diff --git a/doc/api/cli.md b/doc/api/cli.md
index 386d9cdb96ecb3..67de59d4599e24 100644
--- a/doc/api/cli.md
+++ b/doc/api/cli.md
@@ -448,6 +448,17 @@ changes:
 
 Specify the maximum size, in bytes, of HTTP headers. Defaults to 16KB.
 
+### `--max-worker-threads=n`
+<!-- YAML
+added: REPLACEME
+-->
+
+Specify the maximum number of worker threads that should be created for
+this Node.js process. If the limit is exceeded, additional Worker threads
+may be created but a process warning will be emitted. When set to any negative
+value, the limit is set to four times the number of CPUs available. When set
+to 0, the check is disabled. Defaults to 0.
+
 ### `--napi-modules`
 <!-- YAML
 added: v7.10.0
@@ -1148,6 +1159,7 @@ Node.js options that are allowed are:
 * `--inspect-publish-uid`
 * `--inspect`
 * `--max-http-header-size`
+* `--max-worker-threads`
 * `--napi-modules`
 * `--no-deprecation`
 * `--no-force-async-hooks-checks`
diff --git a/doc/node.1 b/doc/node.1
index 9bb344fdf27b2d..1dc9100f2171e9 100644
--- a/doc/node.1
+++ b/doc/node.1
@@ -246,6 +246,13 @@ disappear in a non-semver-major release.
 .It Fl -max-http-header-size Ns = Ns Ar size
 Specify the maximum size of HTTP headers in bytes. Defaults to 16KB.
 .
+.It FL -max-worker-threads Ns = Ns Ar Size
+Specify the maximum number of worker threads that should be created for
+this Node.js process. If the limit is exceeded, additional Worker threads
+may be created but a process warning will be emitted. When set to any negative
+value, the limit is set to four times the number of CPUs available. When set to
+0, the check is disabled. Defaults to 0.
+.
 .It Fl -napi-modules
 This option is a no-op.
 It is kept for compatibility.
diff --git a/src/node_options.cc b/src/node_options.cc
index 4148cfc04eb2ac..04c4f9634a3692 100644
--- a/src/node_options.cc
+++ b/src/node_options.cc
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ void PerProcessOptions::CheckOptions(std::vector<std::string>* errors) {
       use_largepages != "silent") {
     errors->push_back("invalid value for --use-largepages");
   }
+
+  // When set to a negative, the value is auto-calculated
+  // based on the number of CPUs. Setting the value to 0
+  // disables the check.
+  if (max_worker_thread_count < 0) {
+    CPUInfo cpu_info;
+    max_worker_thread_count = cpu_info ?
+        cpu_info.count() * kMaxWorkerThreadMultiplier :
+        kMaxWorkerThreadMultiplier;
+  }
+
   per_isolate->CheckOptions(errors);
 }
 
@@ -737,6 +748,11 @@ PerProcessOptionsParser::PerProcessOptionsParser(
             &PerProcessOptions::trace_sigint,
             kAllowedInEnvironment);
 
+  AddOption("--max-worker-threads",
+            "specify max number of worker threads",
+            &PerProcessOptions::max_worker_thread_count,
+            kAllowedInEnvironment);
+
   Insert(iop, &PerProcessOptions::get_per_isolate_options);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/node_options.h b/src/node_options.h
index 0bca70a424419f..3709d8111053ca 100644
--- a/src/node_options.h
+++ b/src/node_options.h
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 
 namespace node {
 
+constexpr uint64_t kMaxWorkerThreadMultiplier = 4;
+
 class HostPort {
  public:
   HostPort(const std::string& host_name, int port)
@@ -199,6 +201,7 @@ class PerProcessOptions : public Options {
   std::string trace_event_categories;
   std::string trace_event_file_pattern = "node_trace.${rotation}.log";
   int64_t v8_thread_pool_size = 4;
+  int64_t max_worker_thread_count = 0;
   bool zero_fill_all_buffers = false;
   bool debug_arraybuffer_allocations = false;
   std::string disable_proto;
diff --git a/src/node_os.cc b/src/node_os.cc
index b64b75fa6b90be..9a6717523d3df7 100644
--- a/src/node_os.cc
+++ b/src/node_os.cc
@@ -102,30 +102,26 @@ static void GetCPUInfo(const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
   Environment* env = Environment::GetCurrent(args);
   Isolate* isolate = env->isolate();
 
-  uv_cpu_info_t* cpu_infos;
-  int count;
+  CPUInfo cpu_infos;
 
-  int err = uv_cpu_info(&cpu_infos, &count);
-  if (err)
+  if (!cpu_infos)
     return;
 
   // It's faster to create an array packed with all the data and
   // assemble them into objects in JS than to call Object::Set() repeatedly
   // The array is in the format
   // [model, speed, (5 entries of cpu_times), model2, speed2, ...]
-  std::vector<Local<Value>> result(count * 7);
-  for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < count; i++) {
-    uv_cpu_info_t* ci = cpu_infos + i;
-    result[j++] = OneByteString(isolate, ci->model);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->speed);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->cpu_times.user);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->cpu_times.nice);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->cpu_times.sys);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->cpu_times.idle);
-    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, ci->cpu_times.irq);
+  std::vector<Local<Value>> result(cpu_infos.count() * 7);
+  for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < cpu_infos.count(); i++) {
+    result[j++] = OneByteString(isolate, cpu_infos[i].model);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].speed);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].cpu_times.user);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].cpu_times.nice);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].cpu_times.sys);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].cpu_times.idle);
+    result[j++] = Number::New(isolate, cpu_infos[i].cpu_times.irq);
   }
 
-  uv_free_cpu_info(cpu_infos, count);
   args.GetReturnValue().Set(Array::New(isolate, result.data(), result.size()));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/node_report.cc b/src/node_report.cc
index 98da24c9567a28..20bafc65bece19 100644
--- a/src/node_report.cc
+++ b/src/node_report.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ constexpr double SEC_PER_MICROS = 1e-6;
 namespace report {
 using node::arraysize;
 using node::ConditionVariable;
+using node::CPUInfo;
 using node::DiagnosticFilename;
 using node::Environment;
 using node::JSONWriter;
@@ -387,11 +388,10 @@ static void PrintVersionInformation(JSONWriter* writer) {
 
 // Report CPU info
 static void PrintCpuInfo(JSONWriter* writer) {
-  uv_cpu_info_t* cpu_info;
-  int count;
-  if (uv_cpu_info(&cpu_info, &count) == 0) {
+  CPUInfo cpu_info;
+  if (cpu_info) {
     writer->json_arraystart("cpus");
-    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+    for (int i = 0; i < cpu_info.count(); i++) {
       writer->json_start();
       writer->json_keyvalue("model", cpu_info[i].model);
       writer->json_keyvalue("speed", cpu_info[i].speed);
@@ -403,7 +403,6 @@ static void PrintCpuInfo(JSONWriter* writer) {
       writer->json_end();
     }
     writer->json_arrayend();
-    uv_free_cpu_info(cpu_info, count);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/node_worker.cc b/src/node_worker.cc
index 611d50220add83..dcbda706c03493 100644
--- a/src/node_worker.cc
+++ b/src/node_worker.cc
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@
 #include "node_buffer.h"
 #include "node_options-inl.h"
 #include "node_perf.h"
+#include "node_process.h"
 #include "util-inl.h"
 #include "async_wrap-inl.h"
 
+#include <atomic>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
@@ -41,6 +43,31 @@ using v8::Value;
 namespace node {
 namespace worker {
 
+namespace {
+// The worker count is intentionally process scoped so
+// we can track the total number of active workers
+// across the process.
+std::atomic<int64_t> active_worker_thread_count {0};
+std::atomic<bool> active_worker_thread_warn {true};
+
+void EmitWorkerThreadWarning(Environment* env, int64_t count, int64_t max) {
+  if (env->is_main_thread()) {
+    USE(ProcessEmitWarning(env,
+        "Too many active worker threads (%" PRId64 "). "
+        "Performance may be degraded. "
+        "(--max-worker-threads=%" PRId64 ")", count, max));
+  } else {
+    // If this is not the main thread, recursively move up
+    // until we get to the main thread.
+    env->worker_context()->env()
+        ->SetImmediateThreadsafe([count, max](Environment* env) {
+      EmitWorkerThreadWarning(env, count, max);
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
 Worker::Worker(Environment* env,
                Local<Object> wrap,
                const std::string& url,
@@ -56,6 +83,23 @@ Worker::Worker(Environment* env,
   Debug(this, "Creating new worker instance with thread id %llu",
         thread_id_.id);
 
+  int64_t count = ++active_worker_thread_count;
+  int64_t max_worker_thread_count =
+      per_process::cli_options->max_worker_thread_count;
+  if (max_worker_thread_count > 0 &&
+      count > max_worker_thread_count &&
+      active_worker_thread_warn.exchange(false)) {
+    // Having too many active worker threads can degrade overall
+    // performance of the entire Node.js application by causing
+    // too much CPU contention. The default max-worker-threads is
+    // 4 times the total number of CPUs available but may be set
+    // explicitly using the --max-worker-threads=n command line option.
+    // Setting --max-worker-threads=0 disables this check.
+    // This is tracked per process rather than per environment/isolate
+    // so we can account also for all Workers created within Workers.
+    EmitWorkerThreadWarning(env, count, max_worker_thread_count);
+  }
+
   // Set up everything that needs to be set up in the parent environment.
   parent_port_ = MessagePort::New(env, env->context());
   if (parent_port_ == nullptr) {
@@ -433,6 +477,8 @@ void Worker::JoinThread() {
 }
 
 Worker::~Worker() {
+  active_worker_thread_count--;
+
   Mutex::ScopedLock lock(mutex_);
 
   CHECK(stopped_);
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 5eaa20b760168b..97818d85b0fced 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 #pragma GCC diagnostic pop
 #endif
 
+#include "uv.h"
+
 #include <cassert>
 #include <climits>  // PATH_MAX
 #include <csignal>
@@ -764,6 +766,31 @@ class PersistentToLocal {
   }
 };
 
+class CPUInfo {
+ public:
+  CPUInfo() {
+    if (uv_cpu_info(&info_, &count_) != 0) {
+      info_ = nullptr;
+      count_ = 0;
+    }
+  }
+  ~CPUInfo() {
+    if (info_ != nullptr)
+      uv_free_cpu_info(info_, count_);
+  }
+  int count() const { return count_; }
+  operator bool() const {
+    return info_ != nullptr;
+  }
+  const uv_cpu_info_t& operator[](int idx) const {
+    return info_[idx];
+  }
+
+ private:
+  uv_cpu_info_t* info_ = nullptr;
+  int count_ = 0;
+};
+
 }  // namespace node
 
 #endif  // defined(NODE_WANT_INTERNALS) && NODE_WANT_INTERNALS
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-cli-bad-options.js b/test/parallel/test-cli-bad-options.js
index 3fc8980c142509..ee45388d76c278 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-cli-bad-options.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-cli-bad-options.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ if (process.features.inspector) {
   requiresArgument('--debug-port=');
 }
 requiresArgument('--eval');
+requiresArgument('--max-worker-threads');
 
 function requiresArgument(option) {
   const r = spawn(process.execPath, [option], { encoding: 'utf8' });
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-cli-node-options.js b/test/parallel/test-cli-node-options.js
index 2fc22ca477ce94..101ef75bdd1316 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-cli-node-options.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-cli-node-options.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ expect('--no_warnings', 'B\n');
 expect('--trace-warnings', 'B\n');
 expect('--redirect-warnings=_', 'B\n');
 expect('--trace-deprecation', 'B\n');
+expectNoWorker('--max-worker-threads=1', 'B\n');
 expect('--trace-sync-io', 'B\n');
 expectNoWorker('--trace-events-enabled', 'B\n');
 expect('--track-heap-objects', 'B\n');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-auto.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-auto.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..6d195db4a14ed8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-auto.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Flags: --expose-internals --max-worker-threads=-1
+'use strict';
+
+// Check that when --max-worker-threads is negative,
+// the option value is auto-calculated based on the
+// number of CPUs
+
+require('../common');
+const { getOptionValue } = require('internal/options');
+const { cpus } = require('os');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// Make sure the flag is actually set
+assert(process.execArgv.indexOf('--max-worker-threads=-1') > -1);
+
+const kWorkerThreadsMultiplier = 4;
+const maxWorkerThreads = getOptionValue('--max-worker-threads');
+
+assert.strictEqual(cpus().length * kWorkerThreadsMultiplier, maxWorkerThreads);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-disabled.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-disabled.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..2ed7bbd5da5f8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-disabled.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Flags: --max-worker-threads=0
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
+const { cpus } = require('os');
+
+const cpu_count = cpus().length;
+
+// This may need to be updated in the future if there are
+// any other warnings expected. For now, no warnings are
+// emitted with this code.
+process.on('warning', common.mustNotCall());
+
+const expr = 'setInterval(() => {}, 10);';
+
+function makeWorker(workers) {
+  return new Promise((res) => {
+    const worker = new Worker(expr, { eval: true });
+    worker.on('online', res);
+    workers.push(worker);
+  });
+}
+
+async function doTest() {
+  const workers = [];
+  const list = [];
+  for (let n = 0; n < cpu_count; n++)
+    list.push(makeWorker(workers));
+  await Promise.all(list);
+  workers.forEach((i) => i.terminate());
+}
+
+doTest().then(common.mustCall());
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-nested.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-nested.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..205a52077e8c73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count-nested.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { spawn } = require('child_process');
+const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
+
+if (process.argv[2] === 'child') {
+
+  // Checks that warning is emitted in the main thread,
+  // even tho the offending Worker is created from within
+  // another worker.
+  common.expectWarning({
+    Warning: [
+      'Too many active worker threads (2). Performance may be degraded. ' +
+      '(--max-worker-threads=1)'
+    ] });
+
+  const expr = `
+    setInterval(() => {}, 10);
+    const { Worker, parentPort } = require('worker_threads');
+    const expr = 'setInterval(() => {}, 10);';
+    const worker = new Worker(expr, { eval: true });
+    worker.on('online', () => {
+      worker.terminate();
+      parentPort.postMessage({});
+    });
+  `;
+
+  const worker = new Worker(expr, { eval: true });
+  worker.on('message', () => worker.terminate());
+
+} else {
+  const child = spawn(
+    process.execPath,
+    ['--max-worker-threads=1', __filename, 'child'],
+    { stdio: 'inherit' });
+  child.on('close', common.mustCall((code) => assert(!code)));
+}
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..585caa822248bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-max-count.js
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { spawn } = require('child_process');
+const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
+const { cpus } = require('os');
+
+if (process.argv[2] === 'child') {
+  const cpu_count = cpus().length;
+
+  common.expectWarning({
+    Warning: [
+      'Too many active worker threads (2). Performance may be degraded. ' +
+      '(--max-worker-threads=1)'
+    ] });
+
+  const expr = 'setInterval(() => {}, 10);';
+
+  function makeWorker(workers) {
+    return new Promise((res) => {
+      const worker = new Worker(expr, { eval: true });
+      worker.on('online', res);
+      workers.push(worker);
+    });
+  }
+
+  async function doTest() {
+    const workers = [];
+    const list = [];
+    for (let n = 0; n < cpu_count; n++)
+      list.push(makeWorker(workers));
+    await Promise.all(list);
+    workers.forEach((i) => i.terminate());
+  }
+
+  doTest().then(doTest).then(common.mustCall());
+
+} else {
+  const child = spawn(
+    process.execPath,
+    ['--max-worker-threads=1', __filename, 'child'],
+    { stdio: 'inherit' });
+  child.on('close', common.mustCall((code) => {
+    assert.strictEqual(code, 0);
+  }));
+}