diff --git a/Extractor/PBFParser.cpp b/Extractor/PBFParser.cpp
index b3331348f..4ad8ba617 100644
--- a/Extractor/PBFParser.cpp
+++ b/Extractor/PBFParser.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include "../typedefs.h"
 
 #include <tbb/parallel_for.h>
+#include <tbb/task_scheduler_init.h>
 
 #include <osrm/Coordinate.h>
 
@@ -51,9 +52,19 @@ SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 PBFParser::PBFParser(const char *fileName,
                      ExtractorCallbacks *extractor_callbacks,
-                     ScriptingEnvironment &scripting_environment)
+                     ScriptingEnvironment &scripting_environment,
+                     unsigned num_threads)
     : BaseParser(extractor_callbacks, scripting_environment)
 {
+    if (0 == num_threads)
+    {
+        num_parser_threads = tbb::task_scheduler_init::default_num_threads();
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        num_parser_threads = num_threads;
+    }
+
     GOOGLE_PROTOBUF_VERIFY_VERSION;
     // TODO: What is the bottleneck here? Filling the queue or reading the stuff from disk?
     // NOTE: With Lua scripting, it is parsing the stuff. I/O is virtually for free.
@@ -160,6 +171,8 @@ inline void PBFParser::ReadData()
 
 inline void PBFParser::ParseData()
 {
+    tbb::task_scheduler_init init(num_parser_threads);
+
     while (true)
     {
         ParserThreadData *thread_data;
diff --git a/Extractor/PBFParser.h b/Extractor/PBFParser.h
index 1342e914e..25f41734c 100644
--- a/Extractor/PBFParser.h
+++ b/Extractor/PBFParser.h
@@ -63,7 +63,10 @@ class PBFParser : public BaseParser
     };
 
   public:
-    PBFParser(const char *file_name, ExtractorCallbacks *extractor_callbacks, ScriptingEnvironment &scripting_environment);
+    PBFParser(const char *file_name,
+              ExtractorCallbacks *extractor_callbacks,
+              ScriptingEnvironment &scripting_environment,
+              unsigned num_parser_threads=0);
     virtual ~PBFParser();
 
     inline bool ReadHeader();
@@ -94,6 +97,7 @@ class PBFParser : public BaseParser
 
     std::fstream input; // the input stream to parse
     std::shared_ptr<ConcurrentQueue<ParserThreadData *>> thread_data_queue;
+    unsigned num_parser_threads;
 };
 
 #endif /* PBFPARSER_H_ */
diff --git a/extractor.cpp b/extractor.cpp
index 6e22b76f7..cb2bd991a 100644
--- a/extractor.cpp
+++ b/extractor.cpp
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                                          &profile_path)->default_value("profile.lua"),
                                      "Path to LUA routing profile")(
             "threads,t",
-            boost::program_options::value<unsigned int>(&requested_num_threads)->default_value(8),
+            boost::program_options::value<unsigned int>(&requested_num_threads)->default_value(tbb::task_scheduler_init::default_num_threads()),
             "Number of threads to use");
 
         // hidden options, will be allowed both on command line and in config file, but will not be
@@ -166,15 +166,19 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
             return 1;
         }
 
-        unsigned hardware_threads = std::max(1u, std::thread::hardware_concurrency());
-        unsigned real_num_threads = std::min(hardware_threads, requested_num_threads);
+        const unsigned recommended_num_threads = tbb::task_scheduler_init::default_num_threads();
 
         SimpleLogger().Write() << "Input file: " << input_path.filename().string();
         SimpleLogger().Write() << "Profile: " << profile_path.filename().string();
-        SimpleLogger().Write() << "Threads: " << real_num_threads << " (requested "
-                               << requested_num_threads << ")";
+        SimpleLogger().Write() << "Threads: " << requested_num_threads;
+        if (recommended_num_threads != requested_num_threads)
+        {
+            SimpleLogger().Write(logWARNING) << "The recommended number of threads is "
+                                             << recommended_num_threads
+                                             << "! This setting may have performance side-effects.";
+        }
 
-        tbb::task_scheduler_init init(real_num_threads);
+        tbb::task_scheduler_init init(requested_num_threads);
 
         /*** Setup Scripting Environment ***/
         ScriptingEnvironment scripting_environment(profile_path.string().c_str());
@@ -229,7 +233,10 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         BaseParser *parser;
         if (file_has_pbf_format)
         {
-            parser = new PBFParser(input_path.string().c_str(), extractor_callbacks, scripting_environment);
+            parser = new PBFParser(input_path.string().c_str(),
+                                   extractor_callbacks,
+                                   scripting_environment,
+                                   requested_num_threads);
         }
         else
         {
diff --git a/prepare.cpp b/prepare.cpp
index 98f0f475f..bb0dab455 100644
--- a/prepare.cpp
+++ b/prepare.cpp
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 ->default_value("profile.lua"),
             "Path to LUA routing profile")(
             "threads,t",
-            boost::program_options::value<unsigned int>(&requested_num_threads)->default_value(8),
+            boost::program_options::value<unsigned int>(&requested_num_threads)->default_value(tbb::task_scheduler_init::default_num_threads()),
             "Number of threads to use");
 
         // hidden options, will be allowed both on command line and in config file, but will not be
@@ -178,16 +178,20 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
             return 1;
         }
 
-        unsigned int hardware_threads = std::max((unsigned int) 1, std::thread::hardware_concurrency());
-        unsigned int real_num_threads = std::min(hardware_threads, requested_num_threads);
+        const unsigned recommended_num_threads = tbb::task_scheduler_init::default_num_threads();
 
         SimpleLogger().Write() << "Input file: " << input_path.filename().string();
         SimpleLogger().Write() << "Restrictions file: " << restrictions_path.filename().string();
         SimpleLogger().Write() << "Profile: " << profile_path.filename().string();
-        SimpleLogger().Write() << "Threads: " << real_num_threads << " (requested "
-                               << requested_num_threads << ")";
+        SimpleLogger().Write() << "Threads: " << requested_num_threads;
+        if (recommended_num_threads != requested_num_threads)
+        {
+            SimpleLogger().Write(logWARNING) << "The recommended number of threads is "
+                                             << recommended_num_threads
+                                             << "! This setting may have performance side-effects.";
+        }
 
-        tbb::task_scheduler_init init(real_num_threads);
+        tbb::task_scheduler_init init(requested_num_threads);
 
         LogPolicy::GetInstance().Unmute();
         boost::filesystem::ifstream restriction_stream(restrictions_path, std::ios::binary);