diff --git a/manifests/nginx.pp b/manifests/nginx.pp
index 4de131ca..738aa655 100644
--- a/manifests/nginx.pp
+++ b/manifests/nginx.pp
@@ -1,17 +1,24 @@
 # Deployment of nginx as a reverse proxy for Software Heritage RPC servers
 
 class profile::nginx {
   $accept_mutex = lookup('nginx::accept_mutex')
   $package_name = lookup('nginx::package_name')
 
   $names_hash_bucket_size = lookup('nginx::names_hash_bucket_size')
   $names_hash_max_size = lookup('nginx::names_hash_max_size')
+  $worker_processes = lookup('nginx::worker_processes')
+  if $worker_processes != 'auto' {
+    $actual_worker_processes = $worker_processes + 0
+  } else {
+    $actual_worker_processes = 'auto'
+  }
 
   class {'::nginx':
     package_name           => $package_name,
     manage_repo            => false,
     accept_mutex           => $accept_mutex,
     names_hash_bucket_size => $names_hash_bucket_size,
     names_hash_max_size    => $names_hash_max_size,
+    worker_processes       => $actual_worker_processes,
   }
 }