diff --git a/iocore/eventsystem/I_ProxyAllocator.h b/iocore/eventsystem/I_ProxyAllocator.h
index 613b08f0638..cfd16075c1e 100644
--- a/iocore/eventsystem/I_ProxyAllocator.h
+++ b/iocore/eventsystem/I_ProxyAllocator.h
@@ -83,10 +83,11 @@ void thread_freeup(Allocator &a, ProxyAllocator &l);
 
 #endif
 
-#define THREAD_FREE(_p, _a, _t)                                                                    \
+#define THREAD_FREE(_p, _a, _tin)                                                                  \
   do {                                                                                             \
     ::_a.destroy_if_enabled(_p);                                                                   \
     if (!cmd_disable_pfreelist) {                                                                  \
+      Thread *_t      = (_tin);                                                                    \
       *(char **)_p    = (char *)_t->_a.freelist;                                                   \
       _t->_a.freelist = _p;                                                                        \
       _t->_a.allocated++;                                                                          \
diff --git a/iocore/eventsystem/Makefile.am b/iocore/eventsystem/Makefile.am
index 3421eb40167..dbffb1098b5 100644
--- a/iocore/eventsystem/Makefile.am
+++ b/iocore/eventsystem/Makefile.am
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ libinkevent_a_SOURCES = \
 
 check_PROGRAMS = test_IOBuffer \
 	test_EventSystem \
-	test_MIOBufferWriter
+	test_MIOBufferWriter \
+	benchmark_ProxyAllocator
 
 test_LD_FLAGS = \
 	@AM_LDFLAGS@ \
@@ -114,6 +115,11 @@ test_MIOBufferWriter_SOURCES = unit_tests/test_MIOBufferWriter.cc
 test_MIOBufferWriter_CPPFLAGS = $(test_CPP_FLAGS)
 test_MIOBufferWriter_LDFLAGS = $(test_LD_FLAGS)
 
+benchmark_ProxyAllocator_SOURCES = unit_tests/benchmark_ProxyAllocator.cc
+benchmark_ProxyAllocator_CPPFLAGS = $(test_CPP_FLAGS)
+benchmark_ProxyAllocator_LDFLAGS = $(test_LD_FLAGS)
+benchmark_ProxyAllocator_LDADD = $(test_LD_ADD)
+
 include $(top_srcdir)/build/tidy.mk
 
 clang-tidy-local: $(DIST_SOURCES)
diff --git a/iocore/eventsystem/unit_tests/benchmark_ProxyAllocator.cc b/iocore/eventsystem/unit_tests/benchmark_ProxyAllocator.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..660ddcc3c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/iocore/eventsystem/unit_tests/benchmark_ProxyAllocator.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/** @file
+
+Simple benchmark for ProxyAllocator
+
+@section license License
+
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+#define CATCH_CONFIG_ENABLE_BENCHMARKING
+#define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN
+#include "catch.hpp"
+
+#include "I_EventSystem.h"
+#include "I_Thread.h"
+#include "tscore/Allocator.h"
+
+namespace
+{
+class BThread : public Thread
+{
+public:
+  void
+  set_specific() override
+  {
+    Thread::set_specific();
+  }
+
+  void
+  execute() override
+  {
+  }
+};
+
+struct BItem {
+  char buffer[128];
+};
+
+} // namespace
+
+// THREAD_ALLOC/FREE requires allocators be global variables and are named after one of the defined ProxyAllocator members
+ClassAllocator<BItem> ioAllocator("io");
+
+#define OLD_THREAD_FREE(_p, _a, _t)                                                                \
+  do {                                                                                             \
+    ::_a.destroy_if_enabled(_p);                                                                   \
+    if (!cmd_disable_pfreelist) {                                                                  \
+      *(char **)_p    = (char *)_t->_a.freelist;                                                   \
+      _t->_a.freelist = _p;                                                                        \
+      _t->_a.allocated++;                                                                          \
+      if (thread_freelist_high_watermark > 0 && _t->_a.allocated > thread_freelist_high_watermark) \
+        thread_freeup(::_a.raw(), _t->_a);                                                         \
+    } else {                                                                                       \
+      ::_a.raw().free_void(_p);                                                                    \
+    }                                                                                              \
+  } while (0)
+
+TEST_CASE("ProxyAllocator", "[iocore]")
+{
+  Thread *bench_thread = new BThread();
+  bench_thread->set_specific();
+  int count = 10000;
+
+  // set higher than iteration count so the freeup doesn't run during benchmark
+  thread_freelist_high_watermark = count + 1;
+
+  BENCHMARK("thread_free old")
+  {
+    auto items = std::vector<BItem *>();
+    items.reserve(count);
+    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+      auto *item = THREAD_ALLOC(ioAllocator, this_thread());
+      items.push_back(item);
+    }
+
+    for (auto item : items) {
+      OLD_THREAD_FREE(item, ioAllocator, this_thread());
+    }
+    return bench_thread->ioAllocator.allocated;
+  };
+
+  BENCHMARK("thread_free new")
+  {
+    auto items = std::vector<BItem *>();
+    items.reserve(count);
+    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+      auto *item = THREAD_ALLOC(ioAllocator, this_thread());
+      items.push_back(item);
+    }
+
+    for (auto item : items) {
+      THREAD_FREE(item, ioAllocator, this_thread());
+    }
+    return bench_thread->ioAllocator.allocated;
+  };
+
+  delete bench_thread;
+}
diff --git a/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc b/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
index 1a1236bbce5..fbecbe70a6b 100644
--- a/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
+++ b/proxy/http/HttpSM.cc
@@ -5748,8 +5748,8 @@ HttpSM::handle_http_server_open()
         vc->apply_options();
       }
     }
+    server_txn->set_inactivity_timeout(get_server_inactivity_timeout());
   }
-  server_txn->set_inactivity_timeout(get_server_inactivity_timeout());
 
   int method = t_state.hdr_info.server_request.method_get_wksidx();
   if (method != HTTP_WKSIDX_TRACE &&