diff --git a/include/delivery.php b/include/delivery.php
index 794b8f27a3..28d81226a4 100644
--- a/include/delivery.php
+++ b/include/delivery.php
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ function delivery_run($argv, $argc){
 		return;
 	}	
 
+	$maxsysload = intval(get_config('system','maxloadavg'));
+	if($maxsysload < 1)
+		$maxsysload = 50;
+	if(function_exists('sys_getloadavg')) {
+		$load = sys_getloadavg();
+		if(intval($load[0]) > $maxsysload) {
+			logger('system: load ' . $load . ' too high. Delivery deferred to next queue run.');
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+
 	// It's ours to deliver. Remove it from the queue.
 
 	q("delete from deliverq where cmd = '%s' and item = %d and contact = %d limit 1",
diff --git a/include/poller.php b/include/poller.php
index 0a0e66b865..f6553c8460 100644
--- a/include/poller.php
+++ b/include/poller.php
@@ -30,6 +30,17 @@ function poller_run($argv, $argc){
 	load_config('config');
 	load_config('system');
 
+	$maxsysload = intval(get_config('system','maxloadavg'));
+	if($maxsysload < 1)
+		$maxsysload = 50;
+	if(function_exists('sys_getloadavg')) {
+		$load = sys_getloadavg();
+		if(intval($load[0]) > $maxsysload) {
+			logger('system: load ' . $load . ' too high. Poller deferred to next scheduled run.');
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+
 	$lockpath = get_config('system','lockpath');
 	if ($lockpath != '') {
 		$pidfile = new pidfile($lockpath, 'poller.lck');
@@ -39,6 +50,8 @@ function poller_run($argv, $argc){
 		}
 	}
 
+
+
 	$a->set_baseurl(get_config('system','url'));
 
 	load_hooks();
diff --git a/mod/admin.php b/mod/admin.php
index b07ef851a1..cfe5a2dd2c 100644
--- a/mod/admin.php
+++ b/mod/admin.php
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ function admin_page_site_post(&$a){
 	$proxy				=	((x($_POST,'proxy'))			? notags(trim($_POST['proxy']))	: '');
 	$timeout			=	((x($_POST,'timeout'))			? intval(trim($_POST['timeout']))		: 60);
 	$delivery_interval	=	((x($_POST,'delivery_interval'))? intval(trim($_POST['delivery_interval']))		: 0);
+	$maxloadavg	        =	((x($_POST,'maxloadavg'))       ? intval(trim($_POST['maxloadavg']))		: 50);
 	$dfrn_only          =	((x($_POST,'dfrn_only'))	    ? True	:	False);
 	$ostatus_disabled   =   !((x($_POST,'ostatus_disabled')) ? True  :   False);
 	$diaspora_enabled   =   ((x($_POST,'diaspora_enabled')) ? True   :  False);
@@ -290,6 +291,7 @@ function admin_page_site_post(&$a){
 	}
 	set_config('system','ssl_policy',$ssl_policy);
 	set_config('system','delivery_interval',$delivery_interval);
+	set_config('system','maxloadavg',$maxloadavg);
 	set_config('config','sitename',$sitename);
 	if ($banner==""){
 		// don't know why, but del_config doesn't work...
@@ -434,7 +436,7 @@ function admin_page_site(&$a) {
 		'$proxy'			=> array('proxy', t("Proxy URL"), get_config('system','proxy'), ""),
 		'$timeout'			=> array('timeout', t("Network timeout"), (x(get_config('system','curl_timeout'))?get_config('system','curl_timeout'):60), t("Value is in seconds. Set to 0 for unlimited (not recommended).")),
 		'$delivery_interval'			=> array('delivery_interval', t("Delivery interval"), (x(get_config('system','delivery_interval'))?get_config('system','delivery_interval'):2), t("Delay background delivery processes by this many seconds to reduce system load. Recommend: 4-5 for shared hosts, 2-3 for virtual private servers. 0-1 for large dedicated servers.")),
-
+		'$maxloadavg'			=> array('maxloadavg', t("Maximum Load Average"), ((intval(get_config('system','maxloadavg')) > 0)?get_config('system','maxloadavg'):50), t("Maximum system load before delivery and poll processes are deferred - default 50.")),
         '$form_security_token' => get_form_security_token("admin_site"),
 			
 	));
diff --git a/view/admin_site.tpl b/view/admin_site.tpl
index 852a2c0bf2..265f2724df 100644
--- a/view/admin_site.tpl
+++ b/view/admin_site.tpl
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
 	{{ inc field_input.tpl with $field=$proxyuser }}{{ endinc }}
 	{{ inc field_input.tpl with $field=$timeout }}{{ endinc }}
 	{{ inc field_input.tpl with $field=$delivery_interval }}{{ endinc }}
+	{{ inc field_input.tpl with $field=$maxloadavg }}{{ endinc }}
 	{{ inc field_input.tpl with $field=$abandon_days }}{{ endinc }}
 	
 	<div class="submit"><input type="submit" name="page_site" value="$submit" /></div>