diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index e310308..af13e47 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 * STEEMD\_MINER\_NAME
 * STEEMD\_PRIVATE\_KEY
     * Bitcoin Wallet Import Format (WIF)
-* STEEMD\_MINING\_THREADS
-    * default 8
 * STEEMD\_EXTRA\_OPTS
     * passed in to steemd on command line
 
diff --git a/steemd.run b/steemd.run
index dc51fc1..d49e226 100644
--- a/steemd.run
+++ b/steemd.run
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$STEEMD_MINER_NAME" ]]; then
     ARGS+=" --miner=[\"$STEEMD_MINER_NAME\",\"$STEEMD_PRIVATE_KEY\"]"
-    ARGS+=" --mining-threads=${STEEMD_MINING_THREADS:-8}"
+    ARGS+=" --mining-threads=$(nproc)"
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$STEEMD_PRIVATE_KEY" ]]; then