diff --git a/cpu-miner.c b/cpu-miner.c
index 0dbd2be9d..7c9cc1d08 100644
--- a/cpu-miner.c
+++ b/cpu-miner.c
@@ -1839,7 +1839,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     if (num_processors < 1)
         num_processors = 1;
     if (!opt_n_threads)
-        opt_n_threads = num_processors - 1;
+        opt_n_threads = (num_processors == 1) ? num_processors : num_processors - 1;
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG_H
     if (use_syslog)