diff --git a/lib/Resque/Worker.php b/lib/Resque/Worker.php
index a180d27b..84643583 100644
--- a/lib/Resque/Worker.php
+++ b/lib/Resque/Worker.php
@@ -59,6 +59,16 @@ class Resque_Worker
 	 */
 	private $child = null;
 
+    /**
+     * @var int How many to process per child.
+     */
+    private $perChild = 1;
+
+    /**
+     * @var int How many jobs processed since last fork.
+     */
+    private $processedInChild = 0;
+
 	/**
 	 * Return all workers known to Resque as instantiated instances.
 	 */
@@ -126,8 +136,9 @@ public function setId($workerId)
 	 * this method.
 	 *
 	 * @param string|array $queues String with a single queue name, array with multiple.
+     * @param int $perChild How many jobs to perform per child
 	 */
-	public function __construct($queues)
+	public function __construct($queues, $perChild = 1)
 	{
 		if(!is_array($queues)) {
 			$queues = array($queues);
@@ -142,6 +153,8 @@ public function __construct($queues)
 		}
 		$this->hostname = $hostname;
 		$this->id = $this->hostname . ':'.getmypid() . ':' . implode(',', $this->queues);
+
+        $this->perChild = $perChild;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -191,19 +204,18 @@ public function work($interval = 5)
 
 			$this->child = $this->fork();
 
-			// Forked and we're the child. Run the job.
+			// We're the child. Run the job.
 			if($this->child === 0 || $this->child === false) {
 				$status = 'Processing ' . $job->queue . ' since ' . strftime('%F %T');
 				$this->updateProcLine($status);
 				$this->log($status, self::LOG_VERBOSE);
 				$this->perform($job);
-				if($this->child === 0) {
-					exit(0);
-				}
+                $this->doneWorking();
 			}
 
 			if($this->child > 0) {
 				// Parent process, sit and wait
+                $job = null; // we forget the job, because it might change
 				$status = 'Forked ' . $this->child . ' at ' . strftime('%F %T');
 				$this->updateProcLine($status);
 				$this->log($status, self::LOG_VERBOSE);
@@ -212,19 +224,33 @@ public function work($interval = 5)
 				pcntl_wait($status);
 				$exitStatus = pcntl_wexitstatus($status);
 				if($exitStatus !== 0) {
-					$job->fail(new Resque_Job_DirtyExitException(
-						'Job exited with exit code ' . $exitStatus
-					));
+                    $this->fail($exitStatus);
+                    $this->doneWorking();
 				}
+                $this->child = null;
 			}
 
-			$this->child = null;
-			$this->doneWorking();
 		}
 
 		$this->unregisterWorker();
 	}
 
+    /**
+     * Fail the current job
+     * 
+     * @param int $exitStatus the exit code
+     */
+    private function fail($exitStatus)
+    {
+        // error, grab the job from redis and fail it
+        $jobData = Resque::redis()->get('worker:' . (string)$this);
+        $job = new Resque_Job($jobData['queue'], $jobData['payload']);
+        $job->fail(new Resque_Job_DirtyExitException(
+            'Job exited with exit code ' . $exitStatus
+        ));
+
+    }
+
 	/**
 	 * Process a single job.
 	 *
@@ -304,12 +330,28 @@ private function fork()
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		$pid = pcntl_fork();
-		if($pid === -1) {
-			throw new RuntimeException('Unable to fork child worker.');
-		}
-
-		return $pid;
+        // if we are the child
+        if ($this->child === 0 || $this->child === false) {
+
+            // if we're meant to carry on in the same fork
+            if ($this->processedInChild > 0 && $this->processedInChild < $this->perChild) {
+                $this->processedInChild++;
+                return false; // tells work to move on as if we forked
+            }
+            
+            // otherwise we die and let the parent deal with the situation below
+            exit(0);
+        } else {
+            // if we pass test above, fork and reset
+            $this->processedInChild = 1; // theoretically this is unnecessary, since it's only incremented in the child which doesn't affect the parent
+
+            $pid = pcntl_fork();
+            if($pid === -1) {
+                throw new RuntimeException('Unable to fork child worker.');
+            }
+
+            return $pid;
+        }
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -580,4 +622,4 @@ public function getStat($stat)
 		return Resque_Stat::get($stat . ':' . $this);
 	}
 }
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/resque.php b/resque.php
index d85a70ea..ee7a759e 100644
--- a/resque.php
+++ b/resque.php
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@
 	$count = $COUNT;
 }
 
+$perChild = 1;
+$PERCHILD = getenv('PERCHILD');
+if(!empty($PERCHILD) && $PERCHILD > 1) {
+	$perChild = $PERCHILD;
+}
+
 if($count > 1) {
 	for($i = 0; $i < $count; ++$i) {
 		$pid = pcntl_fork();
@@ -53,7 +59,7 @@
 		// Child, start the worker
 		else if(!$pid) {
 			$queues = explode(',', $QUEUE);
-			$worker = new Resque_Worker($queues);
+			$worker = new Resque_Worker($queues, $perChild);
 			$worker->logLevel = $logLevel;
 			fwrite(STDOUT, '*** Starting worker '.$worker."\n");
 			$worker->work($interval);
@@ -64,7 +70,7 @@
 // Start a single worker
 else {
 	$queues = explode(',', $QUEUE);
-	$worker = new Resque_Worker($queues);
+	$worker = new Resque_Worker($queues, $perChild);
 	$worker->logLevel = $logLevel;
 	
 	$PIDFILE = getenv('PIDFILE');