diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 82c724a..c3e9f31 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ############
-# Base 
+# Base
 ############
 FROM alpine:3 AS base
 RUN apk add --no-cache \
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ ENV HEALTHCHECK_PATH="/lb-status/"
 ENV STATIC_LOCATIONS=
 ENV NO_ACCESS_LOGS=0
 ENV LOG_ONLY_5XX=0
+ENV WORKER_CONNECTIONS=1024
 EXPOSE 80
 STOPSIGNAL SIGQUIT
 ENTRYPOINT ["/docker-entrypoint.sh"]
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ WORKDIR /test_uwsgi
 RUN /test_uwsgi/test.sh
 
 ############
-# Final 
+# Final
 ############
 FROM base
 LABEL "com.datadoghq.ad.check_names"='["nginx"]'
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5310e15..e8de132 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ environments such as AWS ECS.
 
 ## Features
 
-- Structured logs with a lot more data than the standard nginx access format. 
+- Structured logs with a lot more data than the standard nginx access format.
 - [uWSGI][] support
 - Support for hosting static assets mounted from another container
 
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Pair nginx-proxy with your favorite upstream server (wsgi, uwsgi, asgi, et al.)
 | `HEALTHCHECK_PATH` | nginx-proxy disables healthcheck path access logs, you can configure the path here | Yes | /lb-status/ | |
 | `NO_ACCESS_LOGS` | disable access logs completely | No | 0 | 1 |
 | `LOG_ONLY_5XX` | only log 5XX HTTP status access events | No | 0 | 1 |
+| `WORKER_CONNECTIONS` | Set the number of allowed worker connections | No | 1024 | 2048 |
 
 ### Hosting Static Assets
 
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ Notable differences from the official [nginx container][]
 
 - [gomplate][] is used to render nginx configuration templates so that image startup
   is aborted if a template variable is missing. This is an improvement over the
-  official image, which uses `envsubst`. 
+  official image, which uses `envsubst`.
 - alpine's official nginx package is used in order to ensure compatibility with
   distro-provided nginx modules. This is another enhancement, as the official
   image cannot be used with alpine's nginx modules.
diff --git a/src/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template b/src/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template
index 9848865..a7889b6 100644
--- a/src/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template
+++ b/src/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ pid        /var/run/nginx.pid;
 load_module /usr/lib/nginx/modules/ngx_http_headers_more_filter_module.so;
 
 events {
-    worker_connections  1024;
+    worker_connections  {{ .Env.WORKER_CONNECTIONS }};
     use epoll;
 }