diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 0c0e6b859f1..6fb218f649d 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -391,6 +391,8 @@ include::config/guitool.txt[]
 
 include::config/help.txt[]
 
+include::config/hook.txt[]
+
 include::config/http.txt[]
 
 include::config/i18n.txt[]
diff --git a/Documentation/config/hook.txt b/Documentation/config/hook.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..96d3d6572c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/config/hook.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+hook.jobs::
+	Specifies how many hooks can be run simultaneously during parallelized
+	hook execution. If unspecified, defaults to the number of processors on
+	the current system.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-hook.txt b/Documentation/git-hook.txt
index fa68c1f3912..79e82479ec6 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-hook.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-hook.txt
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ git-hook - run git hooks
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-'git hook' run [--to-stdin=<path>] [--ignore-missing] <hook-name> [-- <hook-args>]
+'git hook' run [--to-stdin=<path>] [--ignore-missing] [(-j|--jobs) <n>]
+	<hook-name> [-- <hook-args>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -42,6 +43,20 @@ OPTIONS
 	tools that want to do a blind one-shot run of a hook that may
 	or may not be present.
 
+-j::
+--jobs::
+	Only valid for `run`.
++
+Specify how many hooks to run simultaneously. If this flag is not specified,
+uses the value of the `hook.jobs` config, see linkgit:git-config[1]. If the
+config is not specified, uses the number of CPUs on the current system. Some
+hooks may be ineligible for parallelization: for example, 'commit-msg' intends
+hooks modify the commit message body and cannot be parallelized.
+
+CONFIGURATION
+-------------
+include::config/hook.txt[]
+
 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkgit:githooks[5]
diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index 9e3d4d9ab44..c7ffc7eafc5 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ static void am_destroy(const struct am_state *state)
 static int run_applypatch_msg_hook(struct am_state *state)
 {
 	int ret;
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 
 	assert(state->msg);
 	strvec_push(&opt.args, am_path(state, "final-commit"));
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ static int run_applypatch_msg_hook(struct am_state *state)
  */
 static int run_post_rewrite_hook(const struct am_state *state)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 	strvec_push(&opt.args, "rebase");
 	opt.path_to_stdin = am_path(state, "rewritten");
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 863b02a7d7c..6b99d31c6ba 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ struct branch_info {
 static int post_checkout_hook(struct commit *old_commit, struct commit *new_commit,
 			      int changed)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 
 	/* "new_commit" can be NULL when checking out from the index before
 	   a commit exists. */
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 27fc05ee511..986c3b1932a 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ static int checkout(int submodule_progress)
 	struct tree *tree;
 	struct tree_desc t;
 	int err = 0;
-	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 
 	if (option_no_checkout)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/builtin/hook.c b/builtin/hook.c
index 398980523aa..9b6272cfd3b 100644
--- a/builtin/hook.c
+++ b/builtin/hook.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ static const char * const builtin_hook_run_usage[] = {
 static int run(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	int i;
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 	int ignore_missing = 0;
 	const char *hook_name;
 	struct list_head *hooks;
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ static int run(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			 N_("exit quietly with a zero exit code if the requested hook cannot be found")),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "to-stdin", &opt.path_to_stdin, N_("path"),
 			   N_("file to read into hooks' stdin")),
+		OPT_INTEGER('j', "jobs", &opt.jobs,
+			    N_("run up to <n> hooks simultaneously")),
 		OPT_END(),
 	};
 	int ret;
diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index f215f264cc8..c01eb535d6b 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ static void finish(struct commit *head_commit,
 		   const struct object_id *new_head, const char *msg)
 {
 	struct strbuf reflog_message = STRBUF_INIT;
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	const struct object_id *head = &head_commit->object.oid;
 
 	if (!msg)
diff --git a/builtin/rebase.c b/builtin/rebase.c
index ee68a1df492..a4bbb9abb35 100644
--- a/builtin/rebase.c
+++ b/builtin/rebase.c
@@ -1314,7 +1314,7 @@ int cmd_rebase(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	char *squash_onto_name = NULL;
 	int reschedule_failed_exec = -1;
 	int allow_preemptive_ff = 1;
-	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	struct option builtin_rebase_options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING(0, "onto", &options.onto_name,
 			   N_("revision"),
diff --git a/builtin/receive-pack.c b/builtin/receive-pack.c
index ebec6f3bb10..7460124b743 100644
--- a/builtin/receive-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/receive-pack.c
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ static int run_receive_hook(struct command *commands,
 			    int skip_broken,
 			    const struct string_list *push_options)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	struct receive_hook_feed_context ctx;
 	struct command *iter = commands;
 
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@ static int run_receive_hook(struct command *commands,
 
 static int run_update_hook(struct command *cmd)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 	strvec_pushl(&opt.args,
 		     cmd->ref_name,
@@ -1432,7 +1432,8 @@ static const char *push_to_checkout(unsigned char *hash,
 				    struct strvec *env,
 				    const char *work_tree)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
+
 	opt.invoked_hook = invoked_hook;
 
 	strvec_pushf(env, "GIT_WORK_TREE=%s", absolute_path(work_tree));
@@ -1628,7 +1629,7 @@ static const char *update(struct command *cmd, struct shallow_info *si)
 static void run_update_post_hook(struct command *commands)
 {
 	struct command *cmd;
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 	for (cmd = commands; cmd; cmd = cmd->next) {
 		if (cmd->error_string || cmd->did_not_exist)
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 330867c19bf..30905067906 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * is_junk is cleared, but do return appropriate code when hook fails.
 	 */
 	if (!ret && opts->checkout) {
-		struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+		struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 
 		strvec_pushl(&opt.env, "GIT_DIR", "GIT_WORK_TREE", NULL);
 		strvec_pushl(&opt.args,
diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index 842e47beae2..a38bd047524 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -1700,7 +1700,7 @@ int run_commit_hook(int editor_is_used, const char *index_file,
 		    int *invoked_hook,
 		    const char *name, ...)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL;
 	va_list args;
 	const char *arg;
 
diff --git a/hook.c b/hook.c
index 2b2c16a9095..600030c59ec 100644
--- a/hook.c
+++ b/hook.c
@@ -208,6 +208,28 @@ static int notify_hook_finished(int result,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Determines how many jobs to use after we know we want to parallelize. First
+ * priority is the config 'hook.jobs' and second priority is the number of CPUs.
+ */
+static int configured_hook_jobs(void)
+{
+	/*
+	 * The config and the CPU count probably won't change during the process
+	 * lifetime, so cache the result in case we invoke multiple hooks during
+	 * one process.
+	 */
+	static int jobs = 0;
+	if (jobs)
+		return jobs;
+
+	if (git_config_get_int("hook.jobs", &jobs))
+		/* if the config isn't set, fall back to CPU count. */
+		jobs = online_cpus();
+
+	return jobs;
+}
+
 int run_hooks(const char *hook_name, struct list_head *hooks,
 	      struct run_hooks_opt *options)
 {
@@ -217,7 +239,6 @@ int run_hooks(const char *hook_name, struct list_head *hooks,
 		.options = options,
 		.invoked_hook = options->invoked_hook,
 	};
-	int jobs = 1;
 
 	if (!options)
 		BUG("a struct run_hooks_opt must be provided to run_hooks");
@@ -225,7 +246,11 @@ int run_hooks(const char *hook_name, struct list_head *hooks,
 	cb_data.head = hooks;
 	cb_data.run_me = list_first_entry(hooks, struct hook, list);
 
-	run_processes_parallel_tr2(jobs,
+	/* INIT_PARALLEL sets jobs to 0, so go look up how many to use. */
+	if (!options->jobs)
+		options->jobs = configured_hook_jobs();
+
+	run_processes_parallel_tr2(options->jobs,
 				   pick_next_hook,
 				   notify_start_failure,
 				   options->feed_pipe,
@@ -244,7 +269,11 @@ int run_hooks_oneshot(const char *hook_name, struct run_hooks_opt *options)
 {
 	struct list_head *hooks;
 	int ret = 0;
-	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt_scratch = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	/*
+	 * Turn on parallelism by default. Hooks which don't want it should
+	 * specify their options accordingly.
+	 */
+	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt_scratch = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 	if (!options)
 		options = &hook_opt_scratch;
diff --git a/hook.h b/hook.h
index 49b4c335f86..fe16ab35028 100644
--- a/hook.h
+++ b/hook.h
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ struct run_hooks_opt
 	/* Args to be passed to each hook */
 	struct strvec args;
 
+	/*
+	 * Number of threads to parallelize across. Set to 0 to use the
+	 * 'hook.jobs' config or, if that config is unset, the number of cores
+	 * on the system.
+	 */
+	int jobs;
+
 	/*
 	 * Resolve and run the "absolute_path(hook)" instead of
 	 * "hook". Used for "git worktree" hooks
@@ -68,7 +75,14 @@ struct run_hooks_opt
 	int *invoked_hook;
 };
 
-#define RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT { \
+#define RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_SERIAL { \
+	.jobs = 1, \
+	.env = STRVEC_INIT, \
+	.args = STRVEC_INIT, \
+}
+
+#define RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL { \
+	.jobs = 0, \
 	.env = STRVEC_INIT, \
 	.args = STRVEC_INIT, \
 }
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 875f6c1dea5..98e9fb8b04e 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -3069,7 +3069,7 @@ static int do_write_locked_index(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *l
 {
 	int ret;
 	int was_full = !istate->sparse_index;
-	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 	ret = convert_to_sparse(istate);
 
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 73d4a939267..5543b8cdaba 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -2062,7 +2062,7 @@ int ref_update_reject_duplicates(struct string_list *refnames,
 static int run_transaction_hook(struct ref_transaction *transaction,
 				const char *state)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	struct string_list to_stdin = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 	int ret = 0, i;
 
diff --git a/reset.c b/reset.c
index 1237ced8a58..63a9c513409 100644
--- a/reset.c
+++ b/reset.c
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ int reset_head(struct repository *r, struct object_id *oid, const char *action,
 					    reflog_head);
 	}
 	if (run_hook) {
-		struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+		struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
+
 		strvec_pushl(&opt.args,
 			     oid_to_hex(orig ? orig : null_oid()),
 			     oid_to_hex(oid),
diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index db8044ab47d..979cd01c303 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -1148,7 +1148,7 @@ int update_head_with_reflog(const struct commit *old_head,
 static int run_rewrite_hook(const struct object_id *oldoid,
 			    const struct object_id *newoid)
 {
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	struct strbuf tmp = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct string_list to_stdin = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
 	int code;
@@ -4522,7 +4522,7 @@ static int pick_commits(struct repository *r,
 		if (!stat(rebase_path_rewritten_list(), &st) &&
 				st.st_size > 0) {
 			struct child_process notes_cp = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
-			struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+			struct run_hooks_opt hook_opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 
 			notes_cp.in = open(rebase_path_rewritten_list(), O_RDONLY);
 			notes_cp.git_cmd = 1;
diff --git a/transport.c b/transport.c
index 4ca8fc0391d..33da71a108b 100644
--- a/transport.c
+++ b/transport.c
@@ -1204,7 +1204,7 @@ static int run_pre_push_hook(struct transport *transport,
 			     struct ref *remote_refs)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
-	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT_PARALLEL;
 	struct ref *r;
 	struct string_list to_stdin = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 
