diff --git a/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/lit.rst b/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/lit.rst
--- a/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/lit.rst
+++ b/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/lit.rst
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@
 .. option:: -j N, --workers=N
 
  Run ``N`` tests in parallel.  By default, this is automatically chosen to
- match the number of detected available CPUs.
+ match the number of detected available CPUs. The environment variable
+ ``LIT_WORKERS`` can be also used in place of this option, which is especially
+ useful in environments where the call to ``lit`` is issued indirectly.
 
 .. option:: --config-prefix=NAME
 
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/lit/cl_arguments.py b/llvm/utils/lit/lit/cl_arguments.py
--- a/llvm/utils/lit/lit/cl_arguments.py
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/lit/cl_arguments.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
             metavar="N",
             help="Number of workers used for testing",
             type=_positive_int,
-            default=lit.util.usable_core_count())
+            default=os.environ.get("LIT_WORKERS", lit.util.usable_core_count()))
     parser.add_argument("--config-prefix",
             dest="configPrefix",
             metavar="NAME",
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/lit.cfg b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/lit.cfg
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/lit.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import lit.formats
+config.name = 'lit-workers'
+config.suffixes = ['.txt']
+config.test_format = lit.formats.ShTest()
+config.test_source_root = None
+config.test_exec_root = None
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test1.txt b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test1.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# RUN: true
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test2.txt b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test2.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test2.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# RUN: true
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test3.txt b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test3.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test3.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# RUN: true
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test4.txt b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test4.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/Inputs/lit-workers/test4.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# RUN: true
diff --git a/llvm/utils/lit/tests/lit-workers.py b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/lit-workers.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/utils/lit/tests/lit-workers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Check that the number of workers can be specified via the `-j` argument.
+# RUN:                   %{lit} -s %{inputs}/lit-workers -j 4 | FileCheck %s
+
+# Check that the number of workers can be specified via the `LIT_WORKERS`
+# environment variable.
+# RUN: env LIT_WORKERS=4 %{lit} -s %{inputs}/lit-workers      | FileCheck %s
+
+# Check that the number of workers specified via the `LIT_WORKERS` environment
+# variable can be overwritten by the `-j` argument.
+# RUN: env LIT_WORKERS=2 %{lit} -s %{inputs}/lit-workers -j 4 | FileCheck %s
+
+# CHECK: 4 workers