diff --git a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.default b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.default
index da996ce00..86c61be5a 100644
--- a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.default
+++ b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.default
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ TABLE=0
 # B2B_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8090/
 # LOG_LEVEL=6
 # LOG_FACILITY=daemon
+# NUM_THREADS=5
diff --git a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.init b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.init
index 0fa309cca..a8a668cef 100755
--- a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.init
+++ b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.init
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ OPTIONS=""
 OPTIONS="$OPTIONS --table=$TABLE"
 [ -z "$LOG_LEVEL" ] || OPTIONS="$OPTIONS --log-level=$LOG_LEVEL"
 [ -z "$LOG_FACILITY" ] || OPTIONS="$OPTIONS --log-facility=$LOG_FACILITY"
+[ -z "$NUM_THREADS" ] || OPTIONS="$OPTIONS --num-threads=$NUM_THREADS"
 if test "$FORK" = "no" ; then
 	OPTIONS="$OPTIONS --foreground"
 fi
diff --git a/el/rtpengine.init b/el/rtpengine.init
index 6532db70f..81d8dfa21 100644
--- a/el/rtpengine.init
+++ b/el/rtpengine.init
@@ -141,6 +141,11 @@ build_opts() {
         then
                 OPTS+=" --log-facility=$LOG_FACILITY"
         fi
+
+	if [[ -n "$NUM_THREADS" ]]
+        then
+                OPTS+=" --num-threads=$NUM_THREADS"
+        fi
 }
 
 start() {
diff --git a/el/rtpengine.sysconfig b/el/rtpengine.sysconfig
index eee9846cf..70e93370a 100644
--- a/el/rtpengine.sysconfig
+++ b/el/rtpengine.sysconfig
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ LISTEN_UDP=127.0.0.1:2222	# IP address and port combination for UDP
 #
 #LOG_LEVEL=6		# Log level to use
 #LOG_FACILITY=daemon    # Syslog facility to use
+#NUM_THREADS=5		# How many worker threads to launch
 
 # The following items are for use with NGCP
 #REDIS=127.0.0.1:6379