diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 5a7bc30e..196287a5 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -441,15 +441,16 @@ neutron_quota_vip: 10
 
 ## General Neutron configuration
 # If ``neutron_api_workers`` is unset the system will use half the number of available VCPUs to
-# compute the number of api workers to use.
+# compute the number of api workers to use with a default capping value of 16.
 # neutron_api_workers: 16
 
 # If ``neutron_metadata_workers`` is unset the system will use half the number of available VCPUs to
-# compute the number of api workers to use.
+# compute the number of api workers to use with a default capping value of 16.
 # neutron_metadata_workers: 16
 
 ## Cap the maximun number of threads / workers when a user value is unspecified.
 neutron_api_threads_max: 16
+neutron_api_threads: "{{ [[ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2, 1] | max, neutron_api_threads_max] | min }}"
 
 neutron_metadata_backlog: 4096
 
@@ -534,8 +535,8 @@ neutron_dns_domain: openstacklocal
 neutron_dnsmasq_dns_servers: ""
 # Limit number of leases to prevent a denial-of-service.
 neutron_dnsmasq_lease_max: 16777216
-# If ``neutron_num_sync_threads`` is unset, the system will use the value of api_workers calculated
-# in templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2 for num_sync_threads.
+# If ``neutron_num_sync_threads`` is unset, the system will use the value of
+# neutron_api_threads in templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2 for num_sync_threads.
 # neutron_num_sync_threads: 4
 
 ## RPC
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/capping_neutron_workers-d97a5d50ca996af5.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/capping_neutron_workers-d97a5d50ca996af5.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9517de6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/capping_neutron_workers-d97a5d50ca996af5.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - Capping the default value for the variables ``neutron_api_workers``,
+    ``neutron_num_sync_threads`` and ``neutron_metadata_workers`` to 16 when
+    the user doesn't configure these variables. Default value is half the
+    number of vCPUs available on the machine with a capping value of 16.
diff --git a/templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2 b/templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2
index 1ca172b0..2845ba6d 100644
--- a/templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2
+++ b/templates/dhcp_agent.ini.j2
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
-{% set _api_threads = ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2 %}
-{% set api_threads = _api_threads if _api_threads > 0 else 1 %}
-
 # General
 [DEFAULT]
 debug = {{ debug }}
 
-num_sync_threads = {{ neutron_num_sync_threads | default(api_threads) }}
+num_sync_threads = {{ neutron_num_sync_threads | default(neutron_api_threads) }}
 
 # Drivers
 interface_driver = {{ neutron_plugins[neutron_plugin_type].driver_interface }}
diff --git a/templates/metadata_agent.ini.j2 b/templates/metadata_agent.ini.j2
index ebe6ac30..5ec7dfeb 100644
--- a/templates/metadata_agent.ini.j2
+++ b/templates/metadata_agent.ini.j2
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
-{% set _api_threads = ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2 %}
-{% set api_threads = _api_threads if _api_threads > 0 else 1 %}
-
 # General
 [DEFAULT]
 debug = {{ debug }}
@@ -27,7 +24,7 @@ nova_metadata_port = {{ nova_metadata_port }}
 metadata_proxy_shared_secret = {{ nova_metadata_proxy_secret }}
 
 # Workers and backlog requests
-metadata_workers = {{ neutron_metadata_workers | default(api_threads) }}
+metadata_workers = {{ neutron_metadata_workers | default(neutron_api_threads) }}
 metadata_backlog = {{ neutron_metadata_backlog }}
 
 # Caching
diff --git a/templates/neutron.conf.j2 b/templates/neutron.conf.j2
index bf163769..8bdb09bd 100644
--- a/templates/neutron.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/neutron.conf.j2
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
-{% set _api_threads = [ansible_processor_vcpus|default(2) // 2, neutron_api_threads_max] | min %}
-{% set api_threads = _api_threads if _api_threads > 0 else 1 %}
-
 # General, applies to all host groups
 [DEFAULT]
 # Disable stderr logging
@@ -78,7 +75,7 @@ bind_port = 9696
 bind_host = 0.0.0.0
 
 # Workers
-api_workers = {{ neutron_api_workers | default(api_threads) }}
+api_workers = {{ neutron_api_workers | default(neutron_api_threads) }}
 rpc_workers = {{ neutron_rpc_workers }}
 
 {% set dhcp_agents_max = num_agent if num_agent > 2 else 2 %}