diff --git a/doc/rippled-example.cfg b/doc/rippled-example.cfg
index b9cb9898cdc..c645802343f 100644
--- a/doc/rippled-example.cfg
+++ b/doc/rippled-example.cfg
@@ -690,6 +690,14 @@
 #
 #
 #
+# [workers]
+#
+#   Configures the number of threads for processing work submitted by peers
+#   and clients. If not specified, then the value is automatically determined
+#   by factors including the number of system processors and whether this
+#   node is a validator.
+#
+#
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
 # 4. HTTPS Client
diff --git a/src/ripple/app/main/Application.cpp b/src/ripple/app/main/Application.cpp
index 89f475f229f..7f3675a7be8 100644
--- a/src/ripple/app/main/Application.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/app/main/Application.cpp
@@ -966,7 +966,9 @@ class ApplicationImp
 bool ApplicationImp::setup()
 {
     // VFALCO NOTE: 0 means use heuristics to determine the thread count.
-    m_jobQueue->setThreadCount (0, config_->standalone());
+    m_jobQueue->setThreadCount (config_->WORKERS, config_->standalone(),
+                                config_->exists (SECTION_VALIDATOR_TOKEN) ||
+                                config_->exists (SECTION_VALIDATION_SEED));
 
     // We want to intercept and wait for CTRL-C to terminate the process
     m_signals.add (SIGINT);
diff --git a/src/ripple/core/Config.h b/src/ripple/core/Config.h
index fb10daab382..8be4e41242a 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/Config.h
+++ b/src/ripple/core/Config.h
@@ -166,6 +166,9 @@ class Config : public BasicConfig
     std::string                 SSL_VERIFY_FILE;
     std::string                 SSL_VERIFY_DIR;
 
+    // Thread pool configuration
+    std::size_t                 WORKERS = 0;
+
     // These override the command line client settings
     boost::optional<boost::asio::ip::address_v4> rpc_ip;
     boost::optional<std::uint16_t> rpc_port;
diff --git a/src/ripple/core/ConfigSections.h b/src/ripple/core/ConfigSections.h
index 638a53403a6..29031f21a3d 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/ConfigSections.h
+++ b/src/ripple/core/ConfigSections.h
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ struct ConfigSection
 #define SECTION_VALIDATORS              "validators"
 #define SECTION_VALIDATOR_TOKEN         "validator_token"
 #define SECTION_VETO_AMENDMENTS         "veto_amendments"
+#define SECTION_WORKERS                 "workers"
 
 } // ripple
 
diff --git a/src/ripple/core/JobQueue.h b/src/ripple/core/JobQueue.h
index 693d088cc14..cf2a8731973 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/JobQueue.h
+++ b/src/ripple/core/JobQueue.h
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ class JobQueue
 
     /** Set the number of thread serving the job queue to precisely this number.
     */
-    void setThreadCount (int c, bool const standaloneMode);
+    void setThreadCount (int c, bool const standaloneMode,
+                         bool const validator=true);
 
     /** Return a scoped LoadEvent.
     */
diff --git a/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp b/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
index 2deebae6f68..6e61c518da7 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
@@ -413,6 +413,9 @@ void Config::loadFromString (std::string const& fileContents)
     if (getSingleSection (secConfig, SECTION_DEBUG_LOGFILE, strTemp, j_))
         DEBUG_LOGFILE       = strTemp;
 
+    if (getSingleSection (secConfig, SECTION_WORKERS, strTemp, j_))
+        WORKERS      = beast::lexicalCastThrow <std::size_t> (strTemp);
+
     // Do not load trusted validator configuration for standalone mode
     if (! RUN_STANDALONE)
     {
diff --git a/src/ripple/core/impl/JobQueue.cpp b/src/ripple/core/impl/JobQueue.cpp
index cc49adbd13c..ffb919a4372 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/impl/JobQueue.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/core/impl/JobQueue.cpp
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ JobQueue::getJobCountGE (JobType t) const
 }
 
 void
-JobQueue::setThreadCount (int c, bool const standaloneMode)
+JobQueue::setThreadCount (int c, bool const standaloneMode,
+                          bool const validator)
 {
     if (standaloneMode)
     {
@@ -161,10 +162,18 @@ JobQueue::setThreadCount (int c, bool const standaloneMode)
     else if (c == 0)
     {
         c = static_cast<int>(std::thread::hardware_concurrency());
-        c = 2 + std::min (c, 4); // I/O will bottleneck
-
-        JLOG(m_journal.info()) << "Auto-tuning to " << c <<
-                            " validation/transaction/proposal threads";
+        if (validator)
+            c = 2 + std::min(c, 4); // I/O will bottleneck
+        else
+            c *= 2; // Tested to improve stability under high RPC load.
+        JLOG (m_journal.info()) << "Auto-tuning to " << c <<
+                            " validation/transaction/proposal threads for " <<
+                            (validator ? "" : "non-") << "validator.";
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        JLOG (m_journal.info()) << "Configured " << c <<
+                            " validation/transaction/proposal threads.";
     }
 
     m_workers.setNumberOfThreads (c);