diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a727fae2c..9a61e27a1 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -7547,6 +7547,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "solana-svm",
  "solana-test-validator",
  "solana-tpu-client",
+ "solana-unified-scheduler-pool",
  "solana-version",
  "solana-vote-program",
  "spl-token-2022",
diff --git a/core/src/validator.rs b/core/src/validator.rs
index b71c11cd9..97ef0a01e 100644
--- a/core/src/validator.rs
+++ b/core/src/validator.rs
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ pub struct ValidatorConfig {
     pub generator_config: Option<GeneratorConfig>,
     pub use_snapshot_archives_at_startup: UseSnapshotArchivesAtStartup,
     pub wen_restart_proto_path: Option<PathBuf>,
+    pub unified_scheduler_handler_threads: Option<usize>,
 }
 
 impl Default for ValidatorConfig {
@@ -329,6 +330,7 @@ impl Default for ValidatorConfig {
             generator_config: None,
             use_snapshot_archives_at_startup: UseSnapshotArchivesAtStartup::default(),
             wen_restart_proto_path: None,
+            unified_scheduler_handler_threads: None,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -813,9 +815,16 @@ impl Validator {
         match &config.block_verification_method {
             BlockVerificationMethod::BlockstoreProcessor => {
                 info!("no scheduler pool is installed for block verification...");
+                if let Some(count) = config.unified_scheduler_handler_threads {
+                    warn!(
+                        "--unified-scheduler-handler-threads={count} is ignored because unified \
+                         scheduler isn't enabled"
+                    );
+                }
             }
             BlockVerificationMethod::UnifiedScheduler => {
                 let scheduler_pool = DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(
+                    config.unified_scheduler_handler_threads,
                     config.runtime_config.log_messages_bytes_limit,
                     transaction_status_sender.clone(),
                     Some(replay_vote_sender.clone()),
diff --git a/ledger-tool/src/ledger_utils.rs b/ledger-tool/src/ledger_utils.rs
index 2663a205f..116b21527 100644
--- a/ledger-tool/src/ledger_utils.rs
+++ b/ledger-tool/src/ledger_utils.rs
@@ -291,9 +291,17 @@ pub fn load_and_process_ledger(
         "Using: block-verification-method: {}",
         block_verification_method,
     );
+    let unified_scheduler_handler_threads =
+        value_t!(arg_matches, "unified_scheduler_handler_threads", usize).ok();
     match block_verification_method {
         BlockVerificationMethod::BlockstoreProcessor => {
             info!("no scheduler pool is installed for block verification...");
+            if let Some(count) = unified_scheduler_handler_threads {
+                warn!(
+                    "--unified-scheduler-handler-threads={count} is ignored because unified \
+                     scheduler isn't enabled"
+                );
+            }
         }
         BlockVerificationMethod::UnifiedScheduler => {
             let no_transaction_status_sender = None;
@@ -303,6 +311,7 @@ pub fn load_and_process_ledger(
                 .write()
                 .unwrap()
                 .install_scheduler_pool(DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(
+                    unified_scheduler_handler_threads,
                     process_options.runtime_config.log_messages_bytes_limit,
                     no_transaction_status_sender,
                     no_replay_vote_sender,
diff --git a/ledger-tool/src/main.rs b/ledger-tool/src/main.rs
index d6218fad6..9b299cfad 100644
--- a/ledger-tool/src/main.rs
+++ b/ledger-tool/src/main.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ use {
         input_parsers::{cluster_type_of, pubkey_of, pubkeys_of},
         input_validators::{
             is_parsable, is_pow2, is_pubkey, is_pubkey_or_keypair, is_slot, is_valid_percentage,
-            validate_maximum_full_snapshot_archives_to_retain,
+            is_within_range, validate_maximum_full_snapshot_archives_to_retain,
             validate_maximum_incremental_snapshot_archives_to_retain,
         },
     },
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ use {
         transaction::{MessageHash, SanitizedTransaction, SimpleAddressLoader},
     },
     solana_stake_program::stake_state::{self, PointValue},
+    solana_unified_scheduler_pool::DefaultSchedulerPool,
     solana_vote_program::{
         self,
         vote_state::{self, VoteState},
@@ -852,6 +853,16 @@ fn main() {
                 .hidden(hidden_unless_forced())
                 .help(BlockVerificationMethod::cli_message()),
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("unified_scheduler_handler_threads")
+                .long("unified-scheduler-handler-threads")
+                .value_name("COUNT")
+                .takes_value(true)
+                .validator(|s| is_within_range(s, 1..))
+                .global(true)
+                .hidden(hidden_unless_forced())
+                .help(DefaultSchedulerPool::cli_message()),
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("output_format")
                 .long("output")
diff --git a/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs b/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
index 537dd6495..33883bb02 100644
--- a/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
+++ b/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ pub fn safe_clone_config(config: &ValidatorConfig) -> ValidatorConfig {
         generator_config: config.generator_config.clone(),
         use_snapshot_archives_at_startup: config.use_snapshot_archives_at_startup,
         wen_restart_proto_path: config.wen_restart_proto_path.clone(),
+        unified_scheduler_handler_threads: config.unified_scheduler_handler_threads,
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock b/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
index 6ab36567f..1b8d422d4 100644
--- a/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
+++ b/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
@@ -6546,6 +6546,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "solana-svm",
  "solana-test-validator",
  "solana-tpu-client",
+ "solana-unified-scheduler-pool",
  "solana-version",
  "solana-vote-program",
  "symlink",
diff --git a/unified-scheduler-pool/src/lib.rs b/unified-scheduler-pool/src/lib.rs
index deae36978..09ded82ee 100644
--- a/unified-scheduler-pool/src/lib.rs
+++ b/unified-scheduler-pool/src/lib.rs
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ use {
         marker::PhantomData,
         sync::{
             atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering::Relaxed},
-            Arc, Mutex, Weak,
+            Arc, Mutex, OnceLock, Weak,
         },
         thread::{self, JoinHandle},
     },
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ type AtomicSchedulerId = AtomicU64;
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct SchedulerPool<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> {
     scheduler_inners: Mutex<Vec<S::Inner>>,
+    handler_count: usize,
     handler_context: HandlerContext,
     // weak_self could be elided by changing InstalledScheduler::take_scheduler()'s receiver to
     // Arc<Self> from &Self, because SchedulerPool is used as in the form of Arc<SchedulerPool>
@@ -83,13 +84,20 @@ where
     // Some internal impl and test code want an actual concrete type, NOT the
     // `dyn InstalledSchedulerPool`. So don't merge this into `Self::new_dyn()`.
     fn new(
+        handler_count: Option<usize>,
         log_messages_bytes_limit: Option<usize>,
         transaction_status_sender: Option<TransactionStatusSender>,
         replay_vote_sender: Option<ReplayVoteSender>,
         prioritization_fee_cache: Arc<PrioritizationFeeCache>,
     ) -> Arc<Self> {
+        let handler_count = handler_count.unwrap_or(1);
+        // we're hard-coding the number of handler thread to 1, meaning this impl is currently
+        // single-threaded still.
+        assert_eq!(handler_count, 1); // replace this with assert!(handler_count >= 1) later
+
         Arc::new_cyclic(|weak_self| Self {
             scheduler_inners: Mutex::default(),
+            handler_count,
             handler_context: HandlerContext {
                 log_messages_bytes_limit,
                 transaction_status_sender,
@@ -105,12 +113,14 @@ where
     // This apparently-meaningless wrapper is handy, because some callers explicitly want
     // `dyn InstalledSchedulerPool` to be returned for type inference convenience.
     pub fn new_dyn(
+        handler_count: Option<usize>,
         log_messages_bytes_limit: Option<usize>,
         transaction_status_sender: Option<TransactionStatusSender>,
         replay_vote_sender: Option<ReplayVoteSender>,
         prioritization_fee_cache: Arc<PrioritizationFeeCache>,
     ) -> InstalledSchedulerPoolArc {
         Self::new(
+            handler_count,
             log_messages_bytes_limit,
             transaction_status_sender,
             replay_vote_sender,
@@ -145,6 +155,37 @@ where
             S::spawn(self.self_arc(), context)
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn default_handler_count() -> usize {
+        Self::calculate_default_handler_count(
+            thread::available_parallelism()
+                .ok()
+                .map(|non_zero| non_zero.get()),
+        )
+    }
+
+    pub fn calculate_default_handler_count(detected_cpu_core_count: Option<usize>) -> usize {
+        // Divide by 4 just not to consume all available CPUs just with handler threads, sparing for
+        // other active forks and other subsystems.
+        // Also, if available_parallelism fails (which should be very rare), use 4 threads,
+        // as a relatively conservatism assumption of modern multi-core systems ranging from
+        // engineers' laptops to production servers.
+        detected_cpu_core_count
+            .map(|core_count| (core_count / 4).max(1))
+            .unwrap_or(4)
+    }
+
+    pub fn cli_message() -> &'static str {
+        static MESSAGE: OnceLock<String> = OnceLock::new();
+
+        MESSAGE.get_or_init(|| {
+            format!(
+                "Change the number of the unified scheduler's transaction execution threads \
+                 dedicated to each block, otherwise calculated as cpu_cores/4 [default: {}]",
+                Self::default_handler_count()
+            )
+        })
+    }
 }
 
 impl<S, TH> InstalledSchedulerPool for SchedulerPool<S, TH>
@@ -372,7 +413,6 @@ pub struct PooledSchedulerInner<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> {
 struct ThreadManager<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> {
     scheduler_id: SchedulerId,
     pool: Arc<SchedulerPool<S, TH>>,
-    handler_count: usize,
     new_task_sender: Sender<NewTaskPayload>,
     new_task_receiver: Receiver<NewTaskPayload>,
     session_result_sender: Sender<Option<ResultWithTimings>>,
@@ -384,13 +424,9 @@ struct ThreadManager<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> {
 
 impl<TH: TaskHandler> PooledScheduler<TH> {
     fn do_spawn(pool: Arc<SchedulerPool<Self, TH>>, initial_context: SchedulingContext) -> Self {
-        // we're hard-coding the number of handler thread to 1, meaning this impl is currently
-        // single-threaded still.
-        let handler_count = 1;
-
         Self::from_inner(
             PooledSchedulerInner::<Self, TH> {
-                thread_manager: ThreadManager::new(pool, handler_count),
+                thread_manager: ThreadManager::new(pool),
             },
             initial_context,
         )
@@ -398,14 +434,14 @@ impl<TH: TaskHandler> PooledScheduler<TH> {
 }
 
 impl<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> ThreadManager<S, TH> {
-    fn new(pool: Arc<SchedulerPool<S, TH>>, handler_count: usize) -> Self {
+    fn new(pool: Arc<SchedulerPool<S, TH>>) -> Self {
         let (new_task_sender, new_task_receiver) = unbounded();
         let (session_result_sender, session_result_receiver) = unbounded();
+        let handler_count = pool.handler_count;
 
         Self {
             scheduler_id: pool.new_scheduler_id(),
             pool,
-            handler_count,
             new_task_sender,
             new_task_receiver,
             session_result_sender,
@@ -477,7 +513,7 @@ impl<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> ThreadManager<S, TH> {
         // 5. the handler thread reply back to the scheduler thread as an executed task.
         // 6. the scheduler thread post-processes the executed task.
         let scheduler_main_loop = || {
-            let handler_count = self.handler_count;
+            let handler_count = self.pool.handler_count;
             let session_result_sender = self.session_result_sender.clone();
             let new_task_receiver = self.new_task_receiver.clone();
 
@@ -613,7 +649,7 @@ impl<S: SpawnableScheduler<TH>, TH: TaskHandler> ThreadManager<S, TH> {
                 .unwrap(),
         );
 
-        self.handler_threads = (0..self.handler_count)
+        self.handler_threads = (0..self.pool.handler_count)
             .map({
                 |thx| {
                     thread::Builder::new()
@@ -760,7 +796,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
 
         // this indirectly proves that there should be circular link because there's only one Arc
         // at this moment now
@@ -775,7 +811,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let bank = Arc::new(Bank::default_for_tests());
         let context = SchedulingContext::new(bank);
         let scheduler = pool.take_scheduler(context);
@@ -789,7 +825,8 @@ mod tests {
         solana_logger::setup();
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
-        let pool = DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+        let pool =
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let bank = Arc::new(Bank::default_for_tests());
         let context = &SchedulingContext::new(bank);
 
@@ -817,7 +854,8 @@ mod tests {
         solana_logger::setup();
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
-        let pool = DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+        let pool =
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let bank = Arc::new(Bank::default_for_tests());
         let context = &SchedulingContext::new(bank);
         let mut scheduler = pool.do_take_scheduler(context.clone());
@@ -835,7 +873,8 @@ mod tests {
         solana_logger::setup();
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
-        let pool = DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+        let pool =
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let old_bank = &Arc::new(Bank::default_for_tests());
         let new_bank = &Arc::new(Bank::default_for_tests());
         assert!(!Arc::ptr_eq(old_bank, new_bank));
@@ -861,7 +900,7 @@ mod tests {
         let mut bank_forks = bank_forks.write().unwrap();
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         bank_forks.install_scheduler_pool(pool);
     }
 
@@ -875,7 +914,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
 
         let bank = Bank::default_for_tests();
         let bank_forks = BankForks::new_rw_arc(bank);
@@ -928,7 +967,7 @@ mod tests {
         let bank = setup_dummy_fork_graph(bank);
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let context = SchedulingContext::new(bank.clone());
 
         assert_eq!(bank.transaction_count(), 0);
@@ -953,7 +992,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let ignored_prioritization_fee_cache = Arc::new(PrioritizationFeeCache::new(0u64));
         let pool =
-            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::new_dyn(None, None, None, None, ignored_prioritization_fee_cache);
         let context = SchedulingContext::new(bank.clone());
         let mut scheduler = pool.take_scheduler(context);
 
@@ -1159,6 +1198,7 @@ mod tests {
                 None,
                 None,
                 None,
+                None,
                 ignored_prioritization_fee_cache,
             );
         let scheduler = pool.take_scheduler(context);
@@ -1193,4 +1233,18 @@ mod tests {
     fn test_scheduler_schedule_execution_recent_blockhash_edge_case_without_race() {
         do_test_scheduler_schedule_execution_recent_blockhash_edge_case::<false>();
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_default_handler_count() {
+        for (detected, expected) in [(32, 8), (4, 1), (2, 1)] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                DefaultSchedulerPool::calculate_default_handler_count(Some(detected)),
+                expected
+            );
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            DefaultSchedulerPool::calculate_default_handler_count(None),
+            4
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/validator/Cargo.toml b/validator/Cargo.toml
index 4028221cd..5cc76a810 100644
--- a/validator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/validator/Cargo.toml
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ solana-streamer = { workspace = true }
 solana-svm = { workspace = true }
 solana-test-validator = { workspace = true }
 solana-tpu-client = { workspace = true }
+solana-unified-scheduler-pool = { workspace = true }
 solana-version = { workspace = true }
 solana-vote-program = { workspace = true }
 symlink = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/validator/src/cli.rs b/validator/src/cli.rs
index 84f63d350..8424d7973 100644
--- a/validator/src/cli.rs
+++ b/validator/src/cli.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ use {
         self, MAX_BATCH_SEND_RATE_MS, MAX_TRANSACTION_BATCH_SIZE,
     },
     solana_tpu_client::tpu_client::DEFAULT_TPU_CONNECTION_POOL_SIZE,
+    solana_unified_scheduler_pool::DefaultSchedulerPool,
     std::{path::PathBuf, str::FromStr},
 };
 
@@ -1530,6 +1531,15 @@ pub fn app<'a>(version: &'a str, default_args: &'a DefaultArgs) -> App<'a, 'a> {
                 .possible_values(BlockProductionMethod::cli_names())
                 .help(BlockProductionMethod::cli_message()),
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("unified_scheduler_handler_threads")
+                .long("unified-scheduler-handler-threads")
+                .hidden(hidden_unless_forced())
+                .value_name("COUNT")
+                .takes_value(true)
+                .validator(|s| is_within_range(s, 1..))
+                .help(DefaultSchedulerPool::cli_message()),
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("wen_restart")
                 .long("wen-restart")
diff --git a/validator/src/main.rs b/validator/src/main.rs
index 3c27fec01..ec7079613 100644
--- a/validator/src/main.rs
+++ b/validator/src/main.rs
@@ -1671,6 +1671,8 @@ pub fn main() {
         BlockProductionMethod
     )
     .unwrap_or_default();
+    validator_config.unified_scheduler_handler_threads =
+        value_t!(matches, "unified_scheduler_handler_threads", usize).ok();
 
     validator_config.ledger_column_options = LedgerColumnOptions {
         compression_type: match matches.value_of("rocksdb_ledger_compression") {