diff --git a/src/gc/gc.cpp b/src/gc/gc.cpp
index 45888786b6dc..024c87a66f46 100644
--- a/src/gc/gc.cpp
+++ b/src/gc/gc.cpp
@@ -2266,6 +2266,8 @@ VOLATILE(BOOL) gc_heap::gc_started;
 
 CLREvent    gc_heap::gc_start_event;
 
+bool        gc_heap::gc_thread_no_affinitize_p = false;
+
 SVAL_IMPL_NS(int, SVR, gc_heap, n_heaps);
 SPTR_IMPL_NS(PTR_gc_heap, SVR, gc_heap, g_heaps);
 
@@ -5199,14 +5201,16 @@ bool gc_heap::create_gc_thread ()
     affinity.Processor = GCThreadAffinity::None;
 
 #if !defined(FEATURE_REDHAWK) && !defined(FEATURE_PAL)
-    //We are about to set affinity for GC threads, it is a good place to setup NUMA and
-    //CPU groups, because the process mask, processor number, group number are all
-    //readyly available.
-    if (CPUGroupInfo::CanEnableGCCPUGroups()) 
-        set_thread_group_affinity_for_heap(heap_number, &affinity);
-    else
-        set_thread_affinity_mask_for_heap(heap_number, &affinity);
-
+    if (!gc_thread_no_affinitize_p)
+    {
+        //We are about to set affinity for GC threads, it is a good place to setup NUMA and
+        //CPU groups, because the process mask, processor number, group number are all
+        //readyly available.
+        if (CPUGroupInfo::CanEnableGCCPUGroups()) 
+            set_thread_group_affinity_for_heap(heap_number, &affinity);
+        else
+            set_thread_affinity_mask_for_heap(heap_number, &affinity);
+    }
 #endif // !FEATURE_REDHAWK && !FEATURE_PAL
 
     return GCToOSInterface::CreateThread(gc_thread_stub, this, &affinity);
@@ -33673,9 +33677,18 @@ HRESULT GCHeap::Initialize ()
     gc_heap::min_segment_size = min (seg_size, large_seg_size);
 
 #ifdef MULTIPLE_HEAPS
+    if (g_pConfig->GetGCNoAffinitize())
+        gc_heap::gc_thread_no_affinitize_p = true;
+
+    uint32_t nhp_from_config = g_pConfig->GetGCHeapCount();
     // GetGCProcessCpuCount only returns up to 64 procs.
-    unsigned nhp = CPUGroupInfo::CanEnableGCCPUGroups() ? CPUGroupInfo::GetNumActiveProcessors(): 
-                                                          GCToOSInterface::GetCurrentProcessCpuCount();
+    uint32_t nhp_from_process = CPUGroupInfo::CanEnableGCCPUGroups() ?
+                                CPUGroupInfo::GetNumActiveProcessors():
+                                GCToOSInterface::GetCurrentProcessCpuCount();
+
+    uint32_t nhp = ((nhp_from_config == 0) ? nhp_from_process :
+                                             (min (nhp_from_config, nhp_from_process)));
+
     hr = gc_heap::initialize_gc (seg_size, large_seg_size /*LHEAP_ALLOC*/, nhp);
 #else
     hr = gc_heap::initialize_gc (seg_size, large_seg_size /*LHEAP_ALLOC*/);
diff --git a/src/gc/gcpriv.h b/src/gc/gcpriv.h
index 4a2e9296205f..ec0c8324f497 100644
--- a/src/gc/gcpriv.h
+++ b/src/gc/gcpriv.h
@@ -2891,6 +2891,9 @@ class gc_heap
     int gc_policy;  //sweep, compact, expand
 
 #ifdef MULTIPLE_HEAPS
+    PER_HEAP_ISOLATED
+    bool gc_thread_no_affinitize_p;
+
     PER_HEAP_ISOLATED
     CLREvent gc_start_event;
 
diff --git a/src/inc/clrconfigvalues.h b/src/inc/clrconfigvalues.h
index 2bb6e7897182..1cb9edef63ac 100644
--- a/src/inc/clrconfigvalues.h
+++ b/src/inc/clrconfigvalues.h
@@ -353,6 +353,8 @@ RETAIL_CONFIG_DWORD_INFO_DIRECT_ACCESS(UNSUPPORTED_HeapVerify, W("HeapVerify"),
 RETAIL_CONFIG_STRING_INFO_EX(EXTERNAL_SetupGcCoverage, W("SetupGcCoverage"), "This doesn't appear to be a config flag", CLRConfig::REGUTIL_default)
 RETAIL_CONFIG_DWORD_INFO(UNSUPPORTED_GCNumaAware, W("GCNumaAware"), 1, "Specifies if to enable GC NUMA aware")
 RETAIL_CONFIG_DWORD_INFO(EXTERNAL_GCCpuGroup, W("GCCpuGroup"), 0, "Specifies if to enable GC to support CPU groups")
+RETAIL_CONFIG_DWORD_INFO(UNSUPPORTED_GCHeapCount, W("GCHeapCount"), 0, "")
+RETAIL_CONFIG_DWORD_INFO(UNSUPPORTED_GCNoAffinitize, W("GCNoAffinitize"), 0, "")
 
 //
 // IBC
diff --git a/src/vm/eeconfig.cpp b/src/vm/eeconfig.cpp
index 95e3d0c9feda..08938c371952 100644
--- a/src/vm/eeconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/vm/eeconfig.cpp
@@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ HRESULT EEConfig::Init()
     iGCForceCompact = 0;
     iGCHoardVM = 0;
     iGCLOHCompactionMode = 0;
+    iGCHeapCount = 0;
+    iGCNoAffinitize = 0;
 
 #ifdef GCTRIMCOMMIT
     iGCTrimCommit = 0;
@@ -973,6 +975,9 @@ HRESULT EEConfig::sync()
 #endif
 
     iGCForceCompact     =  GetConfigDWORD_DontUse_(CLRConfig::UNSUPPORTED_gcForceCompact, iGCForceCompact);
+    iGCNoAffinitize = Configuration::GetKnobBooleanValue(W("System.GC.NoAffinitize"), 
+                                                         CLRConfig::UNSUPPORTED_GCNoAffinitize);
+    iGCHeapCount = Configuration::GetKnobDWORDValue(W("System.GC.HeapCount"), CLRConfig::UNSUPPORTED_GCHeapCount);
 
     fStressLog        =  GetConfigDWORD_DontUse_(CLRConfig::UNSUPPORTED_StressLog, fStressLog) != 0;
     fForceEnc         =  GetConfigDWORD_DontUse_(CLRConfig::UNSUPPORTED_ForceEnc, fForceEnc) != 0;
diff --git a/src/vm/eeconfig.h b/src/vm/eeconfig.h
index 0853455aa361..02342d7e9387 100644
--- a/src/vm/eeconfig.h
+++ b/src/vm/eeconfig.h
@@ -692,6 +692,8 @@ class EEConfig
     int     GetGCForceCompact()             const {LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT; return iGCForceCompact; }
     int     GetGCRetainVM ()                const {LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT; return iGCHoardVM;}
     int     GetGCLOHCompactionMode()        const {LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT; return iGCLOHCompactionMode;}
+    int     GetGCHeapCount()                const {LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT; return iGCHeapCount;}
+    int     GetGCNoAffinitize ()            const {LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT; return iGCNoAffinitize;}
 
 #ifdef GCTRIMCOMMIT
 
@@ -1077,6 +1079,8 @@ class EEConfig
     int  iGCForceCompact;
     int  iGCHoardVM;
     int  iGCLOHCompactionMode;
+    int  iGCHeapCount;
+    int  iGCNoAffinitize;
 
 #ifdef GCTRIMCOMMIT