diff --git a/lib/tp.c b/lib/tp.c
index 386e31a..7462f5b 100644
--- a/lib/tp.c
+++ b/lib/tp.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 #include "../smalloc.h"
 #include "../log.h"
@@ -21,9 +22,19 @@
 	struct tp_work *work;
 
 	while (!flist_empty(list)) {
+		int prio;
+
 		work = flist_entry(list->next, struct tp_work, list);
 		flist_del(&work->list);
+
+		prio = work->prio;
+		if (nice(prio) < 0)
+			log_err("fio: nice %s\n", strerror(errno));
+
 		work->fn(work);
+
+		if (nice(prio) < 0)
+			log_err("fio: nice %s\n", strerror(errno));
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/tp.h b/lib/tp.h
index 5b07cc6..9147cc2 100644
--- a/lib/tp.h
+++ b/lib/tp.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 	struct flist_head list;
 	tp_work_fn *fn;
 	int wait;
+	int prio;
 	pthread_cond_t cv;
 	pthread_mutex_t lock;
 	volatile int done;