diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
index a94c06ea629..1b9535487c5 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/netty/NettyHttpServerTransport.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public class NettyHttpServerTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpSer
         super(settings);
         this.networkService = networkService;
         ByteSizeValue maxContentLength = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("max_content_length", settings.getAsBytesSize("http.max_content_length", new ByteSizeValue(100, ByteSizeUnit.MB)));
-        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());
+        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors() * 2);
         this.blockingServer = settings.getAsBoolean("http.blocking_server", settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING_SERVER, settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING, false)));
         this.port = componentSettings.get("port", settings.get("http.port", "9200-9300"));
         this.bindHost = componentSettings.get("bind_host");
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
index 908dcd391fb..10dd931032c 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ public class NettyTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
         this.threadPool = threadPool;
         this.networkService = networkService;
 
-        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());
+        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors() * 2);
         this.blockingServer = settings.getAsBoolean("transport.tcp.blocking_server", settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING_SERVER, settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING, false)));
         this.blockingClient = settings.getAsBoolean("transport.tcp.blocking_client", settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING_CLIENT, settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING, false)));
         this.port = componentSettings.get("port", settings.get("transport.tcp.port", "9300-9400"));
diff --git a/plugins/transport/memcached/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/memcached/netty/NettyMemcachedServerTransport.java b/plugins/transport/memcached/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/memcached/netty/NettyMemcachedServerTransport.java
index a14485a57fc..c4f5f5c5cbb 100644
--- a/plugins/transport/memcached/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/memcached/netty/NettyMemcachedServerTransport.java
+++ b/plugins/transport/memcached/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/memcached/netty/NettyMemcachedServerTransport.java
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public class NettyMemcachedServerTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Me
         this.restController = restController;
         this.networkService = networkService;
 
-        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());
+        this.workerCount = componentSettings.getAsInt("worker_count", Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors() * 2);
         this.blockingServer = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("memcached.blocking_server", settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING_SERVER, settings.getAsBoolean(TCP_BLOCKING, false)));
         this.port = componentSettings.get("port", settings.get("memcached.port", "11211-11311"));
         this.bindHost = componentSettings.get("bind_host");