diff --git a/libavutil/cpu.c b/libavutil/cpu.c
index 20f0fe1406..a7e5f7f345 100644
--- a/libavutil/cpu.c
+++ b/libavutil/cpu.c
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ int av_cpu_count(void)
 #ifdef TEST
 
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include "avstring.h"
 
 #if !HAVE_GETOPT
 #include "compat/getopt.c"
@@ -245,12 +246,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int cpu_flags_raw = av_get_cpu_flags();
     int cpu_flags_eff;
+    int cpu_count = av_cpu_count();
+    char threads[5] = "auto";
 
     if (cpu_flags_raw < 0)
         return 1;
 
     for (;;) {
-        int c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:");
+        int c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:t:");
         if (c == -1)
             break;
         switch (c) {
@@ -262,6 +265,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             av_set_cpu_flags_mask(cpuflags);
             break;
         }
+        case 't':
+        {
+            int len = av_strlcpy(threads, optarg, sizeof(threads));
+            if (len >= sizeof(threads)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "Invalid thread count '%s'\n", optarg);
+                return 2;
+            }
+        }
         }
     }
 
@@ -272,6 +283,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     print_cpu_flags(cpu_flags_raw, "raw");
     print_cpu_flags(cpu_flags_eff, "effective");
+    fprintf(stderr, "threads = %s (cpu_count = %d)\n", threads, cpu_count);
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tests/fate/libavutil.mak b/tests/fate/libavutil.mak
index 44d88c40ff..7f3329b1d5 100644
--- a/tests/fate/libavutil.mak
+++ b/tests/fate/libavutil.mak
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ fate-blowfish: CMD = run libavutil/blowfish-test
 
 FATE_LIBAVUTIL += fate-cpu
 fate-cpu: libavutil/cpu-test$(EXESUF)
-fate-cpu: CMD = run libavutil/cpu-test $(CPUFLAGS:%=-c%)
+fate-cpu: CMD = run libavutil/cpu-test $(CPUFLAGS:%=-c%) $(THREADS:%=-t%)
 fate-cpu: REF = /dev/null
 
 FATE_LIBAVUTIL += fate-crc