diff --git a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.asciidoc b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.asciidoc
index f33280bf..d651fbbe 100644
--- a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.asciidoc
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ Options
 	A string such as ``i686-pc-linux-gnu''; do not touch this unless you know what
 	you are doing. This can be commented out by most users if desired.
 
+**NPROC=**""::
+	Sets the number of processors to use for parallel jobs in makepkg.
+	Note: this does not affect paralization of task during ``build()`` and
+	related functions.
+
 **CPPFLAGS=**"cppflags"::
 	Flags used for the C preprocessor; see CFLAGS for more information.
 
diff --git a/etc/makepkg.conf.in b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
index 0a9c05e2..5e910c01 100644
--- a/etc/makepkg.conf.in
+++ b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ VCSCLIENTS=('bzr::breezy'
 CARCH="@CARCH@"
 CHOST="@CHOST@"
 
+#NPROC=2
+
 #-- Compiler and Linker Flags
 #CPPFLAGS=""
 #CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"
diff --git a/scripts/libmakepkg/lint_config/variable.sh.in b/scripts/libmakepkg/lint_config/variable.sh.in
index 2bc61b01..0ba45b45 100644
--- a/scripts/libmakepkg/lint_config/variable.sh.in
+++ b/scripts/libmakepkg/lint_config/variable.sh.in
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ lint_config_variables() {
 	local array=(DLAGENTS VCSCLIENTS BUILDENV OPTIONS INTEGRITY_CHECK MAN_DIRS
 	             DOC_DIRS PURGE_TARGETS COMPRESSGZ COMPRESSBZ2 COMPRESSXZ
 	             COMPRESSLRZ COMPRESSLZO COMPRESSZ)
-	local string=(CARCH CHOST CPPFLAGS CFLAGS CXXFLAGS LDFLAGS LTOFLAGS DEBUG_CFLAGS
-	              DEBUG_CXXFLAGS DISTCC_HOSTS BUILDDIR STRIP_BINARIES STRIP_SHARED
-	              STRIP_STATIC PKGDEST SRCDEST SRCPKGDEST LOGDEST PACKAGER GPGKEY
-	              PKGEXT SRCEXT)
+	local string=(CARCH CHOST NPROC CPPFLAGS CFLAGS CXXFLAGS LDFLAGS LTOFLAGS
+	              DEBUG_CFLAGS DEBUG_CXXFLAGS DISTCC_HOSTS BUILDDIR STRIP_BINARIES
+	              STRIP_SHARED STRIP_STATIC PKGDEST SRCDEST SRCPKGDEST LOGDEST
+	              PACKAGER GPGKEY PKGEXT SRCEXT)
 
 	local i keys ret=0
 
@@ -66,5 +66,8 @@ lint_config_variables() {
 		warning "$(gettext "PACKAGER should have the format 'Example Name <email@address.invalid>'")"
 	fi
 
+	# provide default value if NPROC is not set
+	[[ -z $NPROC ]] && NPROC=1
+
 	return $ret
 }