diff --git a/changelog.d/18816.misc b/changelog.d/18816.misc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d06c710bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/18816.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Tag Sliding Sync traces when we `wait_for_events`.
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/sliding_sync/__init__.py b/synapse/handlers/sliding_sync/__init__.py
index a9573ba0f..071a271ab 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/sliding_sync/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/sliding_sync/__init__.py
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class SlidingSyncHandler:
         sync_config: SlidingSyncConfig,
         from_token: Optional[SlidingSyncStreamToken] = None,
         timeout_ms: int = 0,
-    ) -> SlidingSyncResult:
+    ) -> Tuple[SlidingSyncResult, bool]:
         """
         Get the sync for a client if we have new data for it now. Otherwise
         wait for new data to arrive on the server. If the timeout expires, then
@@ -128,9 +128,16 @@ class SlidingSyncHandler:
             from_token: The point in the stream to sync from. Token of the end of the
                 previous batch. May be `None` if this is the initial sync request.
             timeout_ms: The time in milliseconds to wait for new data to arrive. If 0,
-                we will immediately but there might not be any new data so we just return an
-                empty response.
+                we will respond immediately but there might not be any new data so we just
+                return an empty response.
+
+        Returns:
+            A tuple containing the `SlidingSyncResult` and whether we waited for new
+            activity before responding. Knowing whether we waited is useful in traces
+            to filter out long-running requests where we were just waiting.
         """
+        did_wait = False
+
         # If the user is not part of the mau group, then check that limits have
         # not been exceeded (if not part of the group by this point, almost certain
         # auth_blocking will occur)
@@ -149,7 +156,7 @@ class SlidingSyncHandler:
                 logger.warning(
                     "Timed out waiting for worker to catch up. Returning empty response"
                 )
-                return SlidingSyncResult.empty(from_token)
+                return SlidingSyncResult.empty(from_token), did_wait
 
             # If we've spent significant time waiting to catch up, take it off
             # the timeout.
@@ -185,8 +192,9 @@ class SlidingSyncHandler:
                 current_sync_callback,
                 from_token=from_token.stream_token,
             )
+            did_wait = True
 
-        return result
+        return result, did_wait
 
     @trace
     async def current_sync_for_user(
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/sync.py b/synapse/rest/client/sync.py
index c9fb9dc4d..b6789a059 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/sync.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/sync.py
@@ -994,12 +994,18 @@ class SlidingSyncRestServlet(RestServlet):
             extensions=body.extensions,
         )
 
-        sliding_sync_results = await self.sliding_sync_handler.wait_for_sync_for_user(
+        (
+            sliding_sync_results,
+            did_wait,
+        ) = await self.sliding_sync_handler.wait_for_sync_for_user(
             requester,
             sync_config,
             from_token,
             timeout,
         )
+        # Knowing whether we waited is useful in traces to filter out long-running
+        # requests where we were just waiting.
+        set_tag("sliding_sync.did_wait", str(did_wait))
 
         # The client may have disconnected by now; don't bother to serialize the
         # response if so.