diff --git a/FU.pm b/FU.pm
index ce830a6..25db727 100644
--- a/FU.pm
+++ b/FU.pm
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ sub _spawn {
             $c{proc} = $1 if /^--proc=([0-9]+)$/;
             $c{monitor} = 1 if /^--monitor$/;
             $c{monitor} = 0 if /^--no-monitor$/;
-            $c{max_reqs} = $1 if /^--max-reqs=([0-9]+)$/;
+            $c{max_reqs} = $1 if /^--max-reqs=([0-9]+(?::[0-9]+)?)$/;
             debug 1 if /^--debug$/;
             debug 0 if /^--no-debug$/;
             $ENV{FU_LOG_FILE} = $1 if /^--log-file=(.+)$/;
@@ -553,6 +553,7 @@ sub _spawn {
         _supervisor \%c;
     } else {
         $c{supervisor_sock}->syswrite('r'.pack 'V', $$) if $c{supervisor_sock};
+        $c{max_reqs} = $1 >= $2 ? $1 : $1 + int rand $2-$1 if $c{max_reqs} =~ /^([0-9]+):([0-9]+)$/;
         _run_loop \%c;
     }
 }
@@ -1387,12 +1388,19 @@ significant cost in performance - better not enable this in production.
 
 =item FU_MAX_REQS=n
 
+=item FU_MAX_REQS=min:max
+
 =item --max-reqs=n
 
+=item --max-reqs=min:max
+
 Worker processes can automatically restart after handling a number of requests.
-Set to 0 (the default) to disable this feature. This option can be useful when
-your worker processes keep accumulating memory over time. A little pruning now
-and then can never hurt.
+Set to 0 (the default) to disable this feature. When set as C<min:max>, the
+number of requests is randomized in the given range, which is useful to avoid
+restarting all worker processes around the same time.
+
+This option can be useful when your worker processes keep accumulating memory
+over time. A little pruning now and then can never hurt.
 
 =item FU_DEBUG=0/1