diff --git a/config.json.example b/config.json.example
index c60f7c20e9..d8bb67b62e 100644
--- a/config.json.example
+++ b/config.json.example
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
     "PORT":3000,
     "IP":"0.0.0.0",
+    "CORES":1,
     "BASE_URL":"http://localhost",
     "FACEBOOK_KEY":"123456789012345",
     "FACEBOOK_SECRET":"aaaabbbbccccddddeeeeffff00001111",
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index aed0b524b6..8e551f7891 100644
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ var isProd = nconf.get('NODE_ENV') === 'production';
 var isDev = nconf.get('NODE_ENV') === 'development';
 
 if (cluster.isMaster && (isDev || isProd)) {
-  // Fork workers.
-  var cpus = require('os').cpus();
-  _.times(nconf.get("HEROKU_PROD") ? (cpus.length-1 || 1) : (_.min([cpus.length,2])), cluster.fork);
+  // Fork workers. If config.json has CORES=x, use that - otherwise, use all cpus-1 (production)
+  var cpus = require('os').cpus(),
+    cores = +nconf.get("CORES");
+  _.times(cores || cpus.length-1, cluster.fork);
 
   cluster.on('disconnect', function(worker, code, signal) {
     var w = cluster.fork(); // replace the dead worker