diff --git a/extensions/vertx-http/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/vertx/http/runtime/VertxHttpRecorder.java b/extensions/vertx-http/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/vertx/http/runtime/VertxHttpRecorder.java
index e800959e19061..ae048e7ae10e8 100644
--- a/extensions/vertx-http/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/vertx/http/runtime/VertxHttpRecorder.java
+++ b/extensions/vertx-http/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/vertx/http/runtime/VertxHttpRecorder.java
@@ -532,9 +532,11 @@ private static void doServerStart(Vertx vertx, HttpBuildTimeConfig httpBuildTime
         }
 
         int eventLoopCount = eventLoops.get();
-        int ioThreads;
+        final int ioThreads;
         if (httpConfiguration.ioThreads.isPresent()) {
             ioThreads = Math.min(httpConfiguration.ioThreads.getAsInt(), eventLoopCount);
+        } else if (launchMode.isDevOrTest()) {
+            ioThreads = Math.min(2, eventLoopCount); //Don't start ~100 threads to run a couple unit tests
         } else {
             ioThreads = eventLoopCount;
         }