diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 0c088d16..f9ddadd8 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -889,6 +889,8 @@ if get_option('tests')
 
 	valgrind = find_program('valgrind', required : false)
 	if valgrind.found()
+		valgrind_env = environment()
+		valgrind_env.set('LITEST_JOBS', '4')
 		valgrind_suppressions_file = join_paths(dir_src_test, 'valgrind.suppressions')
 		add_test_setup('valgrind',
 				exe_wrapper : [ valgrind,
@@ -896,6 +898,7 @@ if get_option('tests')
 						'--gen-suppressions=all',
 						'--error-exitcode=3',
 						'--suppressions=' + valgrind_suppressions_file ],
+				env :  valgrind_env,
 				timeout_multiplier : 100)
 	else
 		message('valgrind not found, disabling valgrind test suite')
diff --git a/test/litest.c b/test/litest.c
index 8504061c..0fab117b 100644
--- a/test/litest.c
+++ b/test/litest.c
@@ -3962,6 +3962,7 @@ litest_parse_argv(int argc, char **argv)
 		JOBS_CUSTOM
 	} want_jobs = JOBS_DEFAULT;
 	char *builddir;
+	char *jobs_env;
 
 	/* If we are not running from the builddir, we assume we're running
 	 * against the system as installed */
@@ -3973,6 +3974,13 @@ litest_parse_argv(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (in_debugger)
 		want_jobs = JOBS_SINGLE;
 
+	if ((jobs_env = getenv("LITEST_JOBS"))) {
+		if (!safe_atoi(jobs_env, &jobs)) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "LITEST_JOBS environment variable must be positive integer\n");
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+		}
+	}
+
 	while(1) {
 		int c;
 		int option_index = 0;
@@ -3997,7 +4005,8 @@ litest_parse_argv(int argc, char **argv)
 			       "    --verbose\n"
 			       "          Enable verbose output\n"
 			       "    --jobs 8\n"
-			       "          Number of parallel test suites to run (default: 8)\n"
+			       "          Number of parallel test suites to run (default: 8).\n"
+			       "	  This overrides the LITEST_JOBS environment variable.\n"
 			       "    --list\n"
 			       "          List all tests\n"
 			       "\n"