diff --git a/etc/container-reconciler.conf-sample b/etc/container-reconciler.conf-sample
index cd61f9a690..7b74124e1f 100644
--- a/etc/container-reconciler.conf-sample
+++ b/etc/container-reconciler.conf-sample
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@
 # Work only with ionice_class.
 # ionice_class =
 # ionice_priority =
+# Number of objects to process concurrently per process
+# concurrency = 1
 
 [pipeline:main]
 # Note that the reconciler's pipeline is intentionally very sparse -- it is
diff --git a/swift/container/reconciler.py b/swift/container/reconciler.py
index 6f3166a297..177bb538d0 100644
--- a/swift/container/reconciler.py
+++ b/swift/container/reconciler.py
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ class ContainerReconciler(Daemon):
     Move objects that are in the wrong storage policy.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
+    def __init__(self, conf, logger=None, swift=None):
         self.conf = conf
         # This option defines how long an un-processable misplaced object
         # marker will be retried before it is abandoned.  It is not coupled
@@ -366,9 +366,10 @@ class ContainerReconciler(Daemon):
         self.interval = float(conf.get('interval', 30))
         conf_path = conf.get('__file__') or \
             '/etc/swift/container-reconciler.conf'
-        self.logger = get_logger(conf, log_route='container-reconciler')
+        self.logger = logger or get_logger(
+            conf, log_route='container-reconciler')
         request_tries = int(conf.get('request_tries') or 3)
-        self.swift = InternalClient(
+        self.swift = swift or InternalClient(
             conf_path,
             'Swift Container Reconciler',
             request_tries,
@@ -377,6 +378,9 @@ class ContainerReconciler(Daemon):
         self.stats = defaultdict(int)
         self.last_stat_time = time.time()
         self.ring_check_interval = float(conf.get('ring_check_interval', 15))
+        self.concurrency = int(conf.get('concurrency', 1))
+        if self.concurrency < 1:
+            raise ValueError("concurrency must be set to at least 1")
 
     def stats_log(self, metric, msg, *args, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -716,9 +720,9 @@ class ContainerReconciler(Daemon):
         # hit most recent container first instead of waiting on the updaters
         current_container = get_reconciler_container_name(time.time())
         yield current_container
-        container_gen = self.swift.iter_containers(MISPLACED_OBJECTS_ACCOUNT)
         self.logger.debug('looking for containers in %s',
                           MISPLACED_OBJECTS_ACCOUNT)
+        container_gen = self.swift.iter_containers(MISPLACED_OBJECTS_ACCOUNT)
         while True:
             one_page = None
             try:
@@ -769,29 +773,41 @@ class ContainerReconciler(Daemon):
                 MISPLACED_OBJECTS_ACCOUNT, container,
                 acceptable_statuses=(2, 404, 409, 412))
 
+    def process_queue_entry(self, container, raw_obj):
+        """
+        Process an entry and remove from queue on success.
+
+        :param container: the queue container
+        :param raw_obj: the raw_obj listing from the container
+        """
+        try:
+            obj_info = parse_raw_obj(raw_obj)
+        except Exception:
+            self.stats_log('invalid_record',
+                           'invalid queue record: %r', raw_obj,
+                           level=logging.ERROR, exc_info=True)
+            return
+        finished = self.reconcile_object(obj_info)
+        if finished:
+            self.pop_queue(container, raw_obj['name'],
+                           obj_info['q_ts'],
+                           obj_info['q_record'])
+
     def reconcile(self):
         """
-        Main entry point for processing misplaced objects.
+        Main entry point for concurrent processing of misplaced objects.
 
-        Iterate over all queue entries and delegate to reconcile_object.
+        Iterate over all queue entries and delegate processing to spawned
+        workers in the pool.
         """
         self.logger.debug('pulling items from the queue')
+        pool = GreenPool(self.concurrency)
         for container in self._iter_containers():
+            self.logger.debug('checking container %s', container)
             for raw_obj in self._iter_objects(container):
-                try:
-                    obj_info = parse_raw_obj(raw_obj)
-                except Exception:
-                    self.stats_log('invalid_record',
-                                   'invalid queue record: %r', raw_obj,
-                                   level=logging.ERROR, exc_info=True)
-                    continue
-                finished = self.reconcile_object(obj_info)
-                if finished:
-                    self.pop_queue(container, raw_obj['name'],
-                                   obj_info['q_ts'],
-                                   obj_info['q_record'])
+                pool.spawn_n(self.process_queue_entry, container, raw_obj)
             self.log_stats()
-            self.logger.debug('finished container %s', container)
+        pool.waitall()
 
     def run_once(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """
diff --git a/test/unit/container/test_reconciler.py b/test/unit/container/test_reconciler.py
index c521d72bf7..da967abfb2 100644
--- a/test/unit/container/test_reconciler.py
+++ b/test/unit/container/test_reconciler.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import os
 import errno
 import itertools
 import random
+import eventlet
 
 from collections import defaultdict
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ class FakeStoragePolicySwift(object):
 
 
 class FakeInternalClient(reconciler.InternalClient):
-    def __init__(self, listings):
+    def __init__(self, listings=None):
         self.app = FakeStoragePolicySwift()
         self.user_agent = 'fake-internal-client'
         self.request_tries = 1
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ class FakeInternalClient(reconciler.InternalClient):
         self.parse(listings)
 
     def parse(self, listings):
+        listings = listings or {}
         self.accounts = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(list))
         for item, timestamp in listings.items():
             # XXX this interface is stupid
@@ -735,15 +737,36 @@ class TestReconciler(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.logger = debug_logger()
         conf = {}
-        with mock.patch('swift.container.reconciler.InternalClient'):
-            self.reconciler = reconciler.ContainerReconciler(conf)
-        self.reconciler.logger = self.logger
+        self.swift = FakeInternalClient()
+        self.reconciler = reconciler.ContainerReconciler(
+            conf, logger=self.logger, swift=self.swift)
         self.start_interval = int(time.time() // 3600 * 3600)
         self.current_container_path = '/v1/.misplaced_objects/%d' % (
             self.start_interval) + listing_qs('')
 
+    def test_concurrency_config(self):
+        conf = {}
+        r = reconciler.ContainerReconciler(conf, self.logger, self.swift)
+        self.assertEqual(r.concurrency, 1)
+
+        conf = {'concurrency': '10'}
+        r = reconciler.ContainerReconciler(conf, self.logger, self.swift)
+        self.assertEqual(r.concurrency, 10)
+
+        conf = {'concurrency': 48}
+        r = reconciler.ContainerReconciler(conf, self.logger, self.swift)
+        self.assertEqual(r.concurrency, 48)
+
+        conf = {'concurrency': 0}
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, reconciler.ContainerReconciler,
+                          conf, self.logger, self.swift)
+
+        conf = {'concurrency': '-1'}
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, reconciler.ContainerReconciler,
+                          conf, self.logger, self.swift)
+
     def _mock_listing(self, objects):
-        self.reconciler.swift = FakeInternalClient(objects)
+        self.swift.parse(objects)
         self.fake_swift = self.reconciler.swift.app
 
     def _mock_oldest_spi(self, container_oldest_spi_map):
@@ -776,6 +799,59 @@ class TestReconciler(unittest.TestCase):
         return [c[1][1:4] for c in
                 mocks['direct_delete_container_entry'].mock_calls]
 
+    def test_no_concurrency(self):
+        self._mock_listing({
+            (None, "/.misplaced_objects/3600/1:/AUTH_bob/c/o1"): 3618.84187,
+            (None, "/.misplaced_objects/3600/1:/AUTH_bob/c/o2"): 3724.23456,
+            (1, "/AUTH_bob/c/o1"): 3618.84187,
+            (1, "/AUTH_bob/c/o2"): 3724.23456,
+        })
+
+        order_recieved = []
+
+        def fake_reconcile_object(account, container, obj, q_policy_index,
+                                  q_ts, q_op, path, **kwargs):
+            order_recieved.append(obj)
+            return True
+
+        self.reconciler._reconcile_object = fake_reconcile_object
+        self.assertEqual(self.reconciler.concurrency, 1)  # sanity
+        deleted_container_entries = self._run_once()
+        self.assertEqual(order_recieved, ['o1', 'o2'])
+        # process in order recieved
+        self.assertEqual(deleted_container_entries, [
+            ('.misplaced_objects', '3600', '1:/AUTH_bob/c/o1'),
+            ('.misplaced_objects', '3600', '1:/AUTH_bob/c/o2'),
+        ])
+
+    def test_concurrency(self):
+        self._mock_listing({
+            (None, "/.misplaced_objects/3600/1:/AUTH_bob/c/o1"): 3618.84187,
+            (None, "/.misplaced_objects/3600/1:/AUTH_bob/c/o2"): 3724.23456,
+            (1, "/AUTH_bob/c/o1"): 3618.84187,
+            (1, "/AUTH_bob/c/o2"): 3724.23456,
+        })
+
+        order_recieved = []
+
+        def fake_reconcile_object(account, container, obj, q_policy_index,
+                                  q_ts, q_op, path, **kwargs):
+            order_recieved.append(obj)
+            # o1 takes longer than o2 for some reason
+            while 'o2' not in order_recieved:
+                eventlet.sleep(0.001)
+            return True
+
+        self.reconciler._reconcile_object = fake_reconcile_object
+        self.reconciler.concurrency = 2
+        deleted_container_entries = self._run_once()
+        self.assertEqual(order_recieved, ['o1', 'o2'])
+        # ... and so we finish o2 first
+        self.assertEqual(deleted_container_entries, [
+            ('.misplaced_objects', '3600', '1:/AUTH_bob/c/o2'),
+            ('.misplaced_objects', '3600', '1:/AUTH_bob/c/o1'),
+        ])
+
     def test_invalid_queue_name(self):
         self._mock_listing({
             (None, "/.misplaced_objects/3600/bogus"): 3618.84187,