diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdServer.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdServer.cpp
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdServer.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdServer.cpp
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@
       Result.push_back(replacementToEdit(Code, R));
     return CB(Result);
   };
-  WorkScheduler.run("FormatOnType", File, std::move(Action));
+  WorkScheduler.runQuick("FormatOnType", File, std::move(Action));
 }
 
 void ClangdServer::prepareRename(PathRef File, Position Pos,
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@
         tooling::calculateRangesAfterReplacements(IncludeReplaces, Ranges),
         File)));
   };
-  WorkScheduler.run("Format", File, std::move(Action));
+  WorkScheduler.runQuick("Format", File, std::move(Action));
 }
 
 void ClangdServer::findDocumentHighlights(
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.h b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.h
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.h
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.h
@@ -244,6 +244,13 @@
   void run(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
            llvm::unique_function<void()> Action);
 
+  /// Similar to run, except the task is expected to be quick.
+  /// This function will not honor AsyncThreadsCount (except
+  /// if threading is disabled with AsyncThreadsCount=0)
+  /// It is intended to run quick tasks that need to run ASAP
+  void runQuick(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
+                llvm::unique_function<void()> Action);
+
   /// Defines how a runWithAST action is implicitly cancelled by other actions.
   enum ASTActionInvalidation {
     /// The request will run unless explicitly cancelled.
@@ -316,10 +323,14 @@
   void profile(MemoryTree &MT) const;
 
 private:
+  void runWithSemaphore(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
+                        llvm::unique_function<void()> Action, Semaphore &Sem);
+
   const GlobalCompilationDatabase &CDB;
   Options Opts;
   std::unique_ptr<ParsingCallbacks> Callbacks; // not nullptr
   Semaphore Barrier;
+  Semaphore QuickRunBarrier;
   llvm::StringMap<std::unique_ptr<FileData>> Files;
   std::unique_ptr<ASTCache> IdleASTs;
   // None when running tasks synchronously and non-None when running tasks
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.cpp
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/TUScheduler.cpp
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@
     : CDB(CDB), Opts(Opts),
       Callbacks(Callbacks ? move(Callbacks)
                           : std::make_unique<ParsingCallbacks>()),
-      Barrier(Opts.AsyncThreadsCount),
+      Barrier(Opts.AsyncThreadsCount), QuickRunBarrier(Opts.AsyncThreadsCount),
       IdleASTs(
           std::make_unique<ASTCache>(Opts.RetentionPolicy.MaxRetainedASTs)) {
   // Avoid null checks everywhere.
@@ -1322,14 +1322,27 @@
 
 void TUScheduler::run(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
                       llvm::unique_function<void()> Action) {
+  runWithSemaphore(Name, Path, std::move(Action), Barrier);
+}
+
+void TUScheduler::runQuick(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
+                           llvm::unique_function<void()> Action) {
+  // Use QuickRunBarrier to serialize quick tasks: we are ignoring
+  // the parallelism level set by the user, don't abuse it
+  runWithSemaphore(Name, Path, std::move(Action), QuickRunBarrier);
+}
+
+void TUScheduler::runWithSemaphore(llvm::StringRef Name, llvm::StringRef Path,
+                                   llvm::unique_function<void()> Action,
+                                   Semaphore &Sem) {
   if (!PreambleTasks) {
     WithContext WithProvidedContext(Opts.ContextProvider(Path));
     return Action();
   }
-  PreambleTasks->runAsync(Name, [this, Ctx = Context::current().clone(),
+  PreambleTasks->runAsync(Name, [this, &Sem, Ctx = Context::current().clone(),
                                  Path(Path.str()),
                                  Action = std::move(Action)]() mutable {
-    std::lock_guard<Semaphore> BarrierLock(Barrier);
+    std::lock_guard<Semaphore> BarrierLock(Sem);
     WithContext WC(std::move(Ctx));
     WithContext WithProvidedContext(Opts.ContextProvider(Path));
     Action();