diff --git a/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.c b/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.c
index d995ad3..01ea87b 100644
--- a/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.c
+++ b/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include <odp_cunit_common.h>
 #include <odp/helper/linux.h>
 /* Globals */
-static odph_linux_pthread_t thread_tbl[MAX_WORKERS];
+static odph_linux_pthread_t *thread_tbl;
 
 /*
  * global init/term functions which may be registered
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@ static struct {
 int odp_cunit_thread_create(void *func_ptr(void *), pthrd_arg *arg)
 {
 	odp_cpumask_t cpumask;
+	int num;
 
 	/* Create and init additional threads */
-	odp_cpumask_def_worker(&cpumask, arg->numthrds);
+	num = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&cpumask, arg->numthrds);
+	thread_tbl = calloc(sizeof(odph_linux_pthread_t), num);
 
 	return odph_linux_pthread_create(thread_tbl, &cpumask, func_ptr,
 					 (void *)arg);
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ int odp_cunit_thread_exit(pthrd_arg *arg)
 {
 	/* Wait for other threads to exit */
 	odph_linux_pthread_join(thread_tbl, arg->numthrds);
+	free(thread_tbl);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.h b/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.h
index 6cafaaa..f94b44e 100644
--- a/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.h
+++ b/test/validation/common/odp_cunit_common.h
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include "CUnit/Basic.h"
 
-#define MAX_WORKERS 32 /**< Maximum number of work threads */
-
 /* the function, called by module main(), to run the testsuites: */
 int odp_cunit_run(CU_SuiteInfo testsuites[]);
 
diff --git a/test/validation/scheduler/scheduler.c b/test/validation/scheduler/scheduler.c
index 1874889..e12895d 100644
--- a/test/validation/scheduler/scheduler.c
+++ b/test/validation/scheduler/scheduler.c
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 #include "odp_cunit_common.h"
 #include "scheduler.h"
 
-#define MAX_WORKERS_THREADS	32
 #define MSG_POOL_SIZE		(4 * 1024 * 1024)
 #define QUEUES_PER_PRIO		16
 #define BUF_SIZE		64
@@ -1018,8 +1017,6 @@ int scheduler_suite_init(void)
 	memset(globals, 0, sizeof(test_globals_t));
 
 	globals->num_workers = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&mask, 0);
-	if (globals->num_workers > MAX_WORKERS)
-		globals->num_workers = MAX_WORKERS;
 
 	shm = odp_shm_reserve(SHM_THR_ARGS_NAME, sizeof(thread_args_t),
 			      ODP_CACHE_LINE_SIZE, 0);
diff --git a/test/validation/shmem/shmem.c b/test/validation/shmem/shmem.c
index 6dc579a..dfa5310 100644
--- a/test/validation/shmem/shmem.c
+++ b/test/validation/shmem/shmem.c
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ void shmem_test_odp_shm_sunnyday(void)
 	pthrd_arg thrdarg;
 	odp_shm_t shm;
 	test_shared_data_t *test_shared_data;
+	odp_cpumask_t mask;
 
 	shm = odp_shm_reserve(TESTNAME,
 			      sizeof(test_shared_data_t), ALIGE_SIZE, 0);
@@ -67,10 +68,7 @@ void shmem_test_odp_shm_sunnyday(void)
 	test_shared_data->foo = TEST_SHARE_FOO;
 	test_shared_data->bar = TEST_SHARE_BAR;
 
-	thrdarg.numthrds = odp_cpu_count();
-
-	if (thrdarg.numthrds > MAX_WORKERS)
-		thrdarg.numthrds = MAX_WORKERS;
+	thrdarg.numthrds = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&mask, 0);
 
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(run_shm_thread, &thrdarg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&thrdarg);
diff --git a/test/validation/synchronizers/synchronizers.c b/test/validation/synchronizers/synchronizers.c
index 0a31a40..914b37e 100644
--- a/test/validation/synchronizers/synchronizers.c
+++ b/test/validation/synchronizers/synchronizers.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ typedef struct {
 
 typedef struct {
 	/* Global variables */
-	uint32_t g_num_threads;
+	uint32_t g_num_workers;
 	uint32_t g_iterations;
 	uint32_t g_verbose;
 	uint32_t g_max_num_cores;
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static uint32_t barrier_test(per_thread_mem_t *per_thread_mem,
 
 	thread_num = odp_thread_id();
 	global_mem = per_thread_mem->global_mem;
-	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	iterations = BARRIER_ITERATIONS;
 
 	barrier_errs = 0;
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ static void barrier_test_init(void)
 {
 	uint32_t num_threads, idx;
 
-	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 
 	for (idx = 0; idx < NUM_TEST_BARRIERS; idx++) {
 		odp_barrier_init(&global_mem->test_barriers[idx], num_threads);
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_no_barrier_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	barrier_test_init();
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(no_barrier_functional_test, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_barrier_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	barrier_test_init();
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(barrier_functional_test, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_no_lock_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(no_lock_functional_test, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
 }
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_spinlock_api(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(spinlock_api_tests, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
 }
@@ -975,7 +975,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_spinlock_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_spinlock_init(&global_mem->global_spinlock);
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(spinlock_functional_test, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_ticketlock_api(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(ticketlock_api_tests, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
 }
@@ -1001,7 +1001,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_ticketlock_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_ticketlock_init(&global_mem->global_ticketlock);
 
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(ticketlock_functional_test, &arg);
@@ -1019,7 +1019,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_rwlock_api(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(rwlock_api_tests, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
 }
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@ void synchronizers_test_rwlock_functional(void)
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_rwlock_init(&global_mem->global_rwlock);
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(rwlock_functional_test, &arg);
 	odp_cunit_thread_exit(&arg);
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ int synchronizers_suite_init(void)
 {
 	uint32_t num_threads, idx;
 
-	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	num_threads = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	odp_barrier_init(&global_mem->global_barrier, num_threads);
 	for (idx = 0; idx < NUM_RESYNC_BARRIERS; idx++)
 		odp_barrier_init(&global_mem->barrier_array[idx], num_threads);
@@ -1054,7 +1054,6 @@ int synchronizers_suite_init(void)
 
 int synchronizers_init(void)
 {
-	uint32_t workers_count, max_threads;
 	int ret = 0;
 	odp_cpumask_t mask;
 
@@ -1078,25 +1077,12 @@ int synchronizers_init(void)
 	global_mem = odp_shm_addr(global_shm);
 	memset(global_mem, 0, sizeof(global_shared_mem_t));
 
-	global_mem->g_num_threads = MAX_WORKERS;
+	global_mem->g_num_workers = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&mask, 0);
 	global_mem->g_iterations = MAX_ITERATIONS;
 	global_mem->g_verbose = VERBOSE;
 
-	workers_count = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&mask, 0);
-
-	max_threads = (workers_count >= MAX_WORKERS) ?
-			MAX_WORKERS : workers_count;
-
-	if (max_threads < global_mem->g_num_threads) {
-		printf("Requested num of threads is too large\n");
-		printf("reducing from %" PRIu32 " to %" PRIu32 "\n",
-		       global_mem->g_num_threads,
-		       max_threads);
-		global_mem->g_num_threads = max_threads;
-	}
-
-	printf("Num of threads used = %" PRIu32 "\n",
-	       global_mem->g_num_threads);
+	printf("Num of workers used = %" PRIu32 "\n",
+	       global_mem->g_num_workers);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -1158,7 +1144,7 @@ static void test_atomic_functional(void *func_ptr(void *))
 {
 	pthrd_arg arg;
 
-	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_threads;
+	arg.numthrds = global_mem->g_num_workers;
 	test_atomic_init();
 	test_atomic_store();
 	odp_cunit_thread_create(func_ptr, &arg);
diff --git a/test/validation/timer/timer.c b/test/validation/timer/timer.c
index 7a8b98a..bcba3d4 100644
--- a/test/validation/timer/timer.c
+++ b/test/validation/timer/timer.c
@@ -34,12 +34,6 @@ static odp_timer_pool_t tp;
 /** @private Count of timeouts delivered too late */
 static odp_atomic_u32_t ndelivtoolate;
 
-/** @private min() function */
-static int min(int a, int b)
-{
-	return a < b ? a : b;
-}
-
 /* @private Timer helper structure */
 struct test_timer {
 	odp_timer_t tim; /* Timer handle */
@@ -441,10 +435,12 @@ void timer_test_odp_timer_all(void)
 	int rc;
 	odp_pool_param_t params;
 	odp_timer_pool_param_t tparam;
+	odp_cpumask_t mask;
+
 	/* Reserve at least one core for running other processes so the timer
 	 * test hopefully can run undisturbed and thus get better timing
 	 * results. */
-	int num_workers = min(odp_cpu_count() - 1, MAX_WORKERS);
+	int num_workers = odp_cpumask_def_worker(&mask, 0) - 1;
 	/* On a single-CPU machine run at least one thread */
 	if (num_workers < 1)
 		num_workers = 1;
