diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsAuthInvoker.java b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsAuthInvoker.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce9a3a996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsAuthInvoker.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+//
+// Narya library - tools for developing networked games
+// Copyright (C) 2002-2008 Three Rings Design, Inc., All Rights Reserved
+// http://www.threerings.net/code/narya/
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
+// by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+package com.threerings.presents.server;
+
+import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
+
+import com.samskivert.util.Invoker;
+
+/**
+ * A separate invoker thread on which we perform client authentication. This allows the normal
+ * server operation to proceed even in the event that our authentication services have gone down
+ * and attempts to authenticate cause long timeouts and blockage.
+ */
+@Singleton
+public class PresentsAuthInvoker extends Invoker
+{
+    @Inject public PresentsAuthInvoker (PresentsDObjectMgr omgr)
+    {
+        super("presents.AuthInvoker", omgr);
+        setDaemon(true);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
index 29b043fa0..cb08a1e7a 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class PresentsServer
     {
         @Override protected void configure () {
             bind(Invoker.class).annotatedWith(MainInvoker.class).to(PresentsInvoker.class);
-            bind(Invoker.class).annotatedWith(AuthInvoker.class).to(PresentsInvoker.class);
+            bind(Invoker.class).annotatedWith(AuthInvoker.class).to(PresentsAuthInvoker.class);
             bind(RunQueue.class).annotatedWith(EventQueue.class).to(PresentsDObjectMgr.class);
             bind(DObjectManager.class).to(PresentsDObjectMgr.class);
             bind(RootDObjectManager.class).to(PresentsDObjectMgr.class);
@@ -146,8 +146,9 @@ public class PresentsServer
         // configure the dobject manager with our access controller
         _omgr.setDefaultAccessController(createDefaultObjectAccessController());
 
-        // start the main invoker thread
+        // start the main and auth invoker threads
         _invoker.start();
+        _authInvoker.start();
 
         // configure our connection manager
         _conmgr.init(getListenPorts(), getDatagramPorts());
@@ -229,4 +230,7 @@ public class PresentsServer
     /** Used to invoke background tasks that should not be allowed to tie up the distributed object
      * manager thread (generally talking to databases and other relatively slow entities). */
     @Inject @MainInvoker protected Invoker _invoker;
+
+    /** Used to invoke authentication tasks. */
+    @Inject @AuthInvoker protected Invoker _authInvoker;
 }