diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
index 3b0582ac0..534e4e7ff 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStream;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemWriter;
 import org.springframework.batch.repeat.CompletionPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.repeat.policy.SimpleCompletionPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.repeat.support.TaskExecutorRepeatTemplate;
 import org.springframework.batch.retry.RetryListener;
 import org.springframework.batch.retry.policy.MapRetryContextCache;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanNameAware;
@@ -108,6 +109,8 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 
 	private TaskExecutor taskExecutor;
 
+	private Integer throttleLimit;
+
 	private ItemReader<? extends I> itemReader;
 
 	private ItemProcessor<? super I, ? extends O> itemProcessor;
@@ -204,6 +207,9 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 		if (taskExecutor != null) {
 			fb.setTaskExecutor(taskExecutor);
 		}
+		if (throttleLimit != null) {
+			fb.setThrottleLimit(throttleLimit);
+		}
 		if (itemReader != null) {
 			fb.setItemReader(itemReader);
 		}
@@ -574,6 +580,18 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 		this.taskExecutor = taskExecutor;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Public setter for the throttle limit. This limits the number of tasks
+	 * queued for concurrent processing to prevent thread pools from being
+	 * overwhelmed. Defaults to
+	 * {@link TaskExecutorRepeatTemplate#DEFAULT_THROTTLE_LIMIT}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param throttleLimit the throttle limit to set.
+	 */
+	public void setThrottleLimit(Integer throttleLimit) {
+		this.throttleLimit = throttleLimit;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @param itemReader the {@link ItemReader} to set
 	 */
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
index 5b2b00f0a..9f8241f3d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
@@ -567,6 +567,15 @@
 				</xsd:appinfo>
 			</xsd:annotation>
 		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="throttle-limit" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+				This limits the number of tasks queued for concurrent 
+				processing to prevent thread pools from being overwhelmed. 
+				Default is 4.
+				]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+		</xsd:attribute>
 		<xsd:attribute name="chunk-completion-policy" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
 			<xsd:annotation>
 				<xsd:documentation source="java:org.springframework.batch.repeat.CompletionPolicy"><![CDATA[