diff --git a/examples/common.cpp b/examples/common.cpp
index 5608ca87f..7a1928f2b 100644
--- a/examples/common.cpp
+++ b/examples/common.cpp
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ bool gpt_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, gpt_params & params) {
                 break;
             }
             params.n_threads = std::stoi(argv[i]);
+            if (params.n_threads <= 0) {
+                params.n_threads = std::thread::hardware_concurrency();
+            }
         } else if (arg == "-p" || arg == "--prompt") {
             if (++i >= argc) {
                 invalid_param = true;