diff --git a/src/tab.rs b/src/tab.rs
index c26bb0d..bda3dca 100644
--- a/src/tab.rs
+++ b/src/tab.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ const THUMBNAIL_SIZE: u32 = (ICON_SIZE_GRID as u32) * (ICON_SCALE_MAX as u32);
 // Thumbnail generation semaphore - limits parallel thumbnail workers
 // Uses 4 workers for balanced throughput and memory usage
 pub static THUMB_SEMAPHORE: LazyLock<tokio::sync::Semaphore> =
-    LazyLock::new(|| tokio::sync::Semaphore::const_new(4));
+    LazyLock::new(|| tokio::sync::Semaphore::const_new(num_cpus::get().min(4)));
 
 pub(crate) static SORT_OPTION_FALLBACK: LazyLock<FxHashMap<String, (HeadingOptions, bool)>> =
     LazyLock::new(|| {