diff --git a/core/sched.cc b/core/sched.cc
index 6c70b950c9..7dd0b601d7 100644
--- a/core/sched.cc
+++ b/core/sched.cc
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ void cpu::do_idle()
         idle_poll_lock_type idle_poll_lock{*this};
         WITH_LOCK(idle_poll_lock) {
             // spin for a bit before halting
-            for (unsigned ctr = 0; ctr < 100; ++ctr) {
+            for (unsigned ctr = 0; ctr < 10000; ++ctr) {
                 // FIXME: can we pull threads from loaded cpus?
                 handle_incoming_wakeups();
                 if (!runqueue.empty()) {