diff --git a/include/mimalloc/types.h b/include/mimalloc/types.h
index 77752398..f4bfa07a 100644
--- a/include/mimalloc/types.h
+++ b/include/mimalloc/types.h
@@ -409,6 +409,7 @@ struct mi_heap_s {
   size_t                page_retired_max;                    // largest retired index into the `pages` array.
   mi_heap_t*            next;                                // list of heaps per thread
   mi_memid_t            memid;                               // provenance of the heap struct itseft (meta or os)
+  long                  full_page_retain;                    // how many full pages can be retained per queue (before abondoning them)
   bool                  allow_page_reclaim;                  // `true` if this heap should not reclaim abandoned pages
   bool                  allow_page_abandon;                  // `true` if this heap can abandon pages to reduce memory footprint
   uint8_t               tag;                                 // custom tag, can be used for separating heaps based on the object types
diff --git a/src/free.c b/src/free.c
index 49bf8bf6..14034593 100644
--- a/src/free.c
+++ b/src/free.c
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ static void mi_decl_noinline mi_free_try_collect_mt(mi_page_t* page) {
   // 2. if the page is not too full, we can try to reclaim it for ourselves
   // note: this seems a bad idea but it speeds up some benchmarks (like `larson`) quite a bit.
   if (_mi_option_get_fast(mi_option_reclaim_on_free) != 0 &&
-      !mi_page_is_used_at_frac(page,4) 
+      !mi_page_is_used_at_frac(page,8) 
       // && !mi_page_is_abandoned_mapped(page)
      )
   {
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ static void mi_decl_noinline mi_free_try_collect_mt(mi_page_t* page) {
   }
 
   // 3. if the page is unmapped, try to reabandon so it can possibly be mapped and found for allocations
-  if (!mi_page_is_used_at_frac(page,4) &&  // only reabandon if a full page starts to have enough blocks available to prevent immediate re-abandon of a full page
+  if (!mi_page_is_used_at_frac(page,8) &&  // only reabandon if a full page starts to have enough blocks available to prevent immediate re-abandon of a full page
     !mi_page_is_abandoned_mapped(page) && page->memid.memkind == MI_MEM_ARENA &&
     _mi_arena_page_try_reabandon_to_mapped(page))
   {
diff --git a/src/heap.c b/src/heap.c
index 70162d46..1d8142f7 100644
--- a/src/heap.c
+++ b/src/heap.c
@@ -194,11 +194,16 @@ void _mi_heap_init(mi_heap_t* heap, mi_arena_id_t arena_id, bool noreclaim, uint
   heap->arena_id   = arena_id;
   heap->allow_page_reclaim = !noreclaim;
   heap->allow_page_abandon = (!noreclaim && mi_option_get(mi_option_full_page_retain) >= 0);
+  heap->full_page_retain = mi_option_get_clamp(mi_option_full_page_retain, -1, 32);
   heap->tag        = heap_tag;
   if (heap->tld->is_in_threadpool) {
     // if we run as part of a thread pool it is better to not arbitrarily reclaim abandoned pages into our heap.
     // (but abandoning is good in this case)
     heap->allow_page_reclaim = false;
+    // and halve the full page retain (possibly to 0)
+    if (heap->full_page_retain >= 0) {
+      heap->full_page_retain = heap->full_page_retain / 2;
+    }
   }
   
   if (heap->tld->heap_backing == NULL) {
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index a5a0819e..85588970 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ mi_decl_cache_align const mi_heap_t _mi_heap_empty = {
   MI_BIN_FULL, 0,   // page retired min/max
   NULL,             // next
   MI_MEMID_STATIC,  // memid
+  0,                // full page retain
   false,            // can reclaim
   true,             // can eager abandon
   0,                // tag
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@ mi_decl_cache_align mi_heap_t _mi_heap_main = {
   MI_BIN_FULL, 0,   // page retired min/max
   NULL,             // next heap
   MI_MEMID_STATIC,  // memid
+  2,                // full page retain
   true,             // allow page reclaim
   true,             // allow page abandon
   0,                // tag
@@ -224,6 +226,8 @@ static void mi_heap_main_init(void) {
     mi_lock_init(&mi_subproc_default.abandoned_os_lock);
     mi_lock_init(&mi_subproc_default.abandoned_os_visit_lock);
     _mi_heap_guarded_init(&_mi_heap_main);
+    _mi_heap_main.allow_page_abandon = (mi_option_get(mi_option_full_page_retain) >= 0);
+    _mi_heap_main.full_page_retain   = mi_option_get_clamp(mi_option_full_page_retain, -1, 32);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/page.c b/src/page.c
index 98319e53..a90c1d7d 100644
--- a/src/page.c
+++ b/src/page.c
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ static mi_decl_noinline mi_page_t* mi_page_queue_find_free_ex(mi_heap_t* heap, m
   size_t count = 0;
   #endif
   long candidate_limit = 0;          // we reset this on the first candidate to limit the search
-  long full_page_retain = _mi_option_get_fast(mi_option_full_page_retain);
+  long full_page_retain = heap->full_page_retain;
   mi_page_t* page_candidate = NULL;  // a page with free space
   mi_page_t* page = pq->first;