diff --git a/CHANGES/8681.misc.rst b/CHANGES/8681.misc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..222787d36da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/8681.misc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Improved performance of starting request handlers with Python 3.12+ -- by :user:`bdraco`.
+
+This change is a followup to :issue:`8661` to make the same optimization for Python 3.12+ where the request is connected.
diff --git a/aiohttp/web_protocol.py b/aiohttp/web_protocol.py
index 635b668ceb0..39e1c8be50e 100644
--- a/aiohttp/web_protocol.py
+++ b/aiohttp/web_protocol.py
@@ -292,10 +292,16 @@ def connection_made(self, transport: asyncio.BaseTransport) -> None:
         if self._tcp_keepalive:
             tcp_keepalive(real_transport)
 
-        self._task_handler = self._loop.create_task(self.start())
         assert self._manager is not None
         self._manager.connection_made(self, real_transport)
 
+        loop = self._loop
+        if sys.version_info >= (3, 12):
+            task = asyncio.Task(self.start(), loop=loop, eager_start=True)
+        else:
+            task = loop.create_task(self.start())
+        self._task_handler = task
+
     def connection_lost(self, exc: Optional[BaseException]) -> None:
         if self._manager is None:
             return
@@ -494,7 +500,7 @@ async def start(self) -> None:
         keep_alive(True) specified.
         """
         loop = self._loop
-        handler = self._task_handler
+        handler = asyncio.current_task(loop)
         assert handler is not None
         manager = self._manager
         assert manager is not None