diff --git a/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.cpp b/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.cpp
index c0b06339a9..cdccf4b1b9 100644
--- a/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.cpp
+++ b/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ MediaLib::MediaLib(intf_thread_t *_intf, QObject *_parent)
 {
     m_event_cb.reset( vlc_ml_event_register_callback( m_ml, MediaLib::onMediaLibraryEvent,
                                                       this ) );
+
+    /* https://xkcd.com/221/ */
+    m_threadPool.setMaxThreadCount(4);
 }
 
 void MediaLib::addToPlaylist(const QString& mrl, const QStringList* options)
diff --git a/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.hpp b/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.hpp
index d7646ea999..2274c359cd 100644
--- a/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.hpp
+++ b/modules/gui/qt/medialibrary/medialib.hpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <QMetaObject>
 #include <QMetaMethod>
 #include <QQmlEngine>
+#include <QThreadPool>
 
 #include <memory>
 
@@ -65,6 +66,8 @@ public:
 
     vlc_medialibrary_t* vlcMl();
 
+    QThreadPool &threadPool() { return m_threadPool; }
+
 signals:
     void reloadStarted();
     void reloadCompleted();
@@ -90,4 +93,5 @@ private:
     vlc_medialibrary_t* m_ml;
     std::unique_ptr<vlc_ml_event_callback_t, std::function<void(vlc_ml_event_callback_t*)>> m_event_cb;
 
+    QThreadPool m_threadPool;
 };