diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
index 3ab81e71ca9..b417a8f095d 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
@@ -87,15 +87,11 @@ public class ZooKeeperServer implements SessionExpirer, ServerStats.Provider {
     protected static final Logger LOG;
 
     public static final String GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT = "zookeeper.globalOutstandingLimit";
-    protected static int globalOutstandingLimit = 1000;
 
     static {
         LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ZooKeeperServer.class);
 
         Environment.logEnv("Server environment:", LOG);
-
-        globalOutstandingLimit = Integer.getInteger(GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, 1000);
-        LOG.info("{} = {}", GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, globalOutstandingLimit);
     }
 
     protected ZooKeeperServerBean jmxServerBean;
@@ -864,6 +860,17 @@ public static int getSnapCount() {
         }
     }
 
+    public int getGlobalOutstandingLimit() {
+        String sc = System.getProperty(GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT);
+        int limit;
+        try {
+            limit = Integer.parseInt(sc);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            limit = 1000;
+        }
+        return limit;
+    }
+
     public void setServerCnxnFactory(ServerCnxnFactory factory) {
         serverCnxnFactory = factory;
     }
@@ -1090,7 +1097,7 @@ public void processConnectRequest(ServerCnxn cnxn, ByteBuffer incomingBuffer) th
     }
 
     public boolean shouldThrottle(long outStandingCount) {
-        if (globalOutstandingLimit < getInProcess()) {
+        if (getGlobalOutstandingLimit() < getInProcess()) {
             return outStandingCount > 0;
         }
         return false;
diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/FollowerZooKeeperServer.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/FollowerZooKeeperServer.java
index ec529de1843..78c12db83d8 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/FollowerZooKeeperServer.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/FollowerZooKeeperServer.java
@@ -60,10 +60,6 @@ public class FollowerZooKeeperServer extends LearnerZooKeeperServer {
         super(logFactory, self.tickTime, self.minSessionTimeout,
                 self.maxSessionTimeout, zkDb, self);
         this.pendingSyncs = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Request>();
-
-        int divisor = self.getQuorumSize() > 2 ? self.getQuorumSize() - 1 : 1;
-        globalOutstandingLimit = Integer.getInteger(GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, 1000) / divisor;
-        LOG.info("Override {} to {}", GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, globalOutstandingLimit);
     }
 
     public Follower getFollower(){
@@ -126,6 +122,14 @@ synchronized public void sync(){
 		commitProcessor.commit(r);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public int getGlobalOutstandingLimit() {
+        int divisor = self.getQuorumSize() > 2 ? self.getQuorumSize() - 1 : 1;
+        int globalOutstandingLimit = super.getGlobalOutstandingLimit() / divisor;
+        LOG.info("Override {} to {}", GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, globalOutstandingLimit);
+        return globalOutstandingLimit;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String getState() {
         return "follower";
diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/LeaderZooKeeperServer.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/LeaderZooKeeperServer.java
index c6f60e115e1..e1d1bb6fead 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/LeaderZooKeeperServer.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/LeaderZooKeeperServer.java
@@ -55,10 +55,6 @@ public class LeaderZooKeeperServer extends QuorumZooKeeperServer {
      */
     LeaderZooKeeperServer(FileTxnSnapLog logFactory, QuorumPeer self, ZKDatabase zkDb) throws IOException {
         super(logFactory, self.tickTime, self.minSessionTimeout, self.maxSessionTimeout, zkDb, self);
-
-        int divisor = self.getQuorumSize() > 2 ? self.getQuorumSize() - 1 : 1;
-        globalOutstandingLimit = Integer.getInteger(GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, 1000) / divisor;
-        LOG.info("Override {} to {}", GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, globalOutstandingLimit);
     }
 
     public Leader getLeader(){
@@ -106,6 +102,14 @@ public synchronized void shutdown() {
         super.shutdown();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public int getGlobalOutstandingLimit() {
+        int divisor = self.getQuorumSize() > 2 ? self.getQuorumSize() - 1 : 1;
+        int globalOutstandingLimit = super.getGlobalOutstandingLimit() / divisor;
+        LOG.info("Override {} to {}", GLOBAL_OUTSTANDING_LIMIT, globalOutstandingLimit);
+        return globalOutstandingLimit;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void createSessionTracker() {
         sessionTracker = new LeaderSessionTracker(