diff --git a/warcprox/controller.py b/warcprox/controller.py
index 85fa42d..b33b42e 100644
--- a/warcprox/controller.py
+++ b/warcprox/controller.py
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ class Factory:
 
     @staticmethod
     def warc_writer(options):
-        return warcprox.writerthread.WarcWriterThread(options)
+        if options.writer_threads:
+            return warcprox.writerthread.WarcWriterMultiThread(options)
+        else:
+            return warcprox.writerthread.WarcWriterThread(options)
 
     @staticmethod
     def playback_proxy(ca, options):
diff --git a/warcprox/writer.py b/warcprox/writer.py
index 7b3414f..7779c6f 100644
--- a/warcprox/writer.py
+++ b/warcprox/writer.py
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ import socket
 import string
 import random
 import threading
+try:
+    import queue
+except ImportError:
+    import Queue as queue
+
 
 class WarcWriter:
     logger = logging.getLogger('warcprox.writer.WarcWriter')
@@ -194,16 +199,20 @@ class MultiWarcWriter(WarcWriter):
 
     def __init__(self, options=warcprox.Options()):
         super().__init__(options)
-        self._f = [None] * 3
-        self._fpath = [None] * 3
-        self._f_finalname = [None] * 3
-        self._lock = [threading.RLock()] * 3
+        self._thread_num = options.writer_threads
+        self._f = [None] * self._thread_num
+        self._fpath = [None] * self._thread_num
+        self._f_finalname = [None] * self._thread_num
+        self._lock = [threading.RLock()] * self._thread_num
+        self._available_threads = queue.Queue()
+        for i in range(self._thread_num):
+            self._available_threads.put(i)
 
     def _writer(self, curr):
         with self._lock[curr]:
             if self._fpath[curr] and os.path.getsize(
                     self._fpath[curr]) > self.rollover_size:
-                self.close_writer()
+                self.close_writer(curr)
 
             if self._f[curr] == None:
                 self._f_finalname[curr] = self._warc_filename()
@@ -235,8 +244,9 @@ class MultiWarcWriter(WarcWriter):
         hanzo.warctools.warc.WarcRecord, decorated with "warc_filename" and
         "offset" attributes."""
         records = self.record_builder.build_warc_records(recorded_url)
-        curr = random.choice([0, 1, 2])
-
+        curr = self._available_threads.get()
+        # we could also remove that lock?? The queue guaranties that no two
+        # threads have the same curr open.
         with self._lock[curr]:
             writer = self._writer(curr)
 
@@ -256,11 +266,11 @@ class MultiWarcWriter(WarcWriter):
 
             self._f[curr].flush()
             self._last_activity = time.time()
-
+        self._available_threads.put(curr)
         return records
 
     def maybe_idle_rollover(self):
-        for curr in range(0, 3):
+        for curr in range(0, self._thread_num):
             with self._lock[curr]:
                 if (self._fpath[curr] is not None
                         and self.rollover_idle_time is not None
@@ -271,7 +281,15 @@ class MultiWarcWriter(WarcWriter):
                             self._f_finalname[curr], time.time() - self._last_activity)
                     self.close_writer(curr)
 
-    def close_writer(self, curr):
+    def close_writer(self, curr=None):
+        """When this method is invoked without any argument (program termination)
+        close all writer.
+        """
+        if not curr:
+            for curr in range(0, self._thread_num):
+                self.close_writer(curr)
+            return
+
         with self._lock[curr]:
             if self._fpath[curr]:
                 self.logger.info('closing %s', self._f_finalname[curr])
@@ -290,8 +308,10 @@ class WarcWriterPool:
     logger = logging.getLogger("warcprox.writer.WarcWriterPool")
 
     def __init__(self, options=warcprox.Options()):
-        # self.default_warc_writer = WarcWriter(options=options)
-        self.default_warc_writer = MultiWarcWriter(options=options)
+        if options.writer_threads:
+            self.default_warc_writer = MultiWarcWriter(options=options)
+        else:
+            self.default_warc_writer = WarcWriter(options=options)
         self.warc_writers = {}  # {prefix:WarcWriter}
         self.options = options
         self._lock = threading.RLock()
@@ -306,7 +326,11 @@ class WarcWriterPool:
             options.prefix = recorded_url.warcprox_meta["warc-prefix"]
             with self._lock:
                 if not options.prefix in self.warc_writers:
-                    self.warc_writers[options.prefix] = WarcWriter(
+                    if self.options.writer_threads:
+                        self.warc_writers[options.prefix] = MultiWarcWriter(
+                            options=options)
+                    else:
+                        self.warc_writers[options.prefix] = WarcWriter(
                             options=options)
                 w = self.warc_writers[options.prefix]
         return w
diff --git a/warcprox/writerthread.py b/warcprox/writerthread.py
index 6347e05..c78e8c0 100644
--- a/warcprox/writerthread.py
+++ b/warcprox/writerthread.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class WarcWriterMultiThread(WarcWriterThread):
 
     def __init__(self, options=warcprox.Options()):
         warcprox.BaseStandardPostfetchProcessor.__init__(self, options=options)
-        self.pool = futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=10)
+        self.pool = futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=options.writer_threads)
         self.batch = set()
         self.options = options
         self.writer_pool = warcprox.writer.WarcWriterPool(options)