diff --git a/src/api/identity.rs b/src/api/identity.rs
index 3962827d..bae0631d 100644
--- a/src/api/identity.rs
+++ b/src/api/identity.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use chrono::Utc;
+use chrono::{NaiveDateTime, Utc};
 use num_traits::FromPrimitive;
 use rocket::{
     Route,
@@ -467,6 +467,40 @@ async fn password_login(
     authenticated_response(&user, &mut device, auth_tokens, twofactor_token, conn, ip).await
 }
 
+// Notify the user that a new device logged in.
+//
+// When `require_device_email` is enabled this stays awaited, so a failure to send
+// the notification aborts the login. When it is disabled (the default) the email
+// is best-effort and is spawned onto a background task, so a slow SMTP server can
+// no longer block (and thereby time out) the login response. See #5856.
+async fn send_new_device_email(user: &User, device: &Device, now: NaiveDateTime, ip: &ClientIp) -> EmptyResult {
+    if CONFIG.require_device_email() {
+        if let Err(e) =
+            mail::send_new_device_logged_in(&user.email, &ip.ip.to_string(), &now, &device.name, device.atype).await
+        {
+            error!("Error sending new device email: {e:#?}");
+            err!(
+                "Could not send login notification email. Please contact your administrator.",
+                ErrorEvent {
+                    event: EventType::UserFailedLogIn
+                }
+            )
+        }
+    } else {
+        let address = user.email.clone();
+        let ip = ip.ip.to_string();
+        let device_name = device.name.clone();
+        let device_type = device.atype;
+        tokio::task::spawn(async move {
+            if let Err(e) = mail::send_new_device_logged_in(&address, &ip, &now, &device_name, device_type).await {
+                error!("Error sending new device email: {e:#?}");
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 async fn authenticated_response(
     user: &User,
     device: &mut Device,
@@ -477,18 +511,7 @@ async fn authenticated_response(
 ) -> JsonResult {
     if CONFIG.mail_enabled() && device.is_new() {
         let now = Utc::now().naive_utc();
-        if let Err(e) = mail::send_new_device_logged_in(&user.email, &ip.ip.to_string(), &now, device).await {
-            error!("Error sending new device email: {e:#?}");
-
-            if CONFIG.require_device_email() {
-                err!(
-                    "Could not send login notification email. Please contact your administrator.",
-                    ErrorEvent {
-                        event: EventType::UserFailedLogIn
-                    }
-                )
-            }
-        }
+        send_new_device_email(user, device, now, ip).await?;
     }
 
     // register push device
@@ -625,18 +648,7 @@ async fn user_api_key_login(
 
     if CONFIG.mail_enabled() && device.is_new() {
         let now = Utc::now().naive_utc();
-        if let Err(e) = mail::send_new_device_logged_in(&user.email, &ip.ip.to_string(), &now, &device).await {
-            error!("Error sending new device email: {e:#?}");
-
-            if CONFIG.require_device_email() {
-                err!(
-                    "Could not send login notification email. Please contact your administrator.",
-                    ErrorEvent {
-                        event: EventType::UserFailedLogIn
-                    }
-                )
-            }
-        }
+        send_new_device_email(&user, &device, now, ip).await?;
     }
 
     // ---
diff --git a/src/mail.rs b/src/mail.rs
index f31234d7..bd0746cf 100644
--- a/src/mail.rs
+++ b/src/mail.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use crate::{
         encode_jwt, generate_delete_claims, generate_emergency_access_invite_claims, generate_invite_claims,
         generate_verify_email_claims,
     },
-    db::models::{Device, DeviceType, EmergencyAccessId, MembershipId, OrganizationId, User, UserId},
+    db::models::{DeviceType, EmergencyAccessId, MembershipId, OrganizationId, User, UserId},
     error::Error,
     util::upcase_first,
 };
@@ -505,7 +505,13 @@ pub async fn send_invite_confirmed(address: &str, org_name: &str) -> EmptyResult
     send_email(address, &subject, body_html, body_text).await
 }
 
-pub async fn send_new_device_logged_in(address: &str, ip: &str, dt: &NaiveDateTime, device: &Device) -> EmptyResult {
+pub async fn send_new_device_logged_in(
+    address: &str,
+    ip: &str,
+    dt: &NaiveDateTime,
+    device_name: &str,
+    device_type: i32,
+) -> EmptyResult {
     let fmt = "%A, %B %_d, %Y at %r %Z";
     let (subject, body_html, body_text) = get_text(
         "email/new_device_logged_in",
@@ -513,8 +519,8 @@ pub async fn send_new_device_logged_in(address: &str, ip: &str, dt: &NaiveDateTi
             "url": CONFIG.domain(),
             "img_src": CONFIG._smtp_img_src(),
             "ip": ip,
-            "device_name": upcase_first(&device.name),
-            "device_type": DeviceType::from_i32(device.atype).to_string(),
+            "device_name": upcase_first(device_name),
+            "device_type": DeviceType::from_i32(device_type).to_string(),
             "datetime": crate::util::format_naive_datetime_local(dt, fmt),
         }),
     )?;