diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool.cpp b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool.cpp
index 9a4e40ee16..9185554b1f 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool.cpp
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ bool QThreadPoolPrivate::tryStart(QRunnable *task)
     }
 
     // can't do anything if we're over the limit
-    if (activeThreadCount() >= maxThreadCount)
+    if (activeThreadCount() >= maxThreadCount())
         return false;
 
     if (waitingThreads.count() > 0) {
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ void QThreadPoolPrivate::tryToStartMoreThreads()
 bool QThreadPoolPrivate::tooManyThreadsActive() const
 {
     const int activeThreadCount = this->activeThreadCount();
-    return activeThreadCount > maxThreadCount && (activeThreadCount - reservedThreads) > 1;
+    return activeThreadCount > maxThreadCount() && (activeThreadCount - reservedThreads) > 1;
 }
 
 /*!
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ bool QThreadPool::tryStart(std::function<void()> functionToRun)
 
     Q_D(QThreadPool);
     QMutexLocker locker(&d->mutex);
-    if (!d->allThreads.isEmpty() && d->activeThreadCount() >= d->maxThreadCount)
+    if (!d->allThreads.isEmpty() && d->activeThreadCount() >= d->maxThreadCount())
         return false;
 
     QRunnable *runnable = QRunnable::create(std::move(functionToRun));
@@ -618,7 +618,9 @@ void QThreadPool::setExpiryTimeout(int expiryTimeout)
 
 /*! \property QThreadPool::maxThreadCount
 
-    \brief the maximum number of threads used by the thread pool.
+    \brief the maximum number of threads used by the thread pool. This property
+    will default to the value of QThread::idealThreadCount() at the moment the
+    QThreadPool object is created.
 
     \note The thread pool will always use at least 1 thread, even if
     \a maxThreadCount limit is zero or negative.
@@ -629,7 +631,7 @@ void QThreadPool::setExpiryTimeout(int expiryTimeout)
 int QThreadPool::maxThreadCount() const
 {
     Q_D(const QThreadPool);
-    return d->maxThreadCount;
+    return d->requestedMaxThreadCount;
 }
 
 void QThreadPool::setMaxThreadCount(int maxThreadCount)
@@ -637,10 +639,10 @@ void QThreadPool::setMaxThreadCount(int maxThreadCount)
     Q_D(QThreadPool);
     QMutexLocker locker(&d->mutex);
 
-    if (maxThreadCount == d->maxThreadCount)
+    if (maxThreadCount == d->requestedMaxThreadCount)
         return;
 
-    d->maxThreadCount = maxThreadCount;
+    d->requestedMaxThreadCount = maxThreadCount;
     d->tryToStartMoreThreads();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool_p.h b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool_p.h
index 1f8a22dcdf..b21c1b7d41 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadpool_p.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 #include "QtCore/qmutex.h"
 #include "QtCore/qthread.h"
 #include "QtCore/qwaitcondition.h"
+#include "QtCore/qthreadpool.h"
 #include "QtCore/qset.h"
 #include "QtCore/qqueue.h"
 #include "private/qobject_p.h"
@@ -158,6 +159,8 @@ public:
     void tryToStartMoreThreads();
     bool tooManyThreadsActive() const;
 
+    int maxThreadCount() const
+    { return qMax(requestedMaxThreadCount, 1); }    // documentation says we start at least one
     void startThread(QRunnable *runnable = nullptr);
     void reset();
     bool waitForDone(int msecs);
@@ -174,7 +177,7 @@ public:
     QWaitCondition noActiveThreads;
 
     int expiryTimeout = 30000;
-    int maxThreadCount = QThread::idealThreadCount();
+    int requestedMaxThreadCount = QThread::idealThreadCount();  // don't use this directly
     int reservedThreads = 0;
     int activeThreads = 0;
     uint stackSize = 0;
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/thread/qthreadpool/tst_qthreadpool.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/thread/qthreadpool/tst_qthreadpool.cpp
index 0fb4bfbe56..bb8513fe1d 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/thread/qthreadpool/tst_qthreadpool.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/thread/qthreadpool/tst_qthreadpool.cpp
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ void tst_QThreadPool::setMaxThreadCountStartsAndStopsThreads()
     };
 
     QThreadPool threadPool;
-    threadPool.setMaxThreadCount(1);
+    threadPool.setMaxThreadCount(-1);   // docs say we'll always start at least one
 
     WaitingTask task;
     threadPool.start(&task);