diff --git a/kevlar/cli/count.py b/kevlar/cli/count.py
index b659ca8..9157a73 100644
--- a/kevlar/cli/count.py
+++ b/kevlar/cli/count.py
@@ -109,3 +109,6 @@ def subparser(subparsers):
                            help='show this help message and exit')
     misc_args.add_argument('-k', '--ksize', type=int, default=31, metavar='K',
                            help='k-mer size; default is 31')
+    misc_args.add_argument('-t', '--threads', type=int, default=1, metavar='T',
+                           help='number of threads to use for file processing;'
+                           ' default is 1')
diff --git a/kevlar/cli/novel.py b/kevlar/cli/novel.py
index bf73927..819241d 100644
--- a/kevlar/cli/novel.py
+++ b/kevlar/cli/novel.py
@@ -138,3 +138,6 @@ def subparser(subparsers):
     misc_args.add_argument('--abund-screen', type=int, default=None,
                            metavar='INT', help='discard reads with any k-mers '
                            'whose abundance is < INT')
+    misc_args.add_argument('-t', '--threads', type=int, default=1, metavar='T',
+                           help='number of threads to use for file processing;'
+                           ' default is 1')
diff --git a/kevlar/count.py b/kevlar/count.py
index 58ad968..66ba9d8 100644
--- a/kevlar/count.py
+++ b/kevlar/count.py
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ def main(args):
     controls = kevlar.counting.load_samples(
         infilelists, args.ksize, args.memory, outfiles=outfiles,
         memfraction=args.mem_frac, maxfpr=args.max_fpr, maxabund=args.ctrl_max,
-        mask=None, numbands=args.num_bands, band=myband, logfile=args.logfile
+        mask=None, numbands=args.num_bands, band=myband,
+        numthreads=args.threads, logfile=args.logfile
     )
     elapsed = timer.stop('loadctrl')
     numcontrols = len(controls)
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ def main(args):
         infilelists, args.ksize, args.memory, outfiles=outfiles,
         memfraction=args.mem_frac, maxfpr=args.max_fpr, maxabund=args.ctrl_max,
         mask=casemask, numbands=args.num_bands, band=myband,
-        logfile=args.logfile
+        numthreads=args.threads, logfile=args.logfile
     )
     elapsed = timer.stop('loadcase')
     numcases = len(cases)
diff --git a/kevlar/counting.py b/kevlar/counting.py
index 37cf50b..30ce224 100644
--- a/kevlar/counting.py
+++ b/kevlar/counting.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 import re
 import sys
+import threading
 
 import khmer
 import kevlar
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ class KevlarOutfileMismatchError(ValueError):
 
 def load_sample_seqfile(seqfiles, ksize, memory, maxfpr=0.2,
                         mask=None, maskmaxabund=1, numbands=None, band=None,
-                        outfile=None, logfile=sys.stderr):
+                        outfile=None, numthreads=1, logfile=sys.stderr):
     """
     Compute k-mer abundances for the specified sequence input.
 
@@ -39,29 +40,43 @@ def load_sample_seqfile(seqfiles, ksize, memory, maxfpr=0.2,
     sketch = khmer.Counttable(ksize, memory / 4, 4)
     n, nkmers = 0, 0
     for seqfile in seqfiles:
-        if mask:
-            if numbands:
-                nr, nk = sketch.consume_seqfile_banding_with_mask(
-                    seqfile, numbands, band, mask
-                )
+        parser = khmer.ReadParser(seqfile)
+        threads = list()
+        for _ in range(numthreads):
+            if mask:
+                if numbands:
+                    thread = threading.Thread(
+                        target=sketch.consume_seqfile_banding_with_mask,
+                        args=(parser, numbands, band, mask, ),
+                    )
+                else:
+                    thread = threading.Thread(
+                        target=sketch.consume_seqfile_with_mask,
+                        args=(parser, mask, ),
+                    )
             else:
-                nr, nk = sketch.consume_seqfile_with_mask(seqfile, mask)
-        else:
-            if numbands:
-                nr, nk = sketch.consume_seqfile_banding(
-                    seqfile, numbands, band
-                )
-            else:
-                nr, nk = sketch.consume_seqfile(seqfile)
-        n += nr
-        nkmers += nk
+                if numbands:
+                    thread = threading.Thread(
+                        target=sketch.consume_seqfile_banding,
+                        args=(parser, numbands, band, ),
+                    )
+                else:
+                    thread = threading.Thread(
+                        target=sketch.consume_seqfile,
+                        args=(parser, ),
+                    )
+            threads.append(thread)
+            thread.start()
+
+    for thread in threads:
+        thread.join()
 
     message = 'done loading reads'
     if numbands:
-        message += ' (band {:d}/{:d})'.format(band, numbands)
+        message += ' (band {:d}/{:d})'.format(band+1, numbands)
     fpr = kevlar.sketch.estimate_fpr(sketch)
-    message += '; {:d} reads processed'.format(n)
-    message += ', {:d} k-mers stored'.format(nkmers)
+    message += '; {:d} reads processed'.format(parser.num_reads)
+    message += ', {:d} distinct k-mers stored'.format(sketch.n_unique_kmers())
     message += '; estimated false positive rate is {:1.3f}'.format(fpr)
     if fpr > maxfpr:
         message += ' (FPR too high, bailing out!!!)'
@@ -79,7 +94,7 @@ def load_sample_seqfile(seqfiles, ksize, memory, maxfpr=0.2,
 
 def load_samples(samplelists, ksize, memory, mask=None, memfraction=None,
                  maxfpr=0.2, maxabund=1, numbands=None, band=None,
-                 outfiles=None, logfile=sys.stderr):
+                 outfiles=None, numthreads=1, logfile=sys.stderr):
     """
     Load a group of related samples using a memory-efficient strategy.
 
@@ -114,7 +129,8 @@ def load_samples(samplelists, ksize, memory, mask=None, memfraction=None,
             mymask = sketches[0]
         sketch = load_sample_seqfile(
             seqfiles, ksize, sketchmem, maxfpr=maxfpr, mask=mymask,
-            numbands=numbands, band=band, outfile=outfile, logfile=logfile
+            numbands=numbands, band=band, outfile=outfile,
+            numthreads=numthreads, logfile=logfile
         )
         sketches.append(sketch)
     return sketches
diff --git a/kevlar/novel.py b/kevlar/novel.py
index 8ef3664..2cea653 100644
--- a/kevlar/novel.py
+++ b/kevlar/novel.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def main(args):
         controls = kevlar.counting.load_samples(
             args.control, args.ksize, args.memory, maxfpr=args.max_fpr,
             memfraction=None, numbands=args.num_bands, band=myband,
-            logfile=args.logfile
+            numthreads=args.threads, logfile=args.logfile
         )
     elapsed = timer.stop('loadctrl')
     message = 'Control samples loaded in {:.2f} sec'.format(elapsed)
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def main(args):
         cases = kevlar.counting.load_samples(
             args.case, args.ksize, args.memory, maxfpr=args.max_fpr,
             memfraction=None, numbands=args.num_bands, band=myband,
-            logfile=args.logfile
+            numthreads=args.threads, logfile=args.logfile
         )
     elapsed = timer.stop('loadcases')
     print('[kevlar::novel] Case samples loaded in {:.2f} sec'.format(elapsed),
diff --git a/kevlar/tests/test_count.py b/kevlar/tests/test_count.py
index e55f420..bcd82b9 100644
--- a/kevlar/tests/test_count.py
+++ b/kevlar/tests/test_count.py
@@ -16,10 +16,41 @@
 from kevlar.tests import data_file, data_glob
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def triomask():
+    mask = khmer.Counttable(19, 1e4, 4)
+    mask.consume('TGAGGGGACTAGGTGATCAGGTGAGGGTTTCCCAGTTCCCGAAGATGACT')
+    mask.consume('GATCTTTCGCTCCCTGTCATCAAGGAGTGATACGCGAAGTGCGTCCCCTT')
+    mask.consume('GAAGTTTTGACAATTTACGTGAGCCCTACCTAGCGAAACAACAGAGAACC')
+    return mask
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('mask,numbands,band', [
+    (None, None, None),
+    (None, 9, 2),
+    (triomask, None, None),
+    (triomask, 23, 19),
+])
+def test_load_threading(mask, numbands, band):
+    # Smoke test: make sure things don't explode when run in "threaded" mode.
+    infiles = data_glob('trio1/case1.fq')
+    sketch = kevlar.counting.load_sample_seqfile(
+        infiles, 19, 1e7, mask=mask, numbands=numbands, band=band, numthreads=2
+    )
+
+
+def test_load_sketches():
+    infiles = data_glob('test.counttable')
+    sketches = kevlar.counting.load_samples_sketchfiles(infiles, maxfpr=0.5)
+    for sketch in sketches:
+        assert sketch.get('CCTGATATCCGGAATCTTAGC') > 0
+        assert sketch.get('GATTACA' * 3) == 0
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('numbands,band,kmers_stored', [
-    (0, 0, 15600),
-    (2, 1, 7937),
-    (16, 7, 1068),
+    (0, 0, 947),
+    (2, 1, 500),
+    (16, 7, 68),
 ])
 def test_count_simple(numbands, band, kmers_stored, capsys):
     with NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.counttable') as ctrl1out, \
@@ -40,4 +71,24 @@ def test_count_simple(numbands, band, kmers_stored, capsys):
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
 
     assert '600 reads processed' in str(err)
-    assert '{:d} k-mers stored'.format(kmers_stored) in str(err)
+    assert '{:d} distinct k-mers stored'.format(kmers_stored) in str(err)
+
+
+def test_count_threading():
+    with NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.counttable') as ctrl1out, \
+            NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.counttable') as ctrl2out, \
+            NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.counttable') as caseout:
+        case = data_file('trio1/case1.fq')
+        ctrls = data_glob('trio1/ctrl[1,2].fq')
+        arglist = [
+            'count',
+            '--ksize', '19', '--memory', '500K', '--threads', '2',
+            '--case', caseout.name, case,
+            '--control', ctrl1out.name, ctrls[0],
+            '--control', ctrl2out.name, ctrls[1],
+        ]
+        args = kevlar.cli.parser().parse_args(arglist)
+        kevlar.count.main(args)
+
+    # No checks, just doing a "smoke test" to make sure things don't explode
+    # when counting is done in "threaded" mode.