diff --git a/prepare.py b/prepare.py
index 62d63ce..62607b9 100644
--- a/prepare.py
+++ b/prepare.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def download_single_shard(index):
     return False
 
 
-def download_data(num_shards):
+def download_data(num_shards, download_workers=8):
     """Download training shards + pinned validation shard."""
     os.makedirs(DATA_DIR, exist_ok=True)
     num_train = min(num_shards, MAX_SHARD)
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def download_data(num_shards):
     needed = len(ids) - existing
     print(f"Data: downloading {needed} shards ({existing} already exist)...")
 
-    workers = min(8, needed)
+    workers = max(1, min(download_workers, needed))
     with Pool(processes=workers) as pool:
         results = pool.map(download_single_shard, ids)
 
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     print()
 
     # Step 1: Download data
-    download_data(num_shards)
+    download_data(num_shards, download_workers=args.download_workers)
     print()
 
     # Step 2: Train tokenizer