diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 70667c5..e91561b 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ ifeq ($(DEB_HOST_ARCH), i386)
 	PLATFORM = --disable-sse
 endif
 
+ifneq (,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
+	NUMJOBS = $(patsubst parallel=%,%,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
+else
+	NUMJOBS = 1
+endif
+
 %:
 	dh ${@}
 
@@ -37,5 +43,7 @@ override_dh_auto_configure:
 
 override_dh_auto_test:
 ifneq (,$(filter $(DEB_HOST_ARCH), amd64 arm64 i386))
+ifneq ($(NUMJOBS), 1)
 	$(MAKE) -j1 check
 endif
+endif