A turbocharger includes a housing and a rotating group supported for rotation within the housing. The rotating group includes a compressor wheel disposed within a compressor section of the turbocharger, and the rotating group includes a turbine wheel disposed within a turbine section of the turbocharger. The turbine wheel includes a bleed pressure surface. The turbocharger further includes a bleed passage that extends at least partly through the housing to fluidly connect the compressor section to the turbine section. The bleed passage is configured to direct a bleed flow of fluid from the compressor section to the bleed pressure surface to supply a thrust counterbalance load to the bleed pressure surface.