diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/client.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/client.go
index 02bf38ff980..d750c3f7c03 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/client.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/client.go
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ func (cm *ClientManager) HookClient(cc ClientConfig) (*rest.RESTClient, error) {
 	}
 
 	complete := func(cfg *rest.Config) (*rest.RESTClient, error) {
+		// Avoid client-side rate limiting talking to the webhook backend.
+		// Rate limiting should happen when deciding how many requests to serve.
+		cfg.QPS = -1
+
 		// Combine CAData from the config with any existing CA bundle provided
 		if len(cfg.TLSClientConfig.CAData) > 0 {
 			cfg.TLSClientConfig.CAData = append(cfg.TLSClientConfig.CAData, '\n')
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/webhook.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/webhook.go
index 917d66c9222..d2c6e2273f7 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/webhook.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/webhook/webhook.go
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ func newGenericWebhook(scheme *runtime.Scheme, codecFactory serializer.CodecFact
 	// Set this to something reasonable so request to webhooks don't hang forever.
 	clientConfig.Timeout = requestTimeout
 
+	// Avoid client-side rate limiting talking to the webhook backend.
+	// Rate limiting should happen when deciding how many requests to serve.
+	clientConfig.QPS = -1
+
 	codec := codecFactory.LegacyCodec(groupVersions...)
 	clientConfig.ContentConfig.NegotiatedSerializer = serializer.NegotiatedSerializerWrapper(runtime.SerializerInfo{Serializer: codec})
 
diff --git a/test/integration/apiserver/admissionwebhook/admission_test.go b/test/integration/apiserver/admissionwebhook/admission_test.go
index 688dd6e3fff..c75366c551e 100644
--- a/test/integration/apiserver/admissionwebhook/admission_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/apiserver/admissionwebhook/admission_test.go
@@ -566,6 +566,9 @@ func testWebhookAdmission(t *testing.T, watchCache bool) {
 	// Allow the webhook to establish
 	time.Sleep(time.Second)
 
+	start := time.Now()
+	count := 0
+
 	// Test admission on all resources, subresources, and verbs
 	for _, gvr := range gvrsToTest {
 		resource := resourcesByGVR[gvr]
@@ -573,6 +576,7 @@ func testWebhookAdmission(t *testing.T, watchCache bool) {
 			for _, verb := range []string{"create", "update", "patch", "connect", "delete", "deletecollection"} {
 				if shouldTestResourceVerb(gvr, resource, verb) {
 					t.Run(verb, func(t *testing.T) {
+						count++
 						holder.reset(t)
 						testFunc := getTestFunc(gvr, verb)
 						testFunc(&testContext{
@@ -591,6 +595,12 @@ func testWebhookAdmission(t *testing.T, watchCache bool) {
 			}
 		})
 	}
+
+	duration := time.Now().Sub(start)
+	perResourceDuration := time.Duration(int(duration) / count)
+	if perResourceDuration >= 150*time.Millisecond {
+		t.Errorf("expected resources to process in < 150ms, average was %v", perResourceDuration)
+	}
 }
 
 //