diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 2587b3a27..6cdcaa409 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ PYTHON_ARGS_FOR_INSTALL=("-m" "pip" "install" "--no-build-isolation" "--no-deps"
 # If INSTALL_PREFIX is not set, check PREFIX, then check
 # CONDA_PREFIX, then fall back to install inside of $LIBRAPIDSMPF_BUILD_DIR
 INSTALL_PREFIX=${INSTALL_PREFIX:=${PREFIX:=${CONDA_PREFIX:=$LIBRAPIDSMPF_BUILD_DIR/install}}}
-export PARALLEL_LEVEL=${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-4}
+PARALLEL_LEVEL=${PARALLEL_LEVEL:=$(nproc --all)}
 
 function hasArg {
     (( NUMARGS != 0 )) && (echo " ${ARGS} " | grep -q " $1 ")