diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketChannelFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketChannelFactory.java
index b9f06d639d..e77bfc8640 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketChannelFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketChannelFactory.java
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ public class NioClientSocketChannelFactory implements ClientSocketChannelFactory
     private final Executor bossExecutor;
     private final Executor workerExecutor;
     private final NioClientSocketPipelineSink sink;
+    private static final int DEFAULT_BOSS_COUNT = 1;
 
     /**
      * Creates a new instance.  Calling this constructor is same with calling
@@ -118,12 +119,36 @@ public class NioClientSocketChannelFactory implements ClientSocketChannelFactory
     public NioClientSocketChannelFactory(
             Executor bossExecutor, Executor workerExecutor,
             int workerCount) {
+    	this(bossExecutor, workerExecutor, DEFAULT_BOSS_COUNT, workerCount);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Creates a new instance.
+     *
+     * @param bossExecutor
+     *        the {@link Executor} which will execute the boss thread
+     * @param workerExecutor
+     *        the {@link Executor} which will execute the I/O worker threads
+     * @param bossCount
+     *        the maximum number of boss threads
+     * @param workerCount
+     *        the maximum number of I/O worker threads
+     */
+    public NioClientSocketChannelFactory(
+            Executor bossExecutor, Executor workerExecutor,
+            int bossCount, int workerCount) {
+    	
         if (bossExecutor == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException("bossExecutor");
         }
         if (workerExecutor == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException("workerExecutor");
         }
+        if (bossCount <= 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "bossCount (" + bossCount + ") " +
+                    "must be a positive integer.");
+        }
         if (workerCount <= 0) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                     "workerCount (" + workerCount + ") " +
@@ -132,9 +157,10 @@ public class NioClientSocketChannelFactory implements ClientSocketChannelFactory
 
         this.bossExecutor = bossExecutor;
         this.workerExecutor = workerExecutor;
-        sink = new NioClientSocketPipelineSink(bossExecutor, workerExecutor, workerCount);
+        sink = new NioClientSocketPipelineSink(bossExecutor, workerExecutor, bossCount, workerCount);
     }
 
+
     @Override
     public SocketChannel newChannel(ChannelPipeline pipeline) {
         return NioClientSocketChannel.create(this, pipeline, sink, sink.nextWorker());
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketPipelineSink.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketPipelineSink.java
index 276dd2c929..1688d8ece7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketPipelineSink.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioClientSocketPipelineSink.java
@@ -59,17 +59,31 @@ class NioClientSocketPipelineSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
         InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(NioClientSocketPipelineSink.class);
 
     final Executor bossExecutor;
-    private final Boss boss = new Boss();
+    private int numBosses = 1;
+    private final Boss bosses[];
     private final NioWorker[] workers;
+    
+    private final AtomicInteger bossIndex = new AtomicInteger();
     private final AtomicInteger workerIndex = new AtomicInteger();
 
-    NioClientSocketPipelineSink(
-            Executor bossExecutor, Executor workerExecutor, int workerCount) {
+    NioClientSocketPipelineSink(Executor bossExecutor, Executor workerExecutor, int workerCount) {
+        this(bossExecutor, workerExecutor, 1, workerCount);
+    }
+    
+    NioClientSocketPipelineSink(Executor bossExecutor, Executor workerExecutor, int bossCount, int workerCount) {
+    	
         this.bossExecutor = bossExecutor;
+        this.numBosses = bossCount;
+        
         workers = new NioWorker[workerCount];
         for (int i = 0; i < workers.length; i ++) {
             workers[i] = new NioWorker(workerExecutor);
         }
+        
+        bosses = new Boss[numBosses];
+        for (int i = 0; i < numBosses; ++i) {
+        	bosses[i] = new Boss();
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -149,7 +163,7 @@ class NioClientSocketPipelineSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
                 });
                 cf.addListener(ChannelFutureListener.CLOSE_ON_FAILURE);
                 channel.connectFuture = cf;
-                boss.register(channel);
+                nextBoss().register(channel);
             }
 
         } catch (Throwable t) {
@@ -163,6 +177,11 @@ class NioClientSocketPipelineSink extends AbstractChannelSink {
         return workers[Math.abs(
                 workerIndex.getAndIncrement() % workers.length)];
     }
+    
+    Boss nextBoss() {
+        return bosses[Math.abs(
+                bossIndex.getAndIncrement() % bosses.length)];
+    }
 
     private final class Boss implements Runnable {