diff --git a/boot.sh b/boot.sh
index be117d7a..6acf7e26 100644
--- a/boot.sh
+++ b/boot.sh
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 source venv/bin/activate
 
 TANDOOR_PORT="${TANDOOR_PORT:-8080}"
-GUNICORN_WORKERS="${GUNICORN_WORKERS}"
-GUNICORN_THREADS="${GUNICORN_THREADS}"
+GUNICORN_WORKERS="${GUNICORN_WORKERS:-1}"
+GUNICORN_THREADS="${GUNICORN_THREADS:-1}"
 NGINX_CONF_FILE=/opt/recipes/nginx/conf.d/Recipes.conf
 
 display_warning() {