diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
index bb532f3e93a0bcb34dd5204b66efab37f2218772..5bb6c2a37dcff0a8325a01aff9c5b91422a1982a 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ fi
 parallel_cmds() {
     local num_jobs
     local opts OPTIND OPTARG
-    num_jobs="$(nproc)"
+    num_jobs="${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}"
     while getopts ":j:" opts
     do
         case $opt in
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ get_specfiles() {
         fi
         idx=$((idx + 1))
     done
-    ) | parallel -r -j$(nproc) 1>/dev/null
+    ) | parallel -r -j${YASHCHIKI_JOBS} 1>/dev/null
 
     # TODO: DELME
     for sf in "${specfiles[@]}"; do
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ _install_from_buildcache() {
 
     # get all top-level directories that have to be created so that each tar process only creates its own directory
     local toplevel_dirs
-    mapfile -t toplevel_dirs < <(parallel -j "$(nproc)" \
+    mapfile -t toplevel_dirs < <(parallel -j "${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}" \
         "bash -c 'tar Ptf ${BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/{}.tar.gz | head -n 1'" < "${FILE_HASHES_TO_INSTALL_FROM_BUILDCACHE}" \
         | xargs -r dirname | sort | uniq )
 
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ _install_from_buildcache() {
         [ ! -d "${dir}" ] && mkdir -p "${dir}"
     done
 
-    parallel -v -j $(nproc) tar Pxf "${BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/{}.tar.gz" \
+    parallel -v -j ${YASHCHIKI_JOBS} tar Pxf "${BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/{}.tar.gz" \
         < "${FILE_HASHES_TO_INSTALL_FROM_BUILDCACHE}"
 
     # have spack reindex its install contents to find the new packages
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh b/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
index 289c9c1ff0506a9e6924aeba6712f8e0c6c0d594..7a4db2dff9b21922bef6bbd7fef43ad6b30a0a56 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ for package in "${packages_to_fetch[@]}"; do
     echo "Concretizing ${package:0:30} for fetching.." >&2
     # pause if we have sufficient concretizing jobs
     set +x  # do not clobber build log so much
-    while (( $(jobs | wc -l) >= $(nproc) )); do
+    while (( $(jobs | wc -l) >= ${YASHCHIKI_JOBS} )); do
         # call jobs because otherwise we will not exit the loop
         jobs &>/dev/null
         sleep 1
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/update_build_cache_in_container.sh b/lib/yashchiki/update_build_cache_in_container.sh
index 2371d59f4dee9dd088ac1a9a49916c5b66286b20..c16ee96f021b0f7b48738cd11a53b8d36ca068d3 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/update_build_cache_in_container.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/update_build_cache_in_container.sh
@@ -86,9 +86,9 @@ fi
 cd ${MY_SPACK_FOLDER}
 
 get_hashes_to_store \
-    | parallel -r ${args_progress} -j$(nproc) \
+    | parallel -r ${args_progress} -j${YASHCHIKI_JOBS} \
         tar Pcfz "${destination_folder}/{}.tar.gz" \"\$\(spack location -i /{}\)\"
 
 # verify integrity (of actual files, not possible symlinks)
 find "${destination_folder}" -type f -name "*.tar.gz" -print0 \
-    | parallel -r -0 -j$(nproc) "tar Ptf '{}' 1>/dev/null"
+    | parallel -r -0 -j${YASHCHIKI_JOBS} "tar Ptf '{}' 1>/dev/null"
diff --git a/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh b/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
index c599df7b244f8c8aa0266f2575640e8d1a81b822..6b218e11ea607653adf4e445611372bbe15fe853 100755
--- a/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
+++ b/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_SPACK_GCC="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_SPACK_GCC}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_JOBS="${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_CONFIG="/tmp/spack_config"
     export CONTAINER_STYLE="${CONTAINER_STYLE}"
     "${SPACK_INSTALL_SCRIPTS}/complete_spack_install_routine_called_in_post_as_root.sh"
diff --git a/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh b/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
index a1bae05e658a62339df3a95273f38ae3d6f01de2..b6c4353a7bdfb61c36a8a61bc4f68d47a8998f5c 100755
--- a/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
+++ b/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
@@ -77,11 +77,12 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_SPACK_GCC="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_SPACK_GCC}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_JOBS="${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_CONFIG="/tmp/spack_config"
     export YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}"
     export CONTAINER_STYLE="${CONTAINER_STYLE}"
     # Improve efficiency by installing system packages in the background (even
-    # though we set the number of worker to \$(nproc), often times - e.g. when
+    # though we set the number of worker to \${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}, often times - e.g. when
     # concretizing - only one process will be active.)
     # NOTE: For this to work all spack-related dependencies need to be
     # specified under "Inlucde:" above. install_system_dependencies.sh should