diff --git a/src/common/options.cc b/src/common/options.cc
index fd4652362ae..5768f275590 100644
--- a/src/common/options.cc
+++ b/src/common/options.cc
@@ -5049,6 +5049,10 @@ std::vector<Option> get_rgw_options() {
     .set_default(60)
     .set_description(""),
 
+    Option("rgw_lc_thread_delay", Option::TYPE_INT, Option::LEVEL_ADVANCED)
+    .set_default(0)
+    .set_description("Delay after processing of bucket listing chunks (i.e., per 1000 entries) in milliseconds"),
+
     Option("rgw_lc_max_objs", Option::TYPE_INT, Option::LEVEL_ADVANCED)
     .set_default(32)
     .set_description("Number of lifecycle data shards")
diff --git a/src/rgw/rgw_lc.cc b/src/rgw/rgw_lc.cc
index 84bc59df171..b61582e4478 100644
--- a/src/rgw/rgw_lc.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/rgw_lc.cc
@@ -293,7 +293,12 @@ int RGWLC::handle_multipart_expiration(RGWRados::Bucket *target, const map<strin
   int ret;
   RGWBucketInfo& bucket_info = target->get_bucket_info();
   RGWRados::Bucket::List list_op(target);
+  auto delay_ms = cct->_conf->get_val<int64_t>("rgw_lc_thread_delay");
   list_op.params.list_versions = false;
+  /* lifecycle processing does not depend on total order, so can
+   * take advantage of unorderd listing optimizations--such as
+   * operating on one shard at a time */
+  list_op.params.allow_unordered = true;
   list_op.params.ns = RGW_OBJ_NS_MULTIPART;
   list_op.params.filter = &mp_filter;
   for (auto prefix_iter = prefix_map.begin(); prefix_iter != prefix_map.end(); ++prefix_iter) {
@@ -328,7 +333,8 @@ int RGWLC::handle_multipart_expiration(RGWRados::Bucket *target, const map<strin
           if (going_down())
             return 0;
         }
-      }
+      } /* for objs */
+      std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(delay_ms));
     } while(is_truncated);
   }
   return 0;
@@ -353,6 +359,7 @@ int RGWLC::bucket_lc_process(string& shard_id)
   vector<rgw_bucket_dir_entry> objs;
   RGWObjectCtx obj_ctx(store);
   vector<std::string> result;
+  auto delay_ms = cct->_conf->get_val<int64_t>("rgw_lc_thread_delay");
   boost::split(result, shard_id, boost::is_any_of(":"));
   string bucket_tenant = result[0];
   string bucket_name = result[1];
@@ -396,7 +403,11 @@ int RGWLC::bucket_lc_process(string& shard_id)
         ceph_clock_now() < ceph::real_clock::to_time_t(*prefix_iter->second.expiration_date)) {
         continue;
       }
+      /* lifecycle processing does not depend on total order, so can
+       * take advantage of unorderd listing optimizations--such as
+       * operating on one shard at a time */
       list_op.params.prefix = prefix_iter->first;
+      list_op.params.allow_unordered = true;
       do {
         objs.clear();
         list_op.params.marker = list_op.get_next_marker();
@@ -470,7 +481,8 @@ int RGWLC::bucket_lc_process(string& shard_id)
             if (going_down())
               return 0;
           }
-        }
+        } /* for objs */
+	std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(delay_ms));
       } while (is_truncated);
     }
   } else {