diff --git a/src/crypto/crypto_context.cc b/src/crypto/crypto_context.cc
index 13edcb588864..1b4802bdad25 100644
--- a/src/crypto/crypto_context.cc
+++ b/src/crypto/crypto_context.cc
@@ -991,6 +991,7 @@ void StartLoadingCertificatesOffThread(
     // Check again under the lock.
     if (!tried_cert_loading_off_thread.load()) {
       tried_cert_loading_off_thread.store(true);
+      EnsureOpenSSLNameMap();
       int r =
           uv_thread_create(&cert_loading_thread, LoadCACertificates, nullptr);
       cert_loading_thread_started.store(r == 0);
@@ -1011,6 +1012,7 @@ void StartLoadingCertificatesOffThread(
     if (!has_cached_system_root_certs.load() &&
         !tried_system_cert_loading_off_thread.load()) {
       tried_system_cert_loading_off_thread.store(true);
+      EnsureOpenSSLNameMap();
       int r = uv_thread_create(
           &system_cert_loading_thread, LoadSystemCACertificates, nullptr);
       system_cert_loading_thread_started.store(r == 0);
diff --git a/src/crypto/crypto_util.cc b/src/crypto/crypto_util.cc
index a99b4f10af24..e1cc8f019510 100644
--- a/src/crypto/crypto_util.cc
+++ b/src/crypto/crypto_util.cc
@@ -478,6 +478,17 @@ std::optional<std::string> ProcessFipsOptions() {
   return std::nullopt;
 }
 
+// OpenSSL 3 copies its legacy algorithm names into the name map on the first
+// fetch, and another thread can look names up while the copy is in progress.
+// Some misses are cached: with OpenSSL 3.5, the decoders cached for
+// "rsassaPss" keys are then an empty set, and no RSA-PSS public key can be
+// decoded for the rest of the process. Startup does no fetch, so the first one
+// happens here, on the calling thread, before OpenSSL work moves to another.
+void EnsureOpenSSLNameMap() {
+  static uv_once_t once = UV_ONCE_INIT;
+  uv_once(&once, [] { ncrypto::Digest::Fetch("SHA256"); });
+}
+
 bool InitCryptoOnce(Isolate* isolate) {
   static uv_once_t init_once = UV_ONCE_INIT;
   TryCatch try_catch{isolate};
diff --git a/src/crypto/crypto_util.h b/src/crypto/crypto_util.h
index 00ac9f6703aa..d7e177f9ddfe 100644
--- a/src/crypto/crypto_util.h
+++ b/src/crypto/crypto_util.h
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ void InstallFipsIndicatorCallback();
 bool InitCryptoOnce(v8::Isolate* isolate);
 void InitCryptoOnce();
 
+// Call before starting OpenSSL work on another thread.
+void EnsureOpenSSLNameMap();
+
 void InitCrypto(v8::Local<v8::Object> target);
 
 extern void UseExtraCaCerts(std::string_view file);
@@ -460,6 +463,7 @@ class CryptoJob : public AsyncWrap, public ThreadPoolWork {
 
     CryptoJob<CryptoJobTraits>* job;
     ASSIGN_OR_RETURN_UNWRAP(&job, args.This());
+    EnsureOpenSSLNameMap();
     if (job->mode() == kCryptoJobWebCrypto) {
       v8::Local<v8::Promise::Resolver> resolver;
       if (!v8::Promise::Resolver::New(env->context()).ToLocal(&resolver)) {
diff --git a/src/node_worker.cc b/src/node_worker.cc
index 308d987680d7..23d0bedf880a 100644
--- a/src/node_worker.cc
+++ b/src/node_worker.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 #include "node_worker.h"
 #include "async_wrap-inl.h"
+#if HAVE_OPENSSL
+#include "crypto/crypto_util.h"
+#endif  // HAVE_OPENSSL
 #include "debug_utils-inl.h"
 #include "histogram-inl.h"
 #include "memory_tracker-inl.h"
@@ -778,6 +781,9 @@ void Worker::StartThread(const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
   thread_options.stack_size = w->stack_size_;
 
   uv_thread_t* tid = &w->tid_.emplace();  // Create uv_thread_t instance
+#if HAVE_OPENSSL
+  crypto::EnsureOpenSSLNameMap();
+#endif  // HAVE_OPENSSL
   int ret = uv_thread_create_ex(tid, &thread_options, [](void* arg) {
     // XXX: This could become a std::unique_ptr, but that makes at least
     // gcc 6.3 detect undefined behaviour when there shouldn't be any.
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-crypto-off-thread-first-use.js b/test/parallel/test-crypto-off-thread-first-use.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e19165503f59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-crypto-off-thread-first-use.js
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+if (!common.hasCrypto)
+  common.skip('missing crypto');
+
+// OpenSSL 3 builds its table of algorithm names on first use. If that first
+// use happens on a thread started by Node.js (a thread pool crypto job, the
+// root certificate loader or a Worker) while the main thread decodes an
+// RSA-PSS key, the decode can miss the RSA-PSS name, and every later RSA-PSS
+// decode in the process fails as well.
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures');
+
+if (process.argv[2] === 'child') {
+  const { X509Certificate, pbkdf2 } = require('crypto');
+  const pem = fixtures.readKey('rsa_pss_cert_2048.pem');
+  // OpenSSL must not have been used on this thread before this point.
+  if (process.argv[3] === 'tls') {
+    require('tls');
+  } else if (process.argv[3] === 'worker') {
+    const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
+    const started = new Int32Array(new SharedArrayBuffer(4));
+    new Worker(`
+      const { workerData } = require('worker_threads');
+      const { createHash } = require('crypto');
+      Atomics.store(workerData, 0, 1);
+      Atomics.notify(workerData, 0);
+      createHash('sha256');
+    `, { eval: true, workerData: started });
+    Atomics.wait(started, 0, 0);
+  } else {
+    pbkdf2('password', '0123456789abcdef', 1000, 32, 'sha256',
+           common.mustSucceed());
+  }
+  const cert = new X509Certificate(pem);
+  assert.strictEqual(cert.publicKey.asymmetricKeyType, 'rsa-pss');
+  return;
+}
+
+const { hasOpenSSL } = require('../common/crypto');
+if (!hasOpenSSL(3))
+  common.skip('this test requires OpenSSL 3.x');
+
+(async () => {
+  for (const mode of ['pbkdf2', 'tls', 'worker']) {
+    for (let round = 0; round < 5; round++) {
+      const children = Array.from({ length: 4 }, () =>
+        common.spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [__filename, 'child', mode]));
+      for (const { code, signal, stderr } of await Promise.all(children)) {
+        assert.strictEqual(signal, null, `${mode}: ${stderr}`);
+        assert.strictEqual(code, 0, `${mode}: ${stderr}`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+})().then(common.mustCall());