diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransport.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransport.java
index 142f33f9d07..627f37c61a4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransport.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransport.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.transport.BoundTransportAddress;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.transport.LocalTransportAddress;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.transport.TransportAddress;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.AbstractRunnable;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.EsExecutors;
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.*;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.support.TransportStatus;
@@ -40,6 +41,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.transport.support.TransportStatus;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMap;
@@ -50,6 +53,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ConcurrentCollections.new
 public class LocalTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implements Transport {
 
     private final ThreadPool threadPool;
+    private final ThreadPoolExecutor workers;
     private final Version version;
     private volatile TransportServiceAdapter transportServiceAdapter;
     private volatile BoundTransportAddress boundAddress;
@@ -58,13 +62,20 @@ public class LocalTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
     private static final AtomicLong transportAddressIdGenerator = new AtomicLong();
     private final ConcurrentMap<DiscoveryNode, LocalTransport> connectedNodes = newConcurrentMap();
 
-    public static final String TRANSPORT_LOCAL_ADDRESS = "transport.local_address";
+    public static final String TRANSPORT_LOCAL_ADDRESS = "transport.local.address";
+    public static final String TRANSPORT_LOCAL_WORKERS = "transport.local.workers";
+    public static final String TRANSPORT_LOCAL_QUEUE = "transport.local.queue";
 
     @Inject
     public LocalTransport(Settings settings, ThreadPool threadPool, Version version) {
         super(settings);
         this.threadPool = threadPool;
         this.version = version;
+
+        int workerCount = this.settings.getAsInt(TRANSPORT_LOCAL_WORKERS, EsExecutors.boundedNumberOfProcessors(settings));
+        int queueSize = this.settings.getAsInt(TRANSPORT_LOCAL_QUEUE, -1);
+        logger.debug("creating [{}] workers, queue_size [{}]", workerCount, queueSize);
+        this.workers = EsExecutors.newFixed(workerCount, queueSize, EsExecutors.daemonThreadFactory(this.settings, "local_transport"));
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -106,6 +117,13 @@ public class LocalTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
 
     @Override
     protected void doClose() throws ElasticsearchException {
+        workers.shutdown();
+        try {
+            workers.awaitTermination(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+        }
+        workers.shutdownNow();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -185,7 +203,7 @@ public class LocalTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
 
         transportServiceAdapter.sent(data.length);
 
-        threadPool.generic().execute(new Runnable() {
+        targetTransport.workers().execute(new Runnable() {
             @Override
             public void run() {
                 targetTransport.messageReceived(data, action, LocalTransport.this, version, requestId);
@@ -193,8 +211,8 @@ public class LocalTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
         });
     }
 
-    ThreadPool threadPool() {
-        return this.threadPool;
+    ThreadPoolExecutor workers() {
+        return this.workers;
     }
 
     protected void messageReceived(byte[] data, String action, LocalTransport sourceTransport, Version version, @Nullable final Long sendRequestId) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransportChannel.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransportChannel.java
index f4d5e83053a..f316e9ba69d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransportChannel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/local/LocalTransportChannel.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public class LocalTransportChannel implements TransportChannel {
         response.writeTo(stream);
         stream.close();
         final byte[] data = bStream.bytes().toBytes();
-        targetTransport.threadPool().generic().execute(new Runnable() {
+        targetTransport.workers().execute(new Runnable() {
             @Override
             public void run() {
                 targetTransport.messageReceived(data, action, sourceTransport, version, null);
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class LocalTransportChannel implements TransportChannel {
             too.close();
         }
         final byte[] data = stream.bytes().toBytes();
-        targetTransport.threadPool().generic().execute(new Runnable() {
+        targetTransport.workers().execute(new Runnable() {
             @Override
             public void run() {
                 targetTransport.messageReceived(data, action, sourceTransport, version, null);