diff --git a/future.ml b/future.ml
index b7b5f786..e964ddea 100644
--- a/future.ml
+++ b/future.ml
@@ -44,115 +44,6 @@ and 'a handler =
 exception SendTwice
   (** Exception raised when a future is evaluated several time *)
 
-(** {2 Thread pool} *)
-module Pool = struct
-  type t = {
-    mutable threads : Thread.t list;
-    mutable stop : bool;
-    size : int;
-    mutable max_load : int;  (* number of jobs waiting before a transient thread is spawned *)
-    transient_lifetime : int; (* lifetime (in jobs) of a transient thread *)
-    jobs : (unit -> unit) Queue.t;
-    mutex : Mutex.t;
-    condition : Condition.t;
-  } (** A pool of threads *)
-
-  (* TODO option to allow the pool to grow on demand? *)
-
-  let load pool =
-    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
-    let n = Queue.length pool.jobs in
-    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
-    n
-
-  (* Internal function, which is run by the threads of the pool *)
-  let serve pool limit =
-    (* loop, to get the next job (in locked environment) *)
-    let rec check limit =
-      if Queue.is_empty pool.jobs
-        then wait limit  (* wait for someone to add a job *)
-        else begin
-          (* process one job *)
-          let job = Queue.pop pool.jobs in
-          Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
-          (* run the job *)
-          (try
-            job ()
-          with _ ->
-            ());
-          match limit with
-          | None -> if not pool.stop then enter limit (* I am immortal! *)
-          | Some 0 -> ()  (* stop, reached limit *)
-          | Some n -> if not pool.stop then enter (Some (n-1)) (* continue serving *)
-        end
-    (* enter the loop *)
-    and enter limit =
-      Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
-      check limit
-    (* wait for someone to push an item on the queue *)
-    and wait limit =
-      Condition.wait pool.condition pool.mutex;
-      check limit
-    in
-    enter limit;
-    (* transient thread: restore old value of pool.max_load *)
-    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
-    pool.max_load <- pool.max_load - pool.transient_lifetime;
-    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex
-
-  (** Add a thread to the pool, that will serve at most [limit] jobs *)
-  let add_thread ?limit pool =
-    let t = Thread.create (serve pool) limit in
-    (* transient threads are not stored *)
-    if limit = None
-      then pool.threads <- t :: pool.threads
-
-  (** Create a pool with the given number of threads. *)
-  let create ?(max_load=max_int) ?(transient_lifetime=10) ~size =
-    let pool = {
-      threads = [];
-      stop = false;
-      size;
-      max_load;
-      transient_lifetime;
-      jobs = Queue.create ();
-      mutex = Mutex.create ();
-      condition = Condition.create ();
-    } in
-    (* start persistent threads *)
-    for i = 0 to size - 1 do
-      add_thread pool
-    done;
-    pool
-
-  (** Schedule a function to run in the pool *)
-  let schedule pool f =
-    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
-    Queue.push f pool.jobs;
-    (* grow set of threads, if needed *)
-    (if Queue.length pool.jobs > pool.max_load
-      then begin
-        add_thread ~limit:pool.transient_lifetime pool;
-        (* increase max load, to give the new thread some time to process jobs *)
-        pool.max_load <- pool.max_load + pool.transient_lifetime;
-      end);
-    Condition.signal pool.condition; (* wake up one thread *)
-    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
-    ()
-
-  (** Kill threads in the pool *)
-  let finish pool =
-    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
-    pool.stop <- true;
-    Condition.broadcast pool.condition;
-    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
-    (* kill immortal threads *)
-    List.iter (fun t -> Thread.kill t) pool.threads
-end
-
-let default_pool = Pool.create ~max_load:50 ?transient_lifetime:None ~size:3
-  (** Default pool of threads (growable) *)
-
 (** {2 MVar: a zero-or-one element thread-safe box} *)
 
 module MVar = struct
@@ -242,6 +133,141 @@ module MVar = struct
     x
 end
 
+(** {2 Thread pool} *)
+module Pool = struct
+  type t = {
+    mutable stop : bool;  (* indicate that threads should stop *)
+    mutex : Mutex.t;
+    jobs : job Queue.t;  (* waiting jobs *)
+    mutable threads : waiting_thread list;  (* waiting threads *)
+    mutable cur_size : int;
+    max_size : int;
+    timeout : float; (* idle time after which to discard threads *)
+  } (** Dynamic, growable thread pool *)
+  and job = unit -> unit
+  and command =
+    | Perform of job
+    | Quit
+    (** Command sent to a thread *)
+  and waiting_thread = float * command MVar.t
+
+  (** Cleanup waiting threads. precond: pool is locked *)
+  let cleanup_waiting pool =
+    let l = pool.threads in
+    let now = Unix.gettimeofday () in
+    (* filter threads that have been waiting for too long *)
+    let l' = List.filter
+      (fun (time, box) ->
+        if time +. pool.timeout < now
+          then (MVar.put box Quit; false)
+          else true)
+      l in
+    pool.threads <- l'
+
+  (** Function that the threads run. They also take a MVar to
+      get commands *)
+  let serve pool box =
+    (* wait for a job to come *)
+    let rec wait_job () =
+      match MVar.take box with
+      | Quit -> (Mutex.lock pool.mutex; quit ())  (* exit *)
+      | Perform job ->
+        run_job job
+    (* run the given job *)
+    and run_job job =
+      (try job () with _ -> ());
+      next () (* loop *)
+    (* process next task *)
+    and next () =
+      Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
+      if pool.stop then quit ()  (* stop the pool *)
+      else if Queue.is_empty pool.jobs
+        then begin
+          let now = Unix.gettimeofday () in
+          (* cleanup waiting threads *)
+          cleanup_waiting pool;
+          if pool.cur_size > 1 && List.length pool.threads + 1 = pool.cur_size
+            then
+              (* all other threads are waiting, we may need to kill them later *) 
+              (Mutex.unlock pool.mutex; delay ()) 
+            else begin
+              (* add oneself to the list of waiting threads *)
+              pool.threads <- (now, box) :: pool.threads;
+              Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
+              wait_job ()
+            end
+        end else
+          let job = Queue.pop pool.jobs in
+          Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
+          run_job job
+    (* delay [pool.timeout], so that in case no job is submitted we
+       still kill old cached threads *)
+    and delay () =
+      Thread.delay pool.timeout;
+      next ()
+    (* stop the thread (assume we have pool.mutex) *)
+    and quit () =
+      pool.cur_size <- pool.cur_size - 1;
+      Mutex.unlock pool.mutex
+    in wait_job ()
+
+  let size pool =
+    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
+    let n = pool.cur_size in
+    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex;
+    n
+
+  (** Add a thread to the pool, starting with the first job *)
+  let add_thread pool job =
+    let box = MVar.full job in
+    ignore (Thread.create (serve pool) box)
+
+  (** Create a pool with at most the given number of threads. [timeout]
+      is the time after which idle threads are killed. *)
+  let create ?(timeout=30.) ~size =
+    let pool = {
+      stop = false;
+      cur_size = 0;
+      max_size=size;
+      timeout;
+      threads = [];
+      jobs = Queue.create ();
+      mutex = Mutex.create ();
+    } in
+    pool
+
+  (** Run the job in the given pool *)
+  let run pool job =
+    assert (not (pool.stop));
+    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
+    begin match pool.threads with
+    | [] when pool.cur_size = pool.max_size ->
+      (* max capacity reached, push task in queue *)
+      Queue.push job pool.jobs
+    | [] ->
+      (* spawn a thread for the given task *)
+      add_thread pool (Perform job);
+      pool.cur_size <- pool.cur_size + 1;
+    | (_,box)::l' ->
+      (* use the first thread *)
+      MVar.put box (Perform job);
+      pool.threads <- l';
+    end;
+    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex
+
+  (** Kill threads in the pool *)
+  let finish pool =
+    Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
+    pool.stop <- true;
+    (* kill waiting threads *)
+    List.iter (fun (_,box) -> MVar.put box Quit) pool.threads;
+    pool.threads <- [];
+    Mutex.unlock pool.mutex
+end
+
+let default_pool = Pool.create ?timeout:None ~size:100
+  (** Default pool of threads, should be ok for most uses. *)
+
 (** {2 Basic Future functions} *)
 
 let make () =
@@ -438,7 +464,7 @@ let return x =
 let spawn ?(pool=default_pool) f =
   let future = make () in
   (* schedule computation *)
-  Pool.schedule pool
+  Pool.run pool
     (fun () ->
       try
         let x = f () in
diff --git a/future.mli b/future.mli
index baf88344..24a3d1af 100644
--- a/future.mli
+++ b/future.mli
@@ -31,29 +31,6 @@ type 'a t
 exception SendTwice
   (** Exception raised when a future is evaluated several time *)
 
-(** {2 Thread pool} *)
-module Pool : sig
-  type t
-    (** A pool of threads *)
-
-  val create : ?max_load:int -> ?transient_lifetime:int -> size:int -> t
-    (** Create a pool with the given number of threads. If the load goes
-        above the given threshold (default max_int), a new thread is spawned
-        only to die after having processed [transient_lifetime] jobs. *)
-
-  val load : t -> int
-    (** Current number of waiting jobs *)
-
-  val schedule : t -> (unit -> unit) -> unit
-    (** Schedule a function to run in the pool *)
-
-  val finish : t -> unit
-    (** Kill threads in the pool *)
-end
-
-val default_pool : Pool.t
-  (** Pool of threads that is used by default. Growable if needed. *)
-
 (** {2 MVar: a zero-or-one element thread-safe box} *)
 
 module MVar : sig
@@ -82,6 +59,28 @@ module MVar : sig
     (** Look at the value, without removing it *)
 end
 
+(** {2 Thread pool} *)
+module Pool : sig
+  type t
+    (** A pool of threads *)
+
+  val create : ?timeout:float -> size:int -> t
+    (** Create a pool with at most the given number of threads. [timeout]
+        is the time after which idle threads are killed. *)
+
+  val size : t -> int
+    (** Current size of the pool *)
+
+  val run : t -> (unit -> unit) -> unit
+    (** Run the function in the pool *)
+
+  val finish : t -> unit
+    (** Kill threads in the pool *)
+end
+
+val default_pool : Pool.t
+  (** Pool of threads that is used by default. Growable if needed. *)
+
 (** {2 Basic low-level Future functions} *)
 
 val make : unit -> 'a t