diff --git a/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/runtime/scheduler.md b/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/runtime/scheduler.md
index ab8089a647..ead981b6d6 100644
--- a/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/runtime/scheduler.md
+++ b/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/runtime/scheduler.md
@@ -175,11 +175,12 @@ Actions:
 1. Set `SessionStartBlock` to current block number.
 1. Clear all `Some` members of `AvailabilityCores`. Return all parathread claims to queue with retries un-incremented.
 1. Set `configuration = Configuration::configuration()` (see [`HostConfiguration`](../types/runtime.md#host-configuration))
-1. Resize `AvailabilityCores` to have length `Paras::parachains().len() + configuration.parathread_cores with all`None` entries.
+1. Resize `AvailabilityCores` to have length `Paras::parachains().len() + configuration.parathread_cores with all `None` entries.
 1. Compute new validator groups by shuffling using a secure randomness beacon
    - We need a total of `N = Paras::parachains().len() + configuration.parathread_cores` validator groups.
-   - The total number of validators `V` in the `SessionChangeNotification`'s `validators` may not be evenly divided by `V`.
    - First, we obtain "shuffled validators" `SV` by shuffling the validators using the `SessionChangeNotification`'s random seed.
+   - Then, we truncate `SV` to have at most `configuration.max_validators_per_core * N` members, if `configuration.max_validators_per_core` is `Some`.
+   - Note that the total number of validators `V` in `SV` may not be evenly divided by `N`.
    - The groups are selected by partitioning `SV`. The first V % N groups will have (V / N) + 1 members, while the remaining groups will have (V / N) members each.
 1. Prune the parathread queue to remove all retries beyond `configuration.parathread_retries`.
    - Also prune all parathread claims corresponding to de-registered parathreads.
diff --git a/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/types/runtime.md b/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/types/runtime.md
index 7900a6edab..332860d470 100644
--- a/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/types/runtime.md
+++ b/polkadot/roadmap/implementers-guide/src/types/runtime.md
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ struct HostConfiguration {
 	pub thread_availability_period: BlockNumber,
 	/// The amount of blocks ahead to schedule parathreads.
 	pub scheduling_lookahead: u32,
+	/// The maximum number of validators to have per core. `None` means no maximum.
+	pub max_validators_per_core: Option<u32>,
 	/// The amount of sessions to keep for disputes.
 	pub dispute_period: SessionIndex,
 	/// The amount of consensus slots that must pass between submitting an assignment and
diff --git a/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/configuration.rs b/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/configuration.rs
index 159caadabb..2c413b7d61 100644
--- a/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/configuration.rs
+++ b/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/configuration.rs
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ pub struct HostConfiguration<BlockNumber> {
 	pub thread_availability_period: BlockNumber,
 	/// The amount of blocks ahead to schedule parachains and parathreads.
 	pub scheduling_lookahead: u32,
+	/// The maximum number of validators to have per core. `None` means no maximum.
+	pub max_validators_per_core: Option<u32>,
 	/// The amount of sessions to keep for disputes.
 	pub dispute_period: SessionIndex,
 	/// The amount of consensus slots that must pass between submitting an assignment and
@@ -271,6 +273,16 @@ decl_module! {
 			Ok(())
 		}
 
+		/// Set the maximum number of validators to assign to any core.
+		#[weight = (1_000, DispatchClass::Operational)]
+		pub fn set_max_validators_per_core(origin, new: Option<u32>) -> DispatchResult {
+			ensure_root(origin)?;
+			Self::update_config_member(|config| {
+				sp_std::mem::replace(&mut config.max_validators_per_core, new) != new
+			});
+			Ok(())
+		}
+
 		/// Set the dispute period, in number of sessions to keep for disputes.
 		#[weight = (1_000, DispatchClass::Operational)]
 		pub fn set_dispute_period(origin, new: SessionIndex) -> DispatchResult {
@@ -582,6 +594,7 @@ mod tests {
 				chain_availability_period: 10,
 				thread_availability_period: 8,
 				scheduling_lookahead: 3,
+				max_validators_per_core: None,
 				dispute_period: 239,
 				no_show_slots: 240,
 				n_delay_tranches: 241,
@@ -645,6 +658,9 @@ mod tests {
 			Configuration::set_scheduling_lookahead(
 				Origin::root(), new_config.scheduling_lookahead,
 			).unwrap();
+			Configuration::set_max_validators_per_core(
+				Origin::root(), new_config.max_validators_per_core,
+			).unwrap();
 			Configuration::set_dispute_period(
 				Origin::root(), new_config.dispute_period,
 			).unwrap();
diff --git a/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/scheduler.rs b/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/scheduler.rs
index 8f4b0d55ef..139e2dfa6a 100644
--- a/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/scheduler.rs
+++ b/polkadot/runtime/parachains/src/scheduler.rs
@@ -273,8 +273,17 @@ impl<T: Config> Module<T> {
 
 			shuffled_indices.shuffle(&mut rng);
 
-			let group_base_size = validators.len() / n_cores as usize;
-			let n_larger_groups = validators.len() % n_cores as usize;
+			// trim to max per cores. do this after shuffling.
+			{
+				if let Some(max_per_core) = config.max_validators_per_core {
+					let max_total = max_per_core * n_cores;
+					shuffled_indices.truncate(max_total as usize);
+				}
+			}
+
+			let group_base_size = shuffled_indices.len() / n_cores as usize;
+			let n_larger_groups = shuffled_indices.len() % n_cores as usize;
+
 			let groups: Vec<Vec<_>> = (0..n_cores).map(|core_id| {
 				let n_members = if (core_id as usize) < n_larger_groups {
 					group_base_size + 1
@@ -1055,6 +1064,68 @@ mod tests {
 		});
 	}
 
+	#[test]
+	fn session_change_takes_only_max_per_core() {
+		let config = {
+			let mut config = default_config();
+			config.parathread_cores = 0;
+			config.max_validators_per_core = Some(1);
+			config
+		};
+
+		let genesis_config = MockGenesisConfig {
+			configuration: crate::configuration::GenesisConfig {
+				config: config.clone(),
+				..Default::default()
+			},
+			..Default::default()
+		};
+
+		new_test_ext(genesis_config).execute_with(|| {
+			let chain_a = ParaId::from(1);
+			let chain_b = ParaId::from(2);
+
+			// ensure that we have 5 groups by registering 2 parachains.
+			Paras::schedule_para_initialize(chain_a, ParaGenesisArgs {
+				genesis_head: Vec::new().into(),
+				validation_code: Vec::new().into(),
+				parachain: true,
+			});
+			Paras::schedule_para_initialize(chain_b, ParaGenesisArgs {
+				genesis_head: Vec::new().into(),
+				validation_code: Vec::new().into(),
+				parachain: true,
+			});
+
+			run_to_block(1, |number| match number {
+				1 => Some(SessionChangeNotification {
+					new_config: config.clone(),
+					validators: vec![
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Alice.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Bob.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Charlie.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Dave.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Eve.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::Ferdie.public()),
+						ValidatorId::from(Sr25519Keyring::One.public()),
+					],
+					random_seed: [99; 32],
+					..Default::default()
+				}),
+				_ => None,
+			});
+
+			let groups = ValidatorGroups::get();
+			assert_eq!(groups.len(), 2);
+
+			// Even though there are 7 validators, only 1 validator per group
+			// due to the max.
+			for i in 0..2 {
+				assert_eq!(groups[i].len(), 1);
+			}
+		});
+	}
+
 	#[test]
 	fn schedule_schedules() {
 		let genesis_config = MockGenesisConfig {