diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index 77da25936d..de5642e515 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -117,6 +117,17 @@ function loadConfig(callback) {
 		nconf.set('url_parsed', url.parse(nconf.get('url')));
 	}
 
+	// Explicitly cast 'jobsDisabled' as Bool
+	var castAsBool = ['jobsDisabled'];
+	nconf.stores.env.readOnly = false;
+	castAsBool.forEach(function (prop) {
+		var value = nconf.get(prop);
+		if (value) {
+			nconf.set(prop, typeof value === 'boolean' ? value : String(value).toLowerCase() === 'true');
+		}
+	});
+	nconf.stores.env.readOnly = true;
+
 	if (typeof callback === 'function') {
 		callback();
 	}
diff --git a/src/meta/build.js b/src/meta/build.js
index 2d89abaf5a..3f2feb8a2a 100644
--- a/src/meta/build.js
+++ b/src/meta/build.js
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ exports.build = function build(targets, callback) {
 exports.buildTargets = function (targets, callback) {
 	var cacheBuster = require('./cacheBuster');
 	var meta = require('../meta');
+	var numCpus = require('os').cpus().length;
+	var strategy = (targets.length > 1 && numCpus > 1);
+
 	buildStart = buildStart || Date.now();
 
 	var step = function (startTime, target, next, err) {
@@ -56,7 +59,13 @@ exports.buildTargets = function (targets, callback) {
 		next();
 	};
 
-	async.parallel([
+	if (strategy) {
+		winston.verbose('[build] Utilising multiple cores/processes');
+	} else {
+		winston.verbose('[build] Utilising single-core');
+	}
+
+	async[strategy ? 'parallel' : 'series']([
 		function (next) {
 			if (targets.indexOf('js') !== -1) {
 				winston.info('[build] Building javascript');