diff --git a/olmocr/pipeline.py b/olmocr/pipeline.py
index e4d5d14..f0bf6ee 100644
--- a/olmocr/pipeline.py
+++ b/olmocr/pipeline.py
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ pdf_s3 = boto3.client("s3")
 metrics = MetricsKeeper(window=60 * 5)
 tracker = WorkerTracker()
 
-# Process pool for offloading cpu bound work, like calculating anchor texts, max 32 workers, otherwise it can spawn way too many workers on a big machine
-process_pool = ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=min(multiprocessing.cpu_count() // 2 + 1, 32), mp_context=multiprocessing.get_context("spawn"))
+pdf_render_max_workers = asyncio.BoundedSemaphore(int(os.environ.get("BEAKER_ASSIGNED_CPU_COUNT", max(1, multiprocessing.cpu_count() - 2))))
 
 # Filter object, cached so it will only get loaded when/if you need it
 get_pdf_filter = cache(lambda: PdfFilter(languages_to_keep={Language.ENGLISH, None}, apply_download_spam_check=True, apply_form_check=True))
@@ -109,8 +108,9 @@ async def build_page_query(local_pdf_path: str, page: int, target_longest_image_
     MAX_TOKENS = 4500
     assert image_rotation in [0, 90, 180, 270], "Invalid image rotation provided in build_page_query"
 
-    # Allow the page rendering to process in the background while we get the anchor text (which blocks the main thread)
-    image_base64 = await asyncio.to_thread(render_pdf_to_base64png, local_pdf_path, page, target_longest_image_dim=target_longest_image_dim)
+    # Allow the page rendering to process in the background, but limit the number of workers otherwise you can overload the system
+    async with pdf_render_max_workers:
+        image_base64 = await asyncio.to_thread(render_pdf_to_base64png, local_pdf_path, page, target_longest_image_dim=target_longest_image_dim)
 
     if image_rotation != 0:
         image_bytes = base64.b64decode(image_base64)
@@ -1235,9 +1235,6 @@ async def main():
     # Wait for all worker tasks to finish
     await asyncio.gather(*worker_tasks)
 
-    # Wait for server to stop
-    process_pool.shutdown(wait=False)
-
     vllm_server.cancel()
     metrics_task.cancel()