diff --git a/master.c b/master.c
index 5851ced3..033571cf 100644
--- a/master.c
+++ b/master.c
@@ -118,9 +118,11 @@ void *cache_sweeper_loop(void *noarg) {
         sigfillset(&smask);
         pthread_sigmask(SIG_BLOCK, &smask, NULL);
 
+	if (!uwsgi.cache_expire_freq) uwsgi.cache_expire_freq = 3;
+
 	// remove expired cache items TODO use rb_tree timeouts
 	for(;;) {
-		sleep(1);
+		sleep(uwsgi.cache_expire_freq);
                 for (i = 0; i < (int) uwsgi.cache_max_items; i++) {
                 	uwsgi_wlock(uwsgi.cache_lock);
                         if (uwsgi.cache_items[i].expires) {
diff --git a/uwsgi.c b/uwsgi.c
index f3a75013..6aa2c549 100644
--- a/uwsgi.c
+++ b/uwsgi.c
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ static struct uwsgi_option uwsgi_base_options[] = {
 	{"cache-server", required_argument, 0, "enable the threaded cache server", uwsgi_opt_set_str, &uwsgi.cache_server, 0},
 	{"cache-server-threads", required_argument, 0, "set the number of threads for the cache server", uwsgi_opt_set_int, &uwsgi.cache_server_threads,0},
 	{"cache-no-expire", required_argument, 0, "disable auto sweep of expired items", uwsgi_opt_true, &uwsgi.cache_no_expire,0},
+	{"cache-expire-freq", required_argument, 0, "set the frequency of cache sweeper scans (default 3 seconds)", uwsgi_opt_set_int, &uwsgi.cache_expire_freq,0},
 
 	{"queue", required_argument, 0, "enable shared queue", uwsgi_opt_set_int, &uwsgi.queue_size, 0},
 	{"queue-blocksize", required_argument, 0, "set queue blocksize", uwsgi_opt_set_int, &uwsgi.queue_store_sync, 0},
diff --git a/uwsgi.h b/uwsgi.h
index ad13c631..29a2f6c1 100644
--- a/uwsgi.h
+++ b/uwsgi.h
@@ -1573,6 +1573,7 @@ struct uwsgi_server {
 	size_t cache_filesize;
 	int cache_store_sync;
 	int cache_no_expire;
+	int cache_expire_freq;
 
 	char *cache_server;
 	int cache_server_threads;