diff --git a/pico_w/wifi/mbedtls_config_examples_common.h b/pico_w/wifi/mbedtls_config_examples_common.h
index 11b33fed6..5ffe3b6e6 100644
--- a/pico_w/wifi/mbedtls_config_examples_common.h
+++ b/pico_w/wifi/mbedtls_config_examples_common.h
@@ -68,4 +68,7 @@
 #define MBEDTLS_PEM_PARSE_C
 #define MBEDTLS_BASE64_C
 
-#endif
\ No newline at end of file
+// The following significantly speeds up mbedtls due to NIST optimizations.
+#define MBEDTLS_ECP_NIST_OPTIM
+
+#endif