diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 291fd1d5a..80e6cbab2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1779,6 +1779,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lemmy_utils",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "tracing",
  "url",
 ]
 
diff --git a/crates/api_common/Cargo.toml b/crates/api_common/Cargo.toml
index 078987eb2..553ccb5bc 100644
--- a/crates/api_common/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/api_common/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,4 +23,5 @@ diesel = "1.4.8"
 actix-web = { version = "4.0.0-beta.9", default-features = false, features = ["cookies"] }
 chrono = { version = "0.4.19", features = ["serde"] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.68", features = ["preserve_order"] }
+tracing = "0.1.29"
 url = "2.2.2"
diff --git a/crates/api_common/src/lib.rs b/crates/api_common/src/lib.rs
index 384f8ca7d..aa833a16c 100644
--- a/crates/api_common/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/api_common/src/lib.rs
@@ -32,9 +32,12 @@ where
   T: Send + 'static,
 {
   let pool = pool.clone();
+  let blocking_span = tracing::info_span!("blocking operation");
   let res = actix_web::web::block(move || {
+    let entered = blocking_span.enter();
     let conn = pool.get()?;
     let res = (f)(&conn);
+    drop(entered);
     Ok(res) as Result<T, LemmyError>
   })
   .await?;