diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 486cc662..d9b006b5 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -276,7 +276,9 @@ nova_placement_nginx_extra_conf:
   - keepalive_timeout   70;
 nova_placement_uwsgi_socket_port: 8781
 nova_wsgi_threads: 1
-nova_wsgi_processes: "{{ (ansible_processor_vcpus | int > 0) | ternary (ansible_processor_vcpus, 1) * 2}}"
+## Cap the maximum number of processes when a user value is unspecified.
+nova_wsgi_processes_max: 16
+nova_wsgi_processes: "{{ [[ansible_processor_vcpus|default(1), 1] | max * 2, nova_wsgi_processes_max] | min }}"
 nova_wsgi_buffer_size: 65535
 
 ## Nova libvirt
@@ -398,6 +400,7 @@ nova_ceph_client_uuid: 517a4663-3927-44bc-9ea7-4a90e1cd4c66
 
 ## Cap the maximun number of threads / workers when a user value is unspecified.
 nova_api_threads_max: 16
+nova_api_threads: "{{ [[ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2, 1] | max, nova_api_threads_max] | min }}"
 
 ## Policy vars
 # Provide a list of access controls to update the default policy.json with. These changes will be merged
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/capping_nova_workers-349f0f4d3fd50b37.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/capping_nova_workers-349f0f4d3fd50b37.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e24f4ff1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/capping_nova_workers-349f0f4d3fd50b37.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - Capping the default value for the variables ``nova_wsgi_processes``,
+    ``nova_osapi_compute_workers``, ``nova_metadata_workers`` and
+    ``nova_conductor_workers`` to 16 when the user doesn't configure these
+    variables. Default value is half the number of vCPUs available on the
+    machine with a capping value of 16.
diff --git a/templates/nova.conf.j2 b/templates/nova.conf.j2
index c36a868a..7016a3e5 100644
--- a/templates/nova.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/nova.conf.j2
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
-{% set _api_threads = [ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2, nova_api_threads_max] | min %}
-{% set api_threads = _api_threads if _api_threads > 0 else 1 %}
-
 [DEFAULT]
 # Disable stderr logging
 use_stderr = False
@@ -39,7 +36,7 @@ key = {{ nova_console_ssl_key }}
 
 # Api's
 enabled_apis = {{ nova_enabled_apis }}
-osapi_compute_workers = {{ nova_osapi_compute_workers | default(api_threads) }}
+osapi_compute_workers = {{ nova_osapi_compute_workers | default(nova_api_threads) }}
 
 # Rpc all
 transport_url = rabbit://{% for host in nova_rabbitmq_servers.split(',') %}{{ nova_rabbitmq_userid }}:{{ nova_rabbitmq_password }}@{{ host }}:{{ nova_rabbitmq_port }}{% if not loop.last %},{% else %}/{{ nova_rabbitmq_vhost }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}
@@ -50,7 +47,7 @@ rpc_response_timeout = {{ nova_rpc_response_timeout }}
 # Metadata
 metadata_host = {{ nova_metadata_host }}
 metadata_port = {{ nova_metadata_port }}
-metadata_workers = {{ nova_metadata_workers | default(api_threads) }}
+metadata_workers = {{ nova_metadata_workers | default(nova_api_threads) }}
 
 # Network
 dhcp_domain = {{ nova_dhcp_domain }}
@@ -190,7 +187,7 @@ insecure = {{ keystone_service_adminuri_insecure | bool }}
 {% endif %}
 
 [conductor]
-workers = {{ nova_conductor_workers | default(api_threads) }}
+workers = {{ nova_conductor_workers | default(nova_api_threads) }}
 
 
 [keystone_authtoken]