diff --git a/mooncake-integration/transfer_engine/transfer_engine_py.cpp b/mooncake-integration/transfer_engine/transfer_engine_py.cpp
index 11a66e3703..9d678d96a8 100644
--- a/mooncake-integration/transfer_engine/transfer_engine_py.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-integration/transfer_engine/transfer_engine_py.cpp
@@ -1156,12 +1156,14 @@ int TransferEnginePy::batchUnregisterMemory(
 int TransferEnginePy::registerMemory(uintptr_t buffer_addr, size_t capacity,
                                      const std::string& location,
                                      bool remote_accessible) {
+    pybind11::gil_scoped_release release;
     char* buffer = reinterpret_cast<char*>(buffer_addr);
     return engine_->registerLocalMemory(buffer, capacity, location,
                                         remote_accessible);
 }
 
 int TransferEnginePy::unregisterMemory(uintptr_t buffer_addr) {
+    pybind11::gil_scoped_release release;
     char* buffer = reinterpret_cast<char*>(buffer_addr);
     return engine_->unregisterLocalMemory(buffer);
 }
diff --git a/mooncake-wheel/tests/test_transfer_engine_gil.py b/mooncake-wheel/tests/test_transfer_engine_gil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..447a8d0590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mooncake-wheel/tests/test_transfer_engine_gil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Verify that single-buffer registration does not block other Python threads."""
+
+import ctypes
+import mmap
+import socket
+import sys
+import threading
+import unittest
+from collections.abc import Callable
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from mooncake.engine import TransferEngine
+
+
+class _OneShotWorker:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.arm = threading.Event()
+        self.ran = threading.Event()
+        self.ready = threading.Event()
+        self.stop = threading.Event()
+        self.thread = threading.Thread(target=self._run, daemon=True)
+
+    def _run(self) -> None:
+        self.ready.set()
+        while not self.stop.is_set():
+            if not self.arm.wait(timeout=0.1):
+                continue
+            self.arm.clear()
+            if not self.stop.is_set():
+                self.ran.set()
+
+    def start(self) -> None:
+        self.thread.start()
+        if not self.ready.wait(timeout=5):
+            raise RuntimeError("worker did not start")
+
+    def observe(self, call: Callable[[int], int], max_calls: int) -> tuple[bool, int]:
+        self.ran.clear()
+        self.arm.set()
+        calls_attempted = 0
+        for index in range(max_calls):
+            result = call(index)
+            if result != 0:
+                raise RuntimeError(f"memory registration returned {result}")
+            calls_attempted += 1
+            if self.ran.is_set():
+                break
+        self.arm.clear()
+        return self.ran.is_set(), calls_attempted
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        self.stop.set()
+        self.arm.set()
+        self.thread.join(timeout=5)
+
+
+class TestTransferEngineGil(unittest.TestCase):
+    @patch.dict("os.environ", MC_FORCE_TCP="1")
+    def test_single_memory_registration_releases_gil(self) -> None:
+        max_calls = 2048
+        region_size = 4096
+        region = mmap.mmap(-1, max_calls * region_size)
+        base_address = ctypes.addressof(ctypes.c_char.from_buffer(region))
+        ctypes.memset(base_address, 0, max_calls * region_size)
+        addresses = [base_address + i * region_size for i in range(max_calls)]
+        sizes = [region_size] * max_calls
+
+        engine = TransferEngine()
+        hostname = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
+        self.assertEqual(
+            engine.initialize(f"{hostname}:0", "P2PHANDSHAKE", "tcp", ""), 0
+        )
+
+        worker = _OneShotWorker()
+        worker.start()
+        old_switch_interval = sys.getswitchinterval()
+        sys.setswitchinterval(10.0)
+        registered: set[int] = set()
+        register_observed = False
+        unregister_observed = False
+        try:
+
+            def register_one(index: int) -> int:
+                result = engine.register_memory(addresses[index], region_size)
+                if result == 0:
+                    registered.add(addresses[index])
+                return result
+
+            register_observed, _ = worker.observe(register_one, max_calls)
+            self.assertEqual(engine.batch_unregister_memory(list(registered)), 0)
+            registered.clear()
+
+            self.assertEqual(engine.batch_register_memory(addresses, sizes), 0)
+            registered.update(addresses)
+
+            def unregister_one(index: int) -> int:
+                result = engine.unregister_memory(addresses[index])
+                if result == 0:
+                    registered.discard(addresses[index])
+                return result
+
+            unregister_observed, _ = worker.observe(unregister_one, max_calls)
+            self.assertEqual(engine.batch_unregister_memory(list(registered)), 0)
+            registered.clear()
+        finally:
+            if registered:
+                engine.batch_unregister_memory(list(registered))
+            sys.setswitchinterval(old_switch_interval)
+            worker.close()
+            region.close()
+
+        self.assertTrue(register_observed, "register_memory retained the GIL")
+        self.assertTrue(unregister_observed, "unregister_memory retained the GIL")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/scripts/test_installation.sh b/scripts/test_installation.sh
index 8de054332a..b13ee5c9cb 100755
--- a/scripts/test_installation.sh
+++ b/scripts/test_installation.sh
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ python -c "import mooncake._fast_copy"
 python -c "import mooncake.structured_object_store"
 python tests/test_fast_copy.py
 python tests/test_import_structure.py
+python tests/test_transfer_engine_gil.py
 
 echo "Running HTTP metadata server test..."
 python -m unittest service_tests/test_http_metadata_server.py