diff --git a/src/vlib/unix/input.c b/src/vlib/unix/input.c
index ecf659b..0c29844 100644
--- a/src/vlib/unix/input.c
+++ b/src/vlib/unix/input.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include <vlib/vlib.h>
 #include <vlib/unix/unix.h>
 #include <signal.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include <vppinfra/tw_timer_1t_3w_1024sl_ov.h>
 
 /* FIXME autoconf */
@@ -53,23 +54,23 @@
 {
   int epoll_fd;
   struct epoll_event *epoll_events;
+  int n_epoll_fds;
 
   /* Statistics. */
   u64 epoll_files_ready;
   u64 epoll_waits;
 } linux_epoll_main_t;
 
-static linux_epoll_main_t linux_epoll_main;
+static linux_epoll_main_t *linux_epoll_mains = 0;
 
 static void
 linux_epoll_file_update (clib_file_t * f, clib_file_update_type_t update_type)
 {
   clib_file_main_t *fm = &file_main;
-  linux_epoll_main_t *em = &linux_epoll_main;
-  struct epoll_event e;
-  int op;
-
-  memset (&e, 0, sizeof (e));
+  linux_epoll_main_t *em = vec_elt_at_index (linux_epoll_mains,
+					     f->polling_thread_index);
+  struct epoll_event e = { 0 };
+  int op, add_del = 0;
 
   e.events = EPOLLIN;
   if (f->flags & UNIX_FILE_DATA_AVAILABLE_TO_WRITE)
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@
     {
     case UNIX_FILE_UPDATE_ADD:
       op = EPOLL_CTL_ADD;
+      add_del = 1;
       break;
 
     case UNIX_FILE_UPDATE_MODIFY:
@@ -92,6 +94,7 @@
 
     case UNIX_FILE_UPDATE_DELETE:
       op = EPOLL_CTL_DEL;
+      add_del = -1;
       break;
 
     default:
@@ -99,19 +102,43 @@
       return;
     }
 
+  /* worker threads open epoll fd only if needed */
+  if (update_type == UNIX_FILE_UPDATE_ADD && em->epoll_fd == -1)
+    {
+      em->epoll_fd = epoll_create (1);
+      if (em->epoll_fd < 0)
+	{
+	  clib_unix_warning ("epoll_create");
+	  return;
+	}
+      em->n_epoll_fds = 0;
+    }
+
   if (epoll_ctl (em->epoll_fd, op, f->file_descriptor, &e) < 0)
-    clib_unix_warning ("epoll_ctl");
+    {
+      clib_unix_warning ("epoll_ctl");
+      return;
+    }
+
+  em->n_epoll_fds += add_del;
+
+  if (em->n_epoll_fds == 0)
+    {
+      close (em->epoll_fd);
+      em->epoll_fd = -1;
+    }
 }
 
-static uword
-linux_epoll_input (vlib_main_t * vm,
-		   vlib_node_runtime_t * node, vlib_frame_t * frame)
+static_always_inline uword
+linux_epoll_input_inline (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_node_runtime_t * node,
+			  vlib_frame_t * frame, u32 thread_index)
 {
   unix_main_t *um = &unix_main;
   clib_file_main_t *fm = &file_main;
-  linux_epoll_main_t *em = &linux_epoll_main;
+  linux_epoll_main_t *em = vec_elt_at_index (linux_epoll_mains, thread_index);
   struct epoll_event *e;
   int n_fds_ready;
+  int is_main = (thread_index == 0);
 
   {
     vlib_node_main_t *nm = &vm->node_main;
@@ -121,7 +148,7 @@
     f64 vector_rate = vlib_last_vectors_per_main_loop (vm);
 
     /* If we're not working very hard, decide how long to sleep */
-    if (vector_rate < 2 && vm->api_queue_nonempty == 0
+    if (is_main && vector_rate < 2 && vm->api_queue_nonempty == 0
 	&& nm->input_node_counts_by_state[VLIB_NODE_STATE_POLLING] == 0)
       {
 	ticks_until_expiration = TW (tw_timer_first_expires_in_ticks)
@@ -148,6 +175,13 @@
 	  }
 	node->input_main_loops_per_call = 0;
       }
+    else if (is_main == 0 && vector_rate < 2 &&
+	     nm->input_node_counts_by_state[VLIB_NODE_STATE_POLLING] == 0)
+      {
+	timeout = 10e-3;
+	timeout_ms = max_timeout_ms;
+	node->input_main_loops_per_call = 0;
+      }
     else			/* busy */
       {
 	/* Don't come back for a respectable number of dispatch cycles */
@@ -155,21 +189,28 @@
       }
 
     /* Allow any signal to wakeup our sleep. */
-    {
-      static sigset_t unblock_all_signals;
-      n_fds_ready = epoll_pwait (em->epoll_fd,
-				 em->epoll_events,
-				 vec_len (em->epoll_events),
-				 timeout_ms, &unblock_all_signals);
+    if (is_main || em->epoll_fd != -1)
+      {
+	static sigset_t unblock_all_signals;
+	n_fds_ready = epoll_pwait (em->epoll_fd,
+				   em->epoll_events,
+				   vec_len (em->epoll_events),
+				   timeout_ms, &unblock_all_signals);
 
-      /* This kludge is necessary to run over absurdly old kernels */
-      if (n_fds_ready < 0 && errno == ENOSYS)
-	{
-	  n_fds_ready = epoll_wait (em->epoll_fd,
-				    em->epoll_events,
-				    vec_len (em->epoll_events), timeout_ms);
-	}
-    }
+	/* This kludge is necessary to run over absurdly old kernels */
+	if (n_fds_ready < 0 && errno == ENOSYS)
+	  {
+	    n_fds_ready = epoll_wait (em->epoll_fd,
+				      em->epoll_events,
+				      vec_len (em->epoll_events), timeout_ms);
+	  }
+      }
+    else
+      {
+	if (timeout_ms)
+	  usleep (timeout_ms * 1000);
+	return 0;
+      }
   }
 
   if (n_fds_ready < 0)
@@ -196,11 +237,13 @@
 	  if (e->events & EPOLLIN)
 	    {
 	      errors[n_errors] = f->read_function (f);
+	      f->read_events++;
 	      n_errors += errors[n_errors] != 0;
 	    }
 	  if (e->events & EPOLLOUT)
 	    {
 	      errors[n_errors] = f->write_function (f);
+	      f->write_events++;
 	      n_errors += errors[n_errors] != 0;
 	    }
 	}
@@ -209,6 +252,7 @@
 	  if (f->error_function)
 	    {
 	      errors[n_errors] = f->error_function (f);
+	      f->error_events++;
 	      n_errors += errors[n_errors] != 0;
 	    }
 	  else
@@ -225,6 +269,18 @@
   return 0;
 }
 
+static uword
+linux_epoll_input (vlib_main_t * vm,
+		   vlib_node_runtime_t * node, vlib_frame_t * frame)
+{
+  u32 thread_index = vlib_get_thread_index ();
+
+  if (thread_index == 0)
+    return linux_epoll_input_inline (vm, node, frame, 0);
+  else
+    return linux_epoll_input_inline (vm, node, frame, thread_index);
+}
+
 /* *INDENT-OFF* */
 VLIB_REGISTER_NODE (linux_epoll_input_node,static) = {
   .function = linux_epoll_input,
@@ -236,15 +292,28 @@
 clib_error_t *
 linux_epoll_input_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
 {
-  linux_epoll_main_t *em = &linux_epoll_main;
+  linux_epoll_main_t *em;
   clib_file_main_t *fm = &file_main;
+  vlib_thread_main_t *tm = vlib_get_thread_main ();
 
-  /* Allocate some events. */
-  vec_resize (em->epoll_events, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE);
 
-  em->epoll_fd = epoll_create (vec_len (em->epoll_events));
-  if (em->epoll_fd < 0)
-    return clib_error_return_unix (0, "epoll_create");
+  vec_validate_aligned (linux_epoll_mains, tm->n_vlib_mains,
+			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+
+  vec_foreach (em, linux_epoll_mains)
+  {
+    /* Allocate some events. */
+    vec_resize (em->epoll_events, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE);
+
+    if (linux_epoll_mains == em)
+      {
+	em->epoll_fd = epoll_create (1);
+	if (em->epoll_fd < 0)
+	  return clib_error_return_unix (0, "epoll_create");
+      }
+    else
+      em->epoll_fd = -1;
+  }
 
   fm->file_update = linux_epoll_file_update;