diff --git a/core/cli/run.go b/core/cli/run.go
index 6c41f63b..009f5315 100644
--- a/core/cli/run.go
+++ b/core/cli/run.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ type RunCMD struct {
 	PreloadModelsConfig string   `env:"LOCALAI_PRELOAD_MODELS_CONFIG,PRELOAD_MODELS_CONFIG" help:"A List of models to apply at startup. Path to a YAML config file" group:"models"`
 
 	F16         bool `name:"f16" env:"LOCALAI_F16,F16" help:"Enable GPU acceleration" group:"performance"`
-	Threads     int  `env:"LOCALAI_THREADS,THREADS" short:"t" default:"4" help:"Number of threads used for parallel computation. Usage of the number of physical cores in the system is suggested" group:"performance"`
+	Threads     int  `env:"LOCALAI_THREADS,THREADS" short:"t" help:"Number of threads used for parallel computation. Usage of the number of physical cores in the system is suggested" group:"performance"`
 	ContextSize int  `env:"LOCALAI_CONTEXT_SIZE,CONTEXT_SIZE" default:"512" help:"Default context size for models" group:"performance"`
 
 	Address              string   `env:"LOCALAI_ADDRESS,ADDRESS" default:":8080" help:"Bind address for the API server" group:"api"`
diff --git a/core/config/application_config.go b/core/config/application_config.go
index 398418ad..a71b6223 100644
--- a/core/config/application_config.go
+++ b/core/config/application_config.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/go-skynet/LocalAI/pkg/gallery"
+	"github.com/go-skynet/LocalAI/pkg/xsysinfo"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
 
@@ -59,7 +60,6 @@ func NewApplicationConfig(o ...AppOption) *ApplicationConfig {
 	opt := &ApplicationConfig{
 		Context:       context.Background(),
 		UploadLimitMB: 15,
-		Threads:       1,
 		ContextSize:   512,
 		Debug:         true,
 	}
@@ -213,6 +213,9 @@ func WithUploadLimitMB(limit int) AppOption {
 
 func WithThreads(threads int) AppOption {
 	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		if threads == 0 { // 0 is not allowed
+			threads = xsysinfo.CPUPhysicalCores()
+		}
 		o.Threads = threads
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/xsysinfo/cpu.go b/pkg/xsysinfo/cpu.go
index e3066b56..b1ff20fe 100644
--- a/pkg/xsysinfo/cpu.go
+++ b/pkg/xsysinfo/cpu.go
@@ -36,3 +36,10 @@ func CPUCapabilities() ([]string, error) {
 func HasCPUCaps(ids ...cpuid.FeatureID) bool {
 	return cpuid.CPU.Supports(ids...)
 }
+
+func CPUPhysicalCores() int {
+	if cpuid.CPU.PhysicalCores == 0 {
+		return 1
+	}
+	return cpuid.CPU.PhysicalCores
+}