diff --git a/zmq.hpp b/zmq.hpp
index 147f096..460b35f 100644
--- a/zmq.hpp
+++ b/zmq.hpp
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ namespace zmq
         }
 
 
-        inline explicit context_t (int io_threads_)
+        inline explicit context_t (int io_threads_, int max_sockets_ = 1024)
         {
             ptr = zmq_ctx_new ();
             if (ptr == NULL)
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ namespace zmq
 
             int rc = zmq_ctx_set (ptr, ZMQ_IO_THREADS, io_threads_);
             ZMQ_ASSERT (rc == 0);
+
+            rc = zmq_ctx_set (ptr, ZMQ_MAX_SOCKETS, max_sockets_);
+            ZMQ_ASSERT (rc == 0);
         }
 
 #ifdef ZMQ_HAS_RVALUE_REFS