diff --git a/module_build_service/__init__.py b/module_build_service/__init__.py
index c79bebc8..2fa61b6a 100644
--- a/module_build_service/__init__.py
+++ b/module_build_service/__init__.py
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ celery_configs = {
     name[7:]: getattr(conf, name)
     for name in dir(conf) if name.startswith("celery_")
 }
+# Only allow a single process so that tasks are always serial per worker
+celery_configs["worker_concurrency"] = 1
 celery_app.conf.update(**celery_configs)
 
 
diff --git a/module_build_service/config.py b/module_build_service/config.py
index cb7582fd..a05b94c8 100644
--- a/module_build_service/config.py
+++ b/module_build_service/config.py
@@ -670,6 +670,13 @@ class Config(object):
             "default": 30,
             "desc": "The timeout configuration for dnf operations, in seconds."
         },
+        "celery_worker_prefetch_multiplier": {
+            "type": int,
+            "default": 1,
+            "desc": "This defaults to 1 so that the worker doesn't fetch more messages than it can "
+                    "handle at a time. This so that general tasks aren't starved when running "
+                    "a long handler.",
+        },
     }
 
     def __init__(self, conf_section_obj):