diff --git a/src/tokenserver/mod.rs b/src/tokenserver/mod.rs
index eefc82a041..9857e4e0d3 100644
--- a/src/tokenserver/mod.rs
+++ b/src/tokenserver/mod.rs
@@ -44,15 +44,17 @@ impl ServerState {
             let oauth_verifier = Box::new(TestModeOAuthVerifier);
 
             #[cfg(not(feature = "tokenserver_test_mode"))]
-            let oauth_verifier = Box::new(OAuthVerifier {
-                fxa_oauth_server_url: settings.fxa_oauth_server_url.clone(),
-            });
+            let oauth_verifier = Box::new(
+                OAuthVerifier::new(settings.fxa_oauth_server_url.as_deref())
+                    .expect("failed to create Tokenserver OAuth verifier"),
+            );
 
             oauth_verifier
         } else {
-            Box::new(OAuthVerifier {
-                fxa_oauth_server_url: settings.fxa_oauth_server_url.clone(),
-            })
+            Box::new(
+                OAuthVerifier::new(settings.fxa_oauth_server_url.as_deref())
+                    .expect("failed to create Tokenserver OAuth verifier"),
+            )
         };
         let use_test_transactions = false;
 
diff --git a/src/tokenserver/support.rs b/src/tokenserver/support.rs
index 0ff26c2e75..ef3f815bbd 100644
--- a/src/tokenserver/support.rs
+++ b/src/tokenserver/support.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use actix_web::Error;
-use pyo3::prelude::{IntoPy, PyAny, PyErr, PyModule, PyObject, Python};
+use pyo3::prelude::{IntoPy, Py, PyAny, PyErr, PyModule, PyObject, Python};
 use pyo3::types::{IntoPyDict, PyString};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
@@ -100,11 +100,32 @@ impl Clone for Box<dyn VerifyToken> {
 #[derive(Clone)]
 /// An adapter to the PyFxA Python library.
 pub struct OAuthVerifier {
-    pub fxa_oauth_server_url: Option<String>,
+    inner: Py<PyAny>,
 }
 
 impl OAuthVerifier {
     const FILENAME: &'static str = "verify.py";
+
+    pub fn new(fxa_oauth_server_url: Option<&str>) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let inner: Py<PyAny> = Python::with_gil::<_, Result<Py<PyAny>, PyErr>>(|py| {
+            let code = include_str!("verify.py");
+            let module = PyModule::from_code(py, code, Self::FILENAME, Self::FILENAME)?;
+            let kwargs = fxa_oauth_server_url.map(|url| [("server_url", url)].into_py_dict(py));
+            let object: Py<PyAny> = module
+                .getattr("FxaOAuthClient")?
+                .call((), kwargs)
+                .map_err(|e| {
+                    e.print_and_set_sys_last_vars(py);
+                    e
+                })?
+                .into();
+
+            Ok(object)
+        })
+        .map_err(pyerr_to_actix_error)?;
+
+        Ok(Self { inner })
+    }
 }
 
 impl VerifyToken for OAuthVerifier {
@@ -112,15 +133,10 @@ impl VerifyToken for OAuthVerifier {
     /// tokens.
     fn verify_token(&self, token: &str) -> Result<TokenData, TokenserverError> {
         let maybe_token_data_string = Python::with_gil(|py| {
-            let code = include_str!("verify.py");
-            let module = PyModule::from_code(py, code, Self::FILENAME, Self::FILENAME)?;
-            let kwargs = self
-                .fxa_oauth_server_url
-                .clone()
-                .map(|url| [("server_url", url)].into_py_dict(py));
-            let result: &PyAny = module
+            let client = self.inner.as_ref(py);
+            let result: &PyAny = client
                 .getattr("verify_token")?
-                .call((token,), kwargs)
+                .call((token,), None)
                 .map_err(|e| {
                     e.print_and_set_sys_last_vars(py);
                     e
diff --git a/src/tokenserver/verify.py b/src/tokenserver/verify.py
index 5d8088dcc7..ff32a51f35 100644
--- a/src/tokenserver/verify.py
+++ b/src/tokenserver/verify.py
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@
 DEFAULT_OAUTH_SCOPE = 'https://identity.mozilla.com/apps/oldsync'
 
 
-def verify_token(token, server_url=None):
-    client = Client(server_url=server_url)
+class FxaOAuthClient:
+    def __init__(self, server_url=None):
+        self._client = Client(server_url=server_url)
 
-    try:
-        token_data = client.verify_token(token, DEFAULT_OAUTH_SCOPE)
+    def verify_token(self, token):
+        try:
+            token_data = self._client.verify_token(token, DEFAULT_OAUTH_SCOPE)
 
-        # Serialize the data to make it easier to parse in Rust
-        return json.dumps(token_data)
-    except (ClientError, TrustError):
-        return None
+            # Serialize the data to make it easier to parse in Rust
+            return json.dumps(token_data)
+        except (ClientError, TrustError):
+            return None