diff --git a/fdbserver/KeyValueStoreRocksDB.actor.cpp b/fdbserver/KeyValueStoreRocksDB.actor.cpp
index 0b05453c9c..1134499c2d 100644
--- a/fdbserver/KeyValueStoreRocksDB.actor.cpp
+++ b/fdbserver/KeyValueStoreRocksDB.actor.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,6 @@ struct RocksDBKeyValueStore : IKeyValueStore {
 	UID id;
 	Reference<IThreadPool> writeThread;
 	Reference<IThreadPool> readThreads;
-	unsigned nReaders = 16;
 	Promise<Void> errorPromise;
 	Promise<Void> closePromise;
 	std::unique_ptr<rocksdb::WriteBatch> writeBatch;
@@ -281,7 +280,7 @@ struct RocksDBKeyValueStore : IKeyValueStore {
 		writeThread = createGenericThreadPool();
 		readThreads = createGenericThreadPool();
 		writeThread->addThread(new Writer(db, id));
-		for (unsigned i = 0; i < nReaders; ++i) {
+		for (unsigned i = 0; i < SERVER_KNOBS->ROCKSDB_READ_PARALLELISM; ++i) {
 			readThreads->addThread(new Reader(db));
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/fdbserver/Knobs.cpp b/fdbserver/Knobs.cpp
index 7d7847383e..24ae9899a1 100644
--- a/fdbserver/Knobs.cpp
+++ b/fdbserver/Knobs.cpp
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@ void ServerKnobs::initialize(bool randomize, ClientKnobs* clientKnobs, bool isSi
 
 	// KeyValueStoreRocksDB
 	init( ROCKSDB_BACKGROUND_PARALLELISM,                          0 );
+	init( ROCKSDB_READ_PARALLELISM,                          4 );
 	init( ROCKSDB_MEMTABLE_BYTES,                  512 * 1024 * 1024 );
 	init( ROCKSDB_UNSAFE_AUTO_FSYNC,                           false );
 	init( ROCKSDB_PERIODIC_COMPACTION_SECONDS,                     0 );
diff --git a/fdbserver/Knobs.h b/fdbserver/Knobs.h
index 83d8fbe8a5..2538f6a397 100644
--- a/fdbserver/Knobs.h
+++ b/fdbserver/Knobs.h
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ public:
 
 	// KeyValueStoreRocksDB
 	int ROCKSDB_BACKGROUND_PARALLELISM;
+	int ROCKSDB_READ_PARALLELISM;
 	int64_t ROCKSDB_MEMTABLE_BYTES;
 	bool ROCKSDB_UNSAFE_AUTO_FSYNC;
 	int64_t ROCKSDB_PERIODIC_COMPACTION_SECONDS;