diff --git a/docs/running_psalm/configuration.md b/docs/running_psalm/configuration.md
index 077068cb6e3..198ab3b974f 100644
--- a/docs/running_psalm/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/running_psalm/configuration.md
@@ -396,6 +396,13 @@ Whether or not to allow `require`/`include` calls in your PHP. Defaults to `true
 ```
 Allows you to hard-code a serializer for Psalm to use when caching data. By default, Psalm uses `ext-igbinary` *if* the version is greater than or equal to 2.0.5, otherwise it defaults to PHP's built-in serializer.
 
+#### threads
+```xml
+<psalm
+        threads="[int]"
+>
+```
+Allows you to hard-code the number of threads Psalm will use (similar to `--threads` on the command line). This value will be used in place of detecting threads from the host machine, but will be overridden by using `--threads` or `--debug` (which sets threads to 1) on the command line
 
 ## Project settings
 
diff --git a/src/Psalm/Config.php b/src/Psalm/Config.php
index 8e0f8a75c17..c80ca64de65 100644
--- a/src/Psalm/Config.php
+++ b/src/Psalm/Config.php
@@ -563,6 +563,9 @@ class Config
      */
     public $internal_stubs = [];
 
+    /** @var ?int */
+    public $threads;
+
     protected function __construct()
     {
         self::$instance = $this;
@@ -1222,6 +1225,10 @@ private static function fromXmlAndPaths(
             }
         }
 
+        if (isset($config_xml->threads)) {
+            $config->threads = (int)$config_xml->threads;
+        }
+
         return $config;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Psalm/Internal/Cli/Psalm.php b/src/Psalm/Internal/Cli/Psalm.php
index b512574332b..70893dddc4a 100644
--- a/src/Psalm/Internal/Cli/Psalm.php
+++ b/src/Psalm/Internal/Cli/Psalm.php
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ public static function run(array $argv): void
             $options['long-progress'] = true;
         }
 
-        $threads = self::detectThreads($options, $in_ci);
+        $threads = self::detectThreads($options, $config, $in_ci);
 
         self::emitMacPcreWarning($options, $threads);
 
@@ -913,12 +913,14 @@ private static function restart(array $options, Config $config, int $threads): v
         }
     }
 
-    private static function detectThreads(array $options, bool $in_ci): int
+    private static function detectThreads(array $options, Config $config, bool $in_ci): int
     {
         if (isset($options['threads'])) {
             $threads = (int)$options['threads'];
         } elseif (isset($options['debug']) || $in_ci) {
             $threads = 1;
+        } elseif ($config->threads) {
+            $threads = $config->threads;
         } else {
             $threads = max(1, ProjectAnalyzer::getCpuCount() - 1);
         }