diff --git a/lib/cli.js b/lib/cli.js
index f63f9459..2792e582 100644
--- a/lib/cli.js
+++ b/lib/cli.js
@@ -512,6 +512,9 @@ program
   .option('-r, --storage-url <url>'
     , 'URL to storage client'
     , String)
+  .option('-c, --concurrency <num>'
+    , 'maximum number of simultaneous transformations'
+    , Number)
   .option('--cache-dir <dir>'
     , 'where to cache images'
     , String
@@ -525,6 +528,7 @@ program
       port: options.port
     , storageUrl: options.storageUrl
     , cacheDir: options.cacheDir
+    , concurrency: options.concurrency || os.cpus().length
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/lib/roles/storage/plugins/image/index.js b/lib/roles/storage/plugins/image/index.js
index 40a30d34..9fe4d2b9 100644
--- a/lib/roles/storage/plugins/image/index.js
+++ b/lib/roles/storage/plugins/image/index.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ var http = require('http')
 var express = require('express')
 
 var logger = require('../../../../util/logger')
+var requtil = require('../../../../util/requtil')
 
 var parseCrop = require('./param/crop')
 var parseGravity = require('./param/gravity')
@@ -18,26 +19,33 @@ module.exports = function(options) {
   app.set('case sensitive routing', true)
   app.set('trust proxy', true)
 
-  app.get('/api/v1/s/image/:id/*', function(req, res) {
-    get(req.url, options)
-      .then(function(stream) {
-        return transform(stream, {
-          crop: parseCrop(req.query.crop)
-        , gravity: parseGravity(req.query.gravity)
-        })
-      })
-      .then(function(out) {
-        res.status(200)
-        out.pipe(res)
-      })
-      .catch(function(err) {
-        log.error('Unable to transform resource "%s"', req.params.id, err.stack)
-        res.status(500)
-          .json({
-            success: false
+  app.get(
+    '/api/v1/s/image/:id/*'
+  , requtil.limit(options.concurrency, function(req, res) {
+      return get(req.url, options)
+        .then(function(stream) {
+          return transform(stream, {
+            crop: parseCrop(req.query.crop)
+          , gravity: parseGravity(req.query.gravity)
           })
-      })
-  })
+        })
+        .then(function(out) {
+          res.status(200)
+          out.pipe(res)
+        })
+        .catch(function(err) {
+          log.error(
+            'Unable to transform resource "%s"'
+          , req.params.id
+          , err.stack
+          )
+          res.status(500)
+            .json({
+              success: false
+            })
+        })
+    })
+  )
 
   server.listen(options.port)
   log.info('Listening on port %d', options.port)
diff --git a/lib/util/requtil.js b/lib/util/requtil.js
index 35390962..79d85210 100644
--- a/lib/util/requtil.js
+++ b/lib/util/requtil.js
@@ -26,3 +26,25 @@ module.exports.validate = function(req, rules) {
     }
   })
 }
+
+module.exports.limit = function(limit, handler) {
+  var queue = []
+  var running = 0
+
+  function done() {
+    running -= 1
+    maybeNext()
+  }
+
+  function maybeNext() {
+    while (running < limit && queue.length) {
+      running += 1
+      handler.apply(null, queue.shift()).finally(done)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return function() {
+    queue.push(arguments)
+    maybeNext()
+  }
+}