diff --git a/futures.ml b/futures.ml
index 13322751..b7b5f786 100644
--- a/futures.ml
+++ b/futures.ml
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ module Pool = struct
     mutable threads : Thread.t list;
     mutable stop : bool;
     size : int;
-    max_load : 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;
@@ -93,7 +94,11 @@ module Pool = struct
       Condition.wait pool.condition pool.mutex;
       check limit
     in
-    enter limit
+    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 =
@@ -103,12 +108,13 @@ module Pool = struct
       then pool.threads <- t :: pool.threads
 
   (** Create a pool with the given number of threads. *)
-  let create ?(max_load=max_int) ~size =
+  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 ();
@@ -119,8 +125,6 @@ module Pool = struct
     done;
     pool
 
-  let transient_thread_lifetime = 10
-
   (** Schedule a function to run in the pool *)
   let schedule pool f =
     Mutex.lock pool.mutex;
@@ -128,7 +132,9 @@ module Pool = struct
     (* grow set of threads, if needed *)
     (if Queue.length pool.jobs > pool.max_load
       then begin
-        add_thread ~limit:transient_thread_lifetime pool
+        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;
@@ -144,7 +150,7 @@ module Pool = struct
     List.iter (fun t -> Thread.kill t) pool.threads
 end
 
-let default_pool = Pool.create ~max_load:500 ~size:3
+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} *)
diff --git a/futures.mli b/futures.mli
index 520dfaa2..baf88344 100644
--- a/futures.mli
+++ b/futures.mli
@@ -36,9 +36,10 @@ module Pool : sig
   type t
     (** A pool of threads *)
 
-  val create : ?max_load:int -> size:int -> t
+  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. *)
+        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 *)