diff --git a/admin/settings/appearance.php b/admin/settings/appearance.php
index acd62dfb1afc2..7ea3454264804 100644
--- a/admin/settings/appearance.php
+++ b/admin/settings/appearance.php
@@ -178,6 +178,8 @@
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('courselistshortnames',
             new lang_string('courselistshortnames', 'admin'),
             new lang_string('courselistshortnames_desc', 'admin'), 0));
+    $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('coursesperpage', new lang_string('coursesperpage', 'admin'), new lang_string('configcoursesperpage', 'admin'), 20, PARAM_INT));
+    $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('courseswithsummarieslimit', new lang_string('courseswithsummarieslimit', 'admin'), new lang_string('configcourseswithsummarieslimit', 'admin'), 10, PARAM_INT));
     $ADMIN->add('appearance', $temp);
 
     $temp = new admin_settingpage('ajax', new lang_string('ajaxuse'));
diff --git a/admin/settings/frontpage.php b/admin/settings/frontpage.php
index 5a060a101bb7a..f4ecb5bbcfbf4 100644
--- a/admin/settings/frontpage.php
+++ b/admin/settings/frontpage.php
@@ -49,8 +49,6 @@
                    '10' => '10')));
         $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('commentsperpage', new lang_string('commentsperpage', 'admin'), '', 15, PARAM_INT));
 
-        $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('coursesperpage', new lang_string('coursesperpage', 'admin'), new lang_string('configcoursesperpage', 'admin'), 20, PARAM_INT));
-
         // front page default role
         $options = array(0=>new lang_string('none')); // roles to choose from
         $defaultfrontpageroleid = 0;
diff --git a/course/category.php b/course/category.php
index 1b822cc33a945..3ae02e7bb1c94 100644
--- a/course/category.php
+++ b/course/category.php
@@ -284,23 +284,28 @@
     echo html_writer::table($table);
 }
 
-// Print out all the courses
+// Print out all the courses.
 $courses = get_courses_page($category->id, 'c.sortorder ASC',
         'c.id,c.sortorder,c.shortname,c.fullname,c.summary,c.visible',
         $totalcount, $page*$perpage, $perpage);
 $numcourses = count($courses);
 
+// We can consider that we are using pagination when the total count of courses is different than the one returned.
+$pagingmode = $totalcount != $numcourses;
+
 if (!$courses) {
+    // There is no course to display.
     if (empty($subcategorieswereshown)) {
         echo $OUTPUT->heading(get_string("nocoursesyet"));
     }
-
-} else if ($numcourses <= COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE and !$page and !$editingon) {
+} else if ($numcourses <= $CFG->courseswithsummarieslimit and !$pagingmode and !$editingon) {
+    // We display courses with their summaries as we have not reached the limit, also we are not
+    // in paging mode and not allowed to edit either.
     echo $OUTPUT->box_start('courseboxes');
     print_courses($category);
     echo $OUTPUT->box_end();
-
 } else {
+    // The conditions above have failed, we display a basic list of courses with paging/editing options.
     echo $OUTPUT->paging_bar($totalcount, $page, $perpage, "/course/category.php?id=$category->id&perpage=$perpage");
 
     echo '<form id="movecourses" action="category.php" method="post"><div>';
diff --git a/course/lib.php b/course/lib.php
index 72d94e910e21d..00bbf0df45b5d 100644
--- a/course/lib.php
+++ b/course/lib.php
@@ -33,7 +33,14 @@
 
 define('COURSE_MAX_LOGS_PER_PAGE', 1000);       // records
 define('COURSE_MAX_RECENT_PERIOD', 172800);     // Two days, in seconds
-define('COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE', 10);    // courses
+
+/**
+ * Number of courses to display when summaries are included.
+ * @var int
+ * @deprecated since 2.4, use $CFG->courseswithsummarieslimit instead.
+ */
+define('COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE', 10);
+
 define('COURSE_MAX_COURSES_PER_DROPDOWN',1000); //  max courses in log dropdown before switching to optional
 define('COURSE_MAX_USERS_PER_DROPDOWN',1000);   //  max users in log dropdown before switching to optional
 define('FRONTPAGENEWS',           '0');
diff --git a/lang/en/admin.php b/lang/en/admin.php
index 6a2c0c84e4005..840cc95ebbb42 100644
--- a/lang/en/admin.php
+++ b/lang/en/admin.php
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@
 $string['configcountry'] = 'If you set a country here, then this country will be selected by default on new user accounts.  To force users to choose a country, just leave this unset.';
 $string['configcourserequestnotify'] = 'Type username of user to be notified when new course requested.';
 $string['configcourserequestnotify2'] = 'Users who will be notified when a course is requested. Only users who can approve course requests are listed here.';
-$string['configcoursesperpage'] = 'Enter the number of courses to be display per page in a course listing.';
+$string['configcoursesperpage'] = 'Enter the number of courses to be displayed per page in a course listing.';
+$string['configcourseswithsummarieslimit'] = 'The maximum number of courses to display in a course listing including summaries before falling back to a simpler listing.';
 $string['configcronclionly'] = 'If this is set, then the cron script can only be run from the command line instead of via the web.  This overrides the cron password setting below.';
 $string['configcronremotepassword'] = 'This means that the cron.php script cannot be run from a web browser without supplying the password using the following form of URL:<pre>
     http://site.example.com/admin/cron.php?password=opensesame
@@ -364,6 +365,7 @@
 $string['courserequestspending'] = 'Pending course requests';
 $string['courses'] = 'Courses';
 $string['coursesperpage'] = 'Courses per page';
+$string['courseswithsummarieslimit'] = 'Courses with summaries limit';
 $string['creatornewroleid'] = 'Creators\' role in new courses';
 $string['creatornewroleid_help'] = 'If the user does not already have the permission to manage the new course, the user is automatically enrolled using this role.';
 $string['cron'] = 'Cron';