diff --git a/pount/apps/iiif/views.py b/pount/apps/iiif/views.py
index 00c98a41936e0217c6cec9927930f18d848fa590..8a21ecc0ced9f0997783dbcc907a768957f31c25 100644
--- a/pount/apps/iiif/views.py
+++ b/pount/apps/iiif/views.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from os import environ
 
+import urllib3
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.http.response import HttpResponseForbidden
@@ -58,6 +59,10 @@ class IIIFProxyView(ProxyView):
     upstream = environ.get("IIIF_UPSTREAM_URL", "http://localhost:8182/iiif/")
     add_x_forwarded = True
 
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.http = urllib3.PoolManager(maxsize=100)
+
     def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         try:
             response = JWT_authenticator.authenticate(request)