diff --git a/chain/messagepool/messagepool.go b/chain/messagepool/messagepool.go
index 951c74a2c..556c20198 100644
--- a/chain/messagepool/messagepool.go
+++ b/chain/messagepool/messagepool.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var minimumBaseFee = types.NewInt(uint64(build.MinimumBaseFee))
 
 var MaxActorPendingMessages = 1000
 
-var MaxNonceGap = uint64(runtime.NumCPU())
+var MaxNonceGap = uint64(16)
 
 var (
 	ErrMessageTooBig = errors.New("message too big")
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ const (
 	localUpdates = "update"
 )
 
+func init() {
+	numcpus := uint64(runtime.NumCPU())
+	if numcpus < MaxNonceGap {
+		MaxNonceGap = numcpus
+	}
+}
+
 type MessagePool struct {
 	lk sync.Mutex