diff --git a/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs b/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
index 155182ed516..7f6a365d99d 100644
--- a/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
+++ b/ethcore/src/snapshot/mod.rs
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ impl Default for SnapshotConfiguration {
 	fn default() -> Self {
 		SnapshotConfiguration {
 			no_periodic: false,
-			processing_threads: ::std::cmp::max(1, num_cpus::get() / 2),
+			processing_threads: ::std::cmp::max(1, num_cpus::get_physical() / 2),
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/parity/configuration.rs b/parity/configuration.rs
index 28bc08c903b..3996fa6cafe 100644
--- a/parity/configuration.rs
+++ b/parity/configuration.rs
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ impl Configuration {
 			no_periodic: self.args.flag_no_periodic_snapshot,
 			processing_threads: match self.args.arg_snapshot_threads {
 				Some(threads) if threads > 0 => threads,
-				_ => ::std::cmp::max(1, num_cpus::get() / 2),
+				_ => ::std::cmp::max(1, num_cpus::get_physical() / 2),
 			},
 		};