diff --git a/include/jemalloc/internal/tcache.h b/include/jemalloc/internal/tcache.h
index d2443b12..493f4575 100644
--- a/include/jemalloc/internal/tcache.h
+++ b/include/jemalloc/internal/tcache.h
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ typedef struct tcaches_s tcaches_t;
 #define	TCACHE_STATE_PURGATORY		((tcache_t *)(uintptr_t)3)
 #define	TCACHE_STATE_MAX		TCACHE_STATE_PURGATORY
 
+/*
+ * Absolute minimum number of cache slots for each small bin.
+ */
+#define	TCACHE_NSLOTS_SMALL_MIN		20
+
 /*
  * Absolute maximum number of cache slots for each small bin in the thread
  * cache.  This is an additional constraint beyond that imposed as: twice the
diff --git a/src/tcache.c b/src/tcache.c
index 83e7e36b..3814365c 100644
--- a/src/tcache.c
+++ b/src/tcache.c
@@ -515,7 +515,11 @@ tcache_boot(void)
 		return (true);
 	stack_nelms = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < NBINS; i++) {
-		if ((arena_bin_info[i].nregs << 1) <= TCACHE_NSLOTS_SMALL_MAX) {
+		if ((arena_bin_info[i].nregs << 1) <= TCACHE_NSLOTS_SMALL_MIN) {
+			tcache_bin_info[i].ncached_max =
+			    TCACHE_NSLOTS_SMALL_MIN;
+		} else if ((arena_bin_info[i].nregs << 1) <=
+		    TCACHE_NSLOTS_SMALL_MAX) {
 			tcache_bin_info[i].ncached_max =
 			    (arena_bin_info[i].nregs << 1);
 		} else {