diff --git a/.ci/lint-cpp.sh b/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
index 56489ecf3325..2d91f8e85f00 100755
--- a/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
+++ b/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ get_omp_pragmas_without_num_threads() {
         --include='*.h' \
         --include='*.hpp' \
         'pragma omp parallel' \
-    | grep -v ' num_threads' \
-    | grep -v 'openmp_wrapper.h'
+    | grep -v ' num_threads'
 }
 PROBLEMATIC_LINES=$(
     get_omp_pragmas_without_num_threads
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 50b3cbaaf189..aef95871e4cc 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -432,6 +432,7 @@ file(
       src/objective/*.cpp
       src/network/*.cpp
       src/treelearner/*.cpp
+      src/utils/*.cpp
 if(USE_CUDA)
       src/treelearner/*.cu
       src/boosting/cuda/*.cpp
diff --git a/R-package/NAMESPACE b/R-package/NAMESPACE
index e07af84d8824..ab987d0593eb 100644
--- a/R-package/NAMESPACE
+++ b/R-package/NAMESPACE
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ S3method(print,lgb.Booster)
 S3method(set_field,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(slice,lgb.Dataset)
 S3method(summary,lgb.Booster)
+export(getLGBMthreads)
 export(get_field)
 export(lgb.Dataset)
 export(lgb.Dataset.construct)
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ export(lgb.train)
 export(lightgbm)
 export(readRDS.lgb.Booster)
 export(saveRDS.lgb.Booster)
+export(setLGBMthreads)
 export(set_field)
 export(slice)
 import(methods)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.Booster.R b/R-package/R/lgb.Booster.R
index 17da9545ae19..4437c6fa552e 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.Booster.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.Booster.R
@@ -917,6 +917,8 @@ NULL
 #'         the factor levels not being present in the output.
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1082,6 +1084,8 @@ predict.lgb.Booster <- function(object,
 #'         \link{predict.lgb.Booster}.
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' library(lightgbm)
 #' data(mtcars)
 #' X <- as.matrix(mtcars[, -1L])
@@ -1224,6 +1228,8 @@ summary.lgb.Booster <- function(object, ...) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1289,6 +1295,8 @@ lgb.load <- function(filename = NULL, model_str = NULL) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' library(lightgbm)
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
@@ -1346,6 +1354,8 @@ lgb.save <- function(booster, filename, num_iteration = NULL) {
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' library(lightgbm)
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1396,6 +1406,8 @@ lgb.dump <- function(booster, num_iteration = NULL) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' # train a regression model
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R b/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
index ddc338d2cae3..ff9b0b4fa38a 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.Dataset.R
@@ -780,6 +780,8 @@ Dataset <- R6::R6Class(
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -837,6 +839,8 @@ lgb.Dataset <- function(data,
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -913,6 +917,8 @@ lgb.Dataset.create.valid <- function(dataset,
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -942,6 +948,8 @@ lgb.Dataset.construct <- function(dataset) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -975,6 +983,8 @@ dim.lgb.Dataset <- function(x) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1045,6 +1055,8 @@ dimnames.lgb.Dataset <- function(x) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1089,6 +1101,8 @@ slice.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, idxset) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1138,6 +1152,8 @@ get_field.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, field_name) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1177,6 +1193,8 @@ set_field.lgb.Dataset <- function(dataset, field_name, data) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
@@ -1207,6 +1225,8 @@ lgb.Dataset.set.categorical <- function(dataset, categorical_feature) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' # create training Dataset
 #' data(agaricus.train, package ="lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
@@ -1240,6 +1260,8 @@ lgb.Dataset.set.reference <- function(dataset, reference) {
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R b/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
index 11768c5bfa0b..0545fbf71899 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.cv.R
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ CVBooster <- R6::R6Class(
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.importance.R b/R-package/R/lgb.importance.R
index 27efb17392df..7c76131f4f53 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.importance.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.importance.R
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R b/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
index 976315262792..8f93d45429f1 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.interprete.R
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' Logit <- function(x) log(x / (1.0 - x))
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.model.dt.tree.R b/R-package/R/lgb.model.dt.tree.R
index 5d994accfa7f..bf4562e41018 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.model.dt.tree.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.model.dt.tree.R
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.importance.R b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.importance.R
index fc59ebd0efec..b8a90ca158ae 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.importance.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.importance.R
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
index 8b95371eb3c2..97650f30a7d3 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.plot.interpretation.R
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' Logit <- function(x) {
 #'   log(x / (1.0 - x))
 #' }
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.restore_handle.R b/R-package/R/lgb.restore_handle.R
index 0ed25ef26f3d..8a24cc628ca9 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.restore_handle.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.restore_handle.R
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 #' @return \code{lgb.Booster} (the same `model` object that was passed as input, invisibly).
 #' @seealso \link{lgb.make_serializable}, \link{lgb.drop_serialized}.
 #' @examples
+#' \donttest{
 #' library(lightgbm)
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data("agaricus.train")
 #' model <- lightgbm(
 #'   agaricus.train$data
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@
 #' model_new$check_null_handle()
 #' lgb.restore_handle(model_new)
 #' model_new$check_null_handle()
+#' }
 #' @export
 lgb.restore_handle <- function(model) {
   if (!.is_Booster(x = model)) {
diff --git a/R-package/R/lgb.train.R b/R-package/R/lgb.train.R
index 6979558d22cd..8a299fb6b8ac 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lgb.train.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lgb.train.R
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/multithreading.R b/R-package/R/multithreading.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a8d6b51a8968
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/R/multithreading.R
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#' @name setLGBMThreads
+#' @title Set maximum number of threads used by LightGBM
+#' @description LightGBM attempts to speed up many operations by using multi-threading.
+#'              The number of threads used in those operations can be controlled via the
+#'              \code{num_threads} parameter passed through \code{params} to functions like
+#'              \link{lgb.train} and \link{lgb.Dataset}. However, some operations (like materializing
+#'              a model from a text file) are done via code paths that don't explicitly accept thread-control
+#'              configuration.
+#'
+#'              Use this function to set the maximum number of threads LightGBM will use for such operations.
+#'
+#'              This function affects all LightGBM operations in the same process.
+#'
+#'              So, for example, if you call \code{setLGBMthreads(4)}, no other multi-threaded LightGBM
+#'              operation in the same process will use more than 4 threads.
+#'
+#'              Call \code{setLGBMthreads(-1)} to remove this limitation.
+#' @param num_threads maximum number of threads to be used by LightGBM in multi-threaded operations
+#' @return NULL
+#' @seealso \link{getLGBMthreads}
+#' @export
+setLGBMthreads <- function(num_threads) {
+    .Call(
+        LGBM_SetMaxThreads_R,
+        num_threads
+    )
+    return(invisible(NULL))
+}
+
+#' @name getLGBMThreads
+#' @title Get default number of threads used by LightGBM
+#' @description LightGBM attempts to speed up many operations by using multi-threading.
+#'              The number of threads used in those operations can be controlled via the
+#'              \code{num_threads} parameter passed through \code{params} to functions like
+#'              \link{lgb.train} and \link{lgb.Dataset}. However, some operations (like materializing
+#'              a model from a text file) are done via code paths that don't explicitly accept thread-control
+#'              configuration.
+#'
+#'              Use this function to see the default number of threads LightGBM will use for such operations.
+#' @return number of threads as an integer. \code{-1} means that in situations where parameter \code{num_threads} is
+#'         not explicitly supplied, LightGBM will choose a number of threads to use automatically.
+#' @seealso \link{setLGBMthreads}
+#' @export
+getLGBMthreads <- function() {
+    out <- 0L
+    .Call(
+        LGBM_GetMaxThreads_R,
+        out
+    )
+    return(out)
+}
diff --git a/R-package/R/readRDS.lgb.Booster.R b/R-package/R/readRDS.lgb.Booster.R
index a8abac642c24..69e954fc75f1 100644
--- a/R-package/R/readRDS.lgb.Booster.R
+++ b/R-package/R/readRDS.lgb.Booster.R
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' library(lightgbm)
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/R/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.R b/R-package/R/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.R
index d75056e69734..d227d75eb90d 100644
--- a/R-package/R/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.R
+++ b/R-package/R/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.R
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' library(lightgbm)
+#' \dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+#' \dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 #' data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 #' train <- agaricus.train
 #' dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/dim.Rd b/R-package/man/dim.Rd
index 94ca192d8291..69332d0ec397 100644
--- a/R-package/man/dim.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/dim.Rd
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ be directly used with an \code{lgb.Dataset} object.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/dimnames.lgb.Dataset.Rd b/R-package/man/dimnames.lgb.Dataset.Rd
index ec01a04f607b..85f2085f1d77 100644
--- a/R-package/man/dimnames.lgb.Dataset.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/dimnames.lgb.Dataset.Rd
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ Since row names are irrelevant, it is recommended to use \code{colnames} directl
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/getLGBMThreads.Rd b/R-package/man/getLGBMThreads.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..21af4f4849d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/man/getLGBMThreads.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/multithreading.R
+\name{getLGBMThreads}
+\alias{getLGBMThreads}
+\alias{getLGBMthreads}
+\title{Get default number of threads used by LightGBM}
+\usage{
+getLGBMthreads()
+}
+\value{
+number of threads as an integer. \code{-1} means that in situations where parameter \code{num_threads} is
+        not explicitly supplied, LightGBM will choose a number of threads to use automatically.
+}
+\description{
+LightGBM attempts to speed up many operations by using multi-threading.
+             The number of threads used in those operations can be controlled via the
+             \code{num_threads} parameter passed through \code{params} to functions like
+             \link{lgb.train} and \link{lgb.Dataset}. However, some operations (like materializing
+             a model from a text file) are done via code paths that don't explicitly accept thread-control
+             configuration.
+
+             Use this function to see the default number of threads LightGBM will use for such operations.
+}
+\seealso{
+\link{setLGBMthreads}
+}
diff --git a/R-package/man/get_field.Rd b/R-package/man/get_field.Rd
index 1b6692fcf807..e2562cc21364 100644
--- a/R-package/man/get_field.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/get_field.Rd
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ Get one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.Rd
index 4895600ff922..2605657b060a 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.Rd
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ Construct \code{lgb.Dataset} object from dense matrix, sparse matrix
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.construct.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.construct.Rd
index 97c9e7887602..e400e0a5f8d5 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.construct.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.construct.Rd
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Construct Dataset explicitly
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.create.valid.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.create.valid.Rd
index ab8ca753c2b9..fc50dff19986 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.create.valid.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.create.valid.Rd
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ Construct validation data according to training data
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.save.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.save.Rd
index 5ea38227ba66..b03c2c5e0ac5 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.save.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.save.Rd
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Please note that \code{init_score} is not saved in binary file.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.categorical.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.categorical.Rd
index 26eb10770e47..5dfcc9a771e8 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.categorical.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.categorical.Rd
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Set the categorical features of an \code{lgb.Dataset} object. Use this function
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.reference.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.reference.Rd
index 349b0b22913e..a4efbfac5962 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.reference.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.Dataset.set.reference.Rd
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ If you want to use validation data, you should set reference to training data
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 # create training Dataset
 data(agaricus.train, package ="lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.configure_fast_predict.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.configure_fast_predict.Rd
index 39fe6afa6b18..e02600451df5 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.configure_fast_predict.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.configure_fast_predict.Rd
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ Calling this function multiple times with different parameters might not overrid
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 library(lightgbm)
 data(mtcars)
 X <- as.matrix(mtcars[, -1L])
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.cv.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.cv.Rd
index 555cb11c7bb3..7ea2928c6166 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.cv.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.cv.Rd
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ Cross validation logic used by LightGBM
 
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.dump.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.dump.Rd
index f4e90242fd75..39f0e3018ac7 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.dump.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.dump.Rd
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Dump LightGBM model to json
 \examples{
 \donttest{
 library(lightgbm)
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.get.eval.result.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.get.eval.result.Rd
index 9c2293a0f909..0dc7eb0845c3 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.get.eval.result.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.get.eval.result.Rd
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ Given a \code{lgb.Booster}, return evaluation results for a
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 # train a regression model
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.importance.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.importance.Rd
index 89a3d4e6b5b7..79cb82f5d8ef 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.importance.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.importance.Rd
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ Creates a \code{data.table} of feature importances in a model.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
index c1166b2c1cc9..3acc27955c46 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.interprete.Rd
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ Computes feature contribution components of rawscore prediction.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 Logit <- function(x) log(x / (1.0 - x))
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.load.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.load.Rd
index c1a00a20974b..f145db5a245e 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.load.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.load.Rd
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Load LightGBM takes in either a file path or model string.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.model.dt.tree.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.model.dt.tree.Rd
index 4d02ede9a001..60ef8cdac133 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.model.dt.tree.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.model.dt.tree.Rd
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ Parse a LightGBM model json dump into a \code{data.table} structure.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.importance.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.importance.Rd
index 302f46460e3f..bdf354da0385 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.importance.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.importance.Rd
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ Features are shown ranked in a decreasing importance order.
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
index a914071e896f..6f168e120a4e 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.plot.interpretation.Rd
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ contribution of a feature. Features are shown ranked in a decreasing contributio
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 Logit <- function(x) {
   log(x / (1.0 - x))
 }
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.restore_handle.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.restore_handle.Rd
index 95cbdc64485d..37922c077642 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.restore_handle.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.restore_handle.Rd
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ function. If you wish to make fast single-row predictions using a \code{lgb.Boos
 call \link{lgb.configure_fast_predict} on the loaded \code{lgb.Booster} object.
 }
 \examples{
+\donttest{
 library(lightgbm)
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data("agaricus.train")
 model <- lightgbm(
   agaricus.train$data
@@ -45,6 +48,7 @@ model_new$check_null_handle()
 lgb.restore_handle(model_new)
 model_new$check_null_handle()
 }
+}
 \seealso{
 \link{lgb.make_serializable}, \link{lgb.drop_serialized}.
 }
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.save.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.save.Rd
index efd110c7d816..62ec0ed462f6 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.save.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.save.Rd
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ Save LightGBM model
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 library(lightgbm)
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb.train.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb.train.Rd
index 0f2961edc415..557c85b7f9dc 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb.train.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb.train.Rd
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ Low-level R interface to train a LightGBM model. Unlike \code{\link{lightgbm}},
 
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/predict.lgb.Booster.Rd b/R-package/man/predict.lgb.Booster.Rd
index 2df13b9bc374..bcb2f3f980fb 100644
--- a/R-package/man/predict.lgb.Booster.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/predict.lgb.Booster.Rd
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ If the model object has been configured for fast single-row predictions through
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/readRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd b/R-package/man/readRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
index 6a8e4c80ca91..0a144434cd36 100644
--- a/R-package/man/readRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/readRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Calls \code{readRDS} in what is expected to be a serialized \code{lgb.Booster} o
 \examples{
 \donttest{
 library(lightgbm)
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd b/R-package/man/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
index a8664243dce2..b9b34e1fd021 100644
--- a/R-package/man/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/saveRDS.lgb.Booster.Rd
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ Calls \code{saveRDS} on an \code{lgb.Booster} object, making it serializable bef
 \examples{
 \donttest{
 library(lightgbm)
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/setLGBMThreads.Rd b/R-package/man/setLGBMThreads.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..53336fc2548e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/man/setLGBMThreads.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/multithreading.R
+\name{setLGBMThreads}
+\alias{setLGBMThreads}
+\alias{setLGBMthreads}
+\title{Set maximum number of threads used by LightGBM}
+\usage{
+setLGBMthreads(num_threads)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{num_threads}{maximum number of threads to be used by LightGBM in multi-threaded operations}
+}
+\description{
+LightGBM attempts to speed up many operations by using multi-threading.
+             The number of threads used in those operations can be controlled via the
+             \code{num_threads} parameter passed through \code{params} to functions like
+             \link{lgb.train} and \link{lgb.Dataset}. However, some operations (like materializing
+             a model from a text file) are done via code paths that don't explicitly accept thread-control
+             configuration.
+
+             Use this function to set the maximum number of threads LightGBM will use for such operations.
+
+             This function affects all LightGBM operations in the same process.
+
+             So, for example, if you call \code{setLGBMthreads(4)}, no other multi-threaded LightGBM
+             operation in the same process will use more than 4 threads.
+
+             Call \code{setLGBMthreads(-1)} to remove this limitation.
+}
+\seealso{
+\link{getLGBMthreads}
+}
diff --git a/R-package/man/set_field.Rd b/R-package/man/set_field.Rd
index f9901e27eefd..2ceebfb87753 100644
--- a/R-package/man/set_field.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/set_field.Rd
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ Set one attribute of a \code{lgb.Dataset}
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/man/slice.Rd b/R-package/man/slice.Rd
index 1d7bec08de0f..a65809a239d8 100644
--- a/R-package/man/slice.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/slice.Rd
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Get a new \code{lgb.Dataset} containing the specified rows of
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
+\dontshow{setLGBMthreads(2L)}
+\dontshow{data.table::setDTthreads(1L)}
 data(agaricus.train, package = "lightgbm")
 train <- agaricus.train
 dtrain <- lgb.Dataset(train$data, label = train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/src/Makevars.in b/R-package/src/Makevars.in
index ba9ef054bfab..c04263f62c1c 100644
--- a/R-package/src/Makevars.in
+++ b/R-package/src/Makevars.in
@@ -53,5 +53,6 @@ OBJECTS = \
     treelearner/serial_tree_learner.o \
     treelearner/tree_learner.o \
     treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.o \
+    utils/openmp_wrapper.o \
     c_api.o \
     lightgbm_R.o
diff --git a/R-package/src/Makevars.win.in b/R-package/src/Makevars.win.in
index 14f5afde002f..86d56fecdf34 100644
--- a/R-package/src/Makevars.win.in
+++ b/R-package/src/Makevars.win.in
@@ -54,5 +54,6 @@ OBJECTS = \
     treelearner/serial_tree_learner.o \
     treelearner/tree_learner.o \
     treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.o \
+    utils/openmp_wrapper.o \
     c_api.o \
     lightgbm_R.o
diff --git a/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.cpp b/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.cpp
index 3ae7a98d8537..4799f8540497 100644
--- a/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.cpp
+++ b/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.cpp
@@ -1212,6 +1212,23 @@ SEXP LGBM_BoosterGetLoadedParam_R(SEXP handle) {
   R_API_END();
 }
 
+SEXP LGBM_GetMaxThreads_R(SEXP out) {
+  R_API_BEGIN();
+  int num_threads;
+  CHECK_CALL(LGBM_GetMaxThreads(&num_threads));
+  INTEGER(out)[0] = num_threads;
+  return R_NilValue;
+  R_API_END();
+}
+
+SEXP LGBM_SetMaxThreads_R(SEXP num_threads) {
+  R_API_BEGIN();
+  int new_num_threads = Rf_asInteger(num_threads);
+  CHECK_CALL(LGBM_SetMaxThreads(new_num_threads));
+  return R_NilValue;
+  R_API_END();
+}
+
 // .Call() calls
 static const R_CallMethodDef CallEntries[] = {
   {"LGBM_HandleIsNull_R"                         , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_HandleIsNull_R                         , 1},
@@ -1268,6 +1285,8 @@ static const R_CallMethodDef CallEntries[] = {
   {"LGBM_BoosterDumpModel_R"                     , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_BoosterDumpModel_R                     , 3},
   {"LGBM_NullBoosterHandleError_R"               , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_NullBoosterHandleError_R               , 0},
   {"LGBM_DumpParamAliases_R"                     , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_DumpParamAliases_R                     , 0},
+  {"LGBM_GetMaxThreads_R"                        , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_GetMaxThreads_R                        , 1},
+  {"LGBM_SetMaxThreads_R"                        , (DL_FUNC) &LGBM_SetMaxThreads_R                        , 1},
   {NULL, NULL, 0}
 };
 
diff --git a/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.h b/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.h
index 7141a06a207c..4f0407e8f2ec 100644
--- a/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.h
+++ b/R-package/src/lightgbm_R.h
@@ -850,4 +850,23 @@ LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT SEXP LGBM_BoosterDumpModel_R(
 */
 LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT SEXP LGBM_DumpParamAliases_R();
 
+/*!
+* \brief Get current maximum number of threads used by LightGBM routines in this process.
+* \param[out] out current maximum number of threads used by LightGBM. -1 means defaulting to omp_get_num_threads().
+* \return R NULL value
+*/
+LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT SEXP LGBM_GetMaxThreads_R(
+  SEXP out
+);
+
+
+/*!
+* \brief Set maximum number of threads used by LightGBM routines in this process.
+* \param num_threads maximum number of threads used by LightGBM. -1 means defaulting to omp_get_num_threads().
+* \return R NULL value
+*/
+LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT SEXP LGBM_SetMaxThreads_R(
+  SEXP num_threads
+);
+
 #endif  // LIGHTGBM_R_H_
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/helper.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/helper.R
index 9c928c1f71d1..45edf40efbeb 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/helper.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/helper.R
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 #   the check farm is a shared resource and will typically be running many checks simultaneously.
 #
 .LGB_MAX_THREADS <- 2L
+setLGBMthreads(.LGB_MAX_THREADS)
+
+# control data.table parallelism
+# ref: https://github.com/Rdatatable/data.table/issues/5658
+data.table::setDTthreads(1L)
 
 # by default, how much should results in tests be allowed to differ from hard-coded expected numbers?
 .LGB_NUMERIC_TOLERANCE <- 1e-6
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_multithreading.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_multithreading.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e2f3169627a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_multithreading.R
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+test_that("getLGBMthreads() and setLGBMthreads() work as expected", {
+    # works with integer input
+    ret <- setLGBMthreads(2L)
+    expect_null(ret)
+    expect_equal(getLGBMthreads(), 2L)
+
+    # works with float input
+    ret <- setLGBMthreads(1.0)
+    expect_null(ret)
+    expect_equal(getLGBMthreads(), 1L)
+
+    # setting to any negative number sets max threads to -1
+    ret <- setLGBMthreads(-312L)
+    expect_null(ret)
+    expect_equal(getLGBMthreads(), -1L)
+})
diff --git a/R-package/vignettes/basic_walkthrough.Rmd b/R-package/vignettes/basic_walkthrough.Rmd
index d7aaf676f386..82bd6957640c 100644
--- a/R-package/vignettes/basic_walkthrough.Rmd
+++ b/R-package/vignettes/basic_walkthrough.Rmd
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ Welcome to the world of [LightGBM](https://lightgbm.readthedocs.io/en/latest/),
 library(lightgbm)
 ```
 
+```{r, include=FALSE}
+# limit number of threads used, to be respectful of CRAN's resources when it checks this vignette
+data.table::setDTthreads(1L)
+setLGBMthreads(2L)
+```
+
 This vignette will guide you through its basic usage. It will show how to build a simple binary classification model based on a subset of the `bank` dataset (Moro, Cortez, and Rita 2014). You will use the two input features "age" and "balance" to predict whether a client has subscribed a term deposit.
 
 ## The dataset
diff --git a/build-cran-package.sh b/build-cran-package.sh
index 1c8a5dfbdc48..9fa0c5877085 100755
--- a/build-cran-package.sh
+++ b/build-cran-package.sh
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ if ${BUILD_VIGNETTES} ; then
         rm -f ./lightgbm/src/network/*.o
         rm -f ./lightgbm/src/objective/*.o
         rm -f ./lightgbm/src/treelearner/*.o
+        rm -f ./lightgbm/src/utils/*.o
 
         echo "re-tarring ${TARBALL_NAME}"
         tar \
diff --git a/include/LightGBM/c_api.h b/include/LightGBM/c_api.h
index ada2e4109638..397005477a5c 100644
--- a/include/LightGBM/c_api.h
+++ b/include/LightGBM/c_api.h
@@ -1561,6 +1561,20 @@ LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT int LGBM_NetworkInitWithFunctions(int num_machines,
                                                     void* reduce_scatter_ext_fun,
                                                     void* allgather_ext_fun);
 
+/*!
+ * \brief Set maximum number of threads used by LightGBM routines in this process.
+ * \param num_threads maximum number of threads used by LightGBM. -1 means defaulting to omp_get_num_threads().
+ * \return 0 when succeed, -1 when failure happens
+ */
+LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT int LGBM_SetMaxThreads(int num_threads);
+
+/*!
+ * \brief Get current maximum number of threads used by LightGBM routines in this process.
+ * \param[out] out current maximum number of threads used by LightGBM. -1 means defaulting to omp_get_num_threads().
+ * \return 0 when succeed, -1 when failure happens
+ */
+LIGHTGBM_C_EXPORT int LGBM_GetMaxThreads(int* out);
+
 #if !defined(__cplusplus) && (!defined(__STDC__) || (__STDC_VERSION__ < 199901L))
 /*! \brief Inline specifier no-op in C using standards before C99. */
 #define INLINE_FUNCTION
diff --git a/include/LightGBM/utils/openmp_wrapper.h b/include/LightGBM/utils/openmp_wrapper.h
index a337fc353b75..b9a8ea2982fc 100644
--- a/include/LightGBM/utils/openmp_wrapper.h
+++ b/include/LightGBM/utils/openmp_wrapper.h
@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@
 #ifndef LIGHTGBM_OPENMP_WRAPPER_H_
 #define LIGHTGBM_OPENMP_WRAPPER_H_
 
+#include <LightGBM/export.h>
+
+// this can only be changed by LGBM_SetMaxThreads()
+LIGHTGBM_EXTERN_C int LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS;
+
+// this is modified by OMP_SET_NUM_THREADS(), for example
+// by passing num_thread through params
+LIGHTGBM_EXTERN_C int LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS;
+
 #ifdef _OPENMP
 
 #include <LightGBM/utils/log.h>
@@ -17,22 +26,25 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <vector>
 
-inline int OMP_NUM_THREADS() {
-  int ret = 1;
-#pragma omp parallel
-#pragma omp master
-  { ret = omp_get_num_threads(); }
-  return ret;
-}
-
-inline void OMP_SET_NUM_THREADS(int num_threads) {
-  static const int default_omp_num_threads = OMP_NUM_THREADS();
-  if (num_threads > 0) {
-    omp_set_num_threads(num_threads);
-  } else {
-    omp_set_num_threads(default_omp_num_threads);
-  }
-}
+/*
+    Get number of threads to use in OpenMP parallel regions.
+
+    By default, this will return the result of omp_get_max_threads(),
+    which is OpenMP-implementation dependent but generally can be controlled
+    by environment variable OMP_NUM_THREADS.
+
+    ref:
+      - https://www.openmp.org/spec-html/5.0/openmpsu112.html
+      - https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libgomp/omp_005fget_005fmax_005fthreads.html
+*/
+LIGHTGBM_EXTERN_C int OMP_NUM_THREADS();
+
+/*
+    Update the default number of threads that'll be used in OpenMP parallel
+    regions for LightGBM routines where the number of threads aren't directly
+    supplied.
+*/
+LIGHTGBM_EXTERN_C void OMP_SET_NUM_THREADS(int num_threads);
 
 class ThreadExceptionHelper {
  public:
@@ -102,10 +114,7 @@ class ThreadExceptionHelper {
   /** Fall here if no OPENMP support, so just
       simulate a single thread running.
       All #pragma omp should be ignored by the compiler **/
-  inline void omp_set_num_threads(int) __GOMP_NOTHROW {}  // NOLINT (no cast done here)
   inline void OMP_SET_NUM_THREADS(int) __GOMP_NOTHROW {}
-  inline int omp_get_num_threads() __GOMP_NOTHROW {return 1;}
-  inline int omp_get_max_threads() __GOMP_NOTHROW {return 1;}
   inline int omp_get_thread_num() __GOMP_NOTHROW {return 0;}
   inline int OMP_NUM_THREADS() __GOMP_NOTHROW { return 1; }
 #ifdef __cplusplus
diff --git a/src/c_api.cpp b/src/c_api.cpp
index baf934db42b1..dbe5425bd0aa 100644
--- a/src/c_api.cpp
+++ b/src/c_api.cpp
@@ -2699,6 +2699,23 @@ int LGBM_NetworkInitWithFunctions(int num_machines, int rank,
   API_END();
 }
 
+int LGBM_SetMaxThreads(int num_threads) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  if (num_threads <= 0) {
+    LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS = -1;
+  } else {
+    LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS = num_threads;
+  }
+  API_END();
+}
+
+int LGBM_GetMaxThreads(int* out) {
+  API_BEGIN();
+  *out = LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS;
+  API_END();
+}
+
+
 // ---- start of some help functions
 
 
diff --git a/src/utils/openmp_wrapper.cpp b/src/utils/openmp_wrapper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fb6e661eb67c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/openmp_wrapper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*!
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file in the project root for license information.
+ */
+#include <LightGBM/utils/openmp_wrapper.h>
+
+int LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS = -1;
+
+int LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS = -1;
+
+#ifdef _OPENMP
+
+#include <omp.h>
+
+int OMP_NUM_THREADS() {
+  int default_num_threads = 1;
+
+  if (LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS > 0) {
+    // if LightGBM-specific default has been set, ignore OpenMP-global config
+    default_num_threads = LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS;
+  } else {
+    // otherwise, default to OpenMP-global config
+    #pragma omp single
+    { default_num_threads = omp_get_max_threads(); }
+  }
+
+  // ensure that if LGBM_SetMaxThreads() was ever called, LightGBM doesn't
+  // use more than that many threads
+  if (LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS > 0 && default_num_threads > LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS) {
+    return LGBM_MAX_NUM_THREADS;
+  }
+
+  return default_num_threads;
+}
+
+void OMP_SET_NUM_THREADS(int num_threads) {
+  if (num_threads <= 0) {
+    LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS = -1;
+  } else {
+    LGBM_DEFAULT_NUM_THREADS = num_threads;
+  }
+}
+
+#endif  // _OPENMP
diff --git a/tests/c_api_test/test_.py b/tests/c_api_test/test_.py
index 4bb76e4aba19..6cfec1c445fc 100644
--- a/tests/c_api_test/test_.py
+++ b/tests/c_api_test/test_.py
@@ -247,3 +247,36 @@ def test_booster():
         c_str(''),
         c_str('preb.txt'))
     LIB.LGBM_BoosterFree(booster2)
+
+
+def test_max_thread_control():
+    # at initialization, should be -1
+    num_threads = ctypes.c_int(0)
+    ret = LIB.LGBM_GetMaxThreads(
+        ctypes.byref(num_threads)
+    )
+    assert ret == 0
+    assert num_threads.value == -1
+
+    # updating that value through the C API should work
+    ret = LIB.LGBM_SetMaxThreads(
+        ctypes.c_int(6)
+    )
+    assert ret == 0
+
+    ret = LIB.LGBM_GetMaxThreads(
+        ctypes.byref(num_threads)
+    )
+    assert ret == 0
+    assert num_threads.value == 6
+
+    # resetting to any negative number should set it to -1
+    ret = LIB.LGBM_SetMaxThreads(
+        ctypes.c_int(-123)
+    )
+    assert ret == 0
+    ret = LIB.LGBM_GetMaxThreads(
+        ctypes.byref(num_threads)
+    )
+    assert ret == 0
+    assert num_threads.value == -1