diff --git a/scripts/autotest_common.sh b/scripts/autotest_common.sh
index a2f059595..59aa42ec9 100755
--- a/scripts/autotest_common.sh
+++ b/scripts/autotest_common.sh
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ case `uname` in
 	FreeBSD)
 		DPDK_DIR=/usr/local/share/dpdk/x86_64-native-bsdapp-clang
 		MAKE=gmake
+		MAKEFLAGS=${MAKEFLAGS:--j$(sysctl -a | egrep -i 'hw.ncpu' | awk '{print $2}')}
 		;;
 	Linux)
 		DPDK_DIR=/usr/local/dpdk-2.1.0/x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc
 		MAKE=make
+		MAKEFLAGS=${MAKEFLAGS:--j$(nproc)}
 		MAKECONFIG="$MAKECONFIG CONFIG_COVERAGE=y"
 		;;
 	*)