startTime = now
+	tt.numResets = 0
+	for i := 1; ; i++ {
+		now = now.Add(samplePeriodShort)
+		sst.getStatsOnTick(now, cbs, st, &tt)
+		if now.Sub(startTime) <= reportingPeriod {
+			// No reset of the time ticker.
+			require.Equal(t, 0, tt.numResets)
+			// Each tick causes a callback.
+			require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, callbackSamplePeriod)
+		} else {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	// Still using short sample period.
+	require.Equal(t, 0, tt.numResets)
+	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, tt.lastResetDuration)
+	require.Equal(t, samplePeriodShort, callbackSamplePeriod)
+}