diff --git a/lib/srv/db/mysql/engine.go b/lib/srv/db/mysql/engine.go
index 83af22edac3e8..b7fdc7751c392 100644
--- a/lib/srv/db/mysql/engine.go
+++ b/lib/srv/db/mysql/engine.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"net"
 	"time"
 
@@ -383,34 +384,46 @@ func (e *Engine) receiveFromServer(serverConn, clientConn net.Conn, serverErrCh
 		"client": clientConn.RemoteAddr(),
 		"server": serverConn.RemoteAddr(),
 	})
-	defer func() {
-		log.Debug("Stop receiving from server.")
-		close(serverErrCh)
-	}()
+	messagesCounter := common.GetMessagesFromServerMetric(sessionCtx.Database)
 
-	msgFromServer := common.GetMessagesFromServerMetric(sessionCtx.Database)
+	// parse and count the messages from the server in a separate goroutine,
+	// operating on a copy of the server message stream. the copy is arranged below.
+	copyReader, copyWriter := io.Pipe()
+	defer copyWriter.Close()
 
-	for {
-		packet, _, err := protocol.ReadPacket(serverConn)
-		if err != nil {
-			if utils.IsOKNetworkError(err) {
-				log.Debug("Server connection closed.")
+	go func() {
+		defer copyReader.Close()
+
+		var count int64
+		defer func() {
+			log.WithField("parsed_total", count).Debug("Stopped parsing messages from server.")
+		}()
+
+		for {
+			_, _, err := protocol.ReadPacket(copyReader)
+			if err != nil {
 				return
 			}
-			log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to read server packet.")
-			serverErrCh <- err
-			return
-		}
 
-		msgFromServer.Inc()
+			count += 1
+			messagesCounter.Inc()
+		}
+	}()
 
-		_, err = protocol.WritePacket(packet, clientConn)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to write client packet.")
-			serverErrCh <- err
-			return
+	// the messages are ultimately copied from serverConn to clientConn,
+	// but a copy of that message stream is written to a synchronous pipe,
+	// which is read by the analysis goroutine above.
+	total, err := io.Copy(clientConn, io.TeeReader(serverConn, copyWriter))
+	if err != nil {
+		if utils.IsOKNetworkError(err) {
+			log.Debug("Server connection closed.")
+		} else {
+			log.WithError(err).Warn("Server -> Client copy finished with unexpected error.")
 		}
 	}
+
+	log.Debugf("Stopped receiving from server. Transferred %v bytes.", total)
+	serverErrCh <- trace.Wrap(err)
 }
 
 // makeAcquireSemaphoreConfig builds parameters for acquiring a semaphore