diff --git a/include/common/defaults.h b/include/common/defaults.h
index cfe60e8..198288f 100644
--- a/include/common/defaults.h
+++ b/include/common/defaults.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   include/common/defaults.h
   Miscellaneous default values.
 
-  Copyright (C) 2000-2006 Willy Tarreau - w@1wt.eu
+  Copyright (C) 2000-2007 Willy Tarreau - w@1wt.eu
   
   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
   modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@
 #define MIN_RET_FOR_READ_LOOP 1460
 #endif
 
+// the max number of events returned in one call to poll/epoll. Too small a
+// value will cause lots of calls, and too high a value may cause high latency.
+#ifndef MAX_POLL_EVENTS
+#define MAX_POLL_EVENTS 200
+#endif
+
 // cookie delimitor in "prefix" mode. This character is inserted between the
 // persistence cookie and the original value. The '~' is allowed by RFC2965,
 // and should not be too common in server names.