diff --git a/fastapi/staticfiles.py b/fastapi/staticfiles.py
index 978f83de11..8e09fe9674 100644
--- a/fastapi/staticfiles.py
+++ b/fastapi/staticfiles.py
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
+import inspect
 from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
 from typing import Any
 
+from starlette.concurrency import run_in_threadpool
+from starlette.exceptions import HTTPException
 from starlette.requests import Request
 from starlette.responses import PlainTextResponse, Response
 from starlette.staticfiles import StaticFiles as StaticFiles  # noqa
 from starlette.types import Receive, Scope, Send
 
+AuthCallable = Callable[[Request], Awaitable[Any] | Any]
+
 
 class AuthStaticFiles(StaticFiles):
     """
@@ -42,9 +47,10 @@ class AuthStaticFiles(StaticFiles):
 
     ## Parameters
 
-    * `auth`: An async callable that takes a `Request` object and performs
-      authentication. It should raise an `HTTPException` if authentication
-      fails, or return `None` if authentication succeeds.
+    * `auth`: A sync or async callable that takes a `Request` object and
+      performs authentication. It should raise an `HTTPException` if
+      authentication fails, or return `None` if authentication succeeds.
+      Sync callables are automatically run in a threadpool.
     * `on_error`: An optional callable that takes a `Request` and an
       `HTTPException` and returns a `Response`. Use this to customize
       error responses (e.g., redirect to login, return HTML instead of
@@ -73,8 +79,8 @@ class AuthStaticFiles(StaticFiles):
         html: bool = False,
         check_dir: bool = True,
         follow_symlink: bool = False,
-        auth: Callable[[Request], Awaitable[Any]],
-        on_error: Callable[[Request, Any], Awaitable[Response]] | None = None,
+        auth: AuthCallable,
+        on_error: Callable[[Request, HTTPException], Awaitable[Response]] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         super().__init__(
             directory=directory,
@@ -84,26 +90,26 @@ class AuthStaticFiles(StaticFiles):
             follow_symlink=follow_symlink,
         )
         self.auth = auth
+        self._auth_is_async = inspect.iscoroutinefunction(auth)
         self.on_error = on_error
 
     async def __call__(self, scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
         if scope["type"] == "http":
             request = Request(scope, receive)
             try:
-                await self.auth(request)
-            except Exception as exc:
-                from fastapi.exceptions import HTTPException
-
-                if isinstance(exc, HTTPException):
-                    if self.on_error is not None:
-                        response = await self.on_error(request, exc)
-                    else:
-                        response = PlainTextResponse(
-                            str(exc.detail),
-                            status_code=exc.status_code,
-                            headers=getattr(exc, "headers", None),
-                        )
-                    await response(scope, receive, send)
-                    return
-                raise
+                if self._auth_is_async:
+                    await self.auth(request)
+                else:
+                    await run_in_threadpool(self.auth, request)
+            except HTTPException as exc:
+                if self.on_error is not None:
+                    response = await self.on_error(request, exc)
+                else:
+                    response = PlainTextResponse(
+                        str(exc.detail),
+                        status_code=exc.status_code,
+                        headers=getattr(exc, "headers", None),
+                    )
+                await response(scope, receive, send)
+                return
         await super().__call__(scope, receive, send)
diff --git a/tests/test_auth_static_files.py b/tests/test_auth_static_files.py
index 10be23affd..300d399296 100644
--- a/tests/test_auth_static_files.py
+++ b/tests/test_auth_static_files.py
@@ -179,6 +179,50 @@ def test_custom_on_error_redirect(static_dir):
         assert response.headers["location"] == "/login"
 
 
+def test_sync_auth_callable(static_dir):
+    """A sync auth callable should be supported via run_in_threadpool."""
+
+    def sync_verify(request: Request) -> None:
+        token = request.headers.get("X-Token")
+        if token != "valid":
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Bad token")
+
+    app = FastAPI()
+    app.mount(
+        "/sync",
+        AuthStaticFiles(directory=str(static_dir), auth=sync_verify),
+        name="sync",
+    )
+
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        response = client.get("/sync/public.txt")
+        assert response.status_code == 401
+
+        response = client.get("/sync/public.txt", headers={"X-Token": "valid"})
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert response.text == "public content"
+
+
+def test_starlette_httpexception_caught(static_dir):
+    """Starlette's HTTPException (used by FastAPI security modules) should be caught."""
+    from starlette.exceptions import HTTPException as StarletteHTTPException
+
+    async def deny_with_starlette(request: Request) -> None:
+        raise StarletteHTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Starlette error")
+
+    app = FastAPI()
+    app.mount(
+        "/starlette",
+        AuthStaticFiles(directory=str(static_dir), auth=deny_with_starlette),
+        name="starlette",
+    )
+
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        response = client.get("/starlette/public.txt")
+        assert response.status_code == 401
+        assert response.text == "Starlette error"
+
+
 def test_custom_on_error_html(static_dir):
     """on_error can return a custom HTML error page."""