diff --git a/backup.config-example b/backup.config-example
index 9e1e4f157..a7a51bb32 100644
--- a/backup.config-example
+++ b/backup.config-example
@@ -64,6 +64,13 @@ GHE_NUM_SNAPSHOTS=10
 # WARNING: this feature is in beta.
 #GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS=2
 
+# Sets the maximum number of rsync jobs to run in parallel. Defaults to the
+# configured GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS, or the number of available processing 
+# units on the machine.
+#
+# WARNING: this feature is in beta.
+# GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_MAX_JOBS=3
+
 # When jobs are running in parallel wait as needed to avoid starting new jobs
 # when the system's load average is not below the specified percentage. Defaults to
 # unrestricted.
diff --git a/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-backup-config b/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-backup-config
index 13247f43c..65ad13ada 100755
--- a/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-backup-config
+++ b/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-backup-config
@@ -85,10 +85,18 @@ ghe_parallel_check() {
 
   if [ -n "$GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS" ]; then
     GHE_PARALLEL_COMMAND_OPTIONS="-j $GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS"
+    # Default to the number of max rsync jobs to the same as GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS, if not set.
+    # This is only applicable to ghe-restore-repositories currently.
+    : ${GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_MAX_JOBS:="$GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_JOBS"}
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "$GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_MAX_JOBS" ]; then
+    GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_COMMAND_OPTIONS="-j $GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_MAX_JOBS"
   fi
 
   if [ -n "$GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_LOAD" ]; then
     GHE_PARALLEL_COMMAND_OPTIONS+=" -l $GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_LOAD"
+    GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_COMMAND_OPTIONS+=" -l $GHE_PARALLEL_MAX_LOAD"
   fi
 }
 
diff --git a/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-restore-repositories b/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-restore-repositories
index c87c8b421..201f20092 100755
--- a/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-restore-repositories
+++ b/share/github-backup-utils/ghe-restore-repositories
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ set -e
 # shellcheck source=share/github-backup-utils/ghe-backup-config
 . "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/ghe-backup-config"
 
+# Check to make sure moreutils parallel is installed and working properly
+ghe_parallel_check
+
 # Show usage and bail with no arguments
 [ -z "$*" ] && print_usage
 
@@ -140,20 +143,36 @@ fi
 # rsync all the repository networks to the git server where they belong.
 # One rsync invocation per server available.
 bm_start "$(basename $0) - Restoring repository networks"
+rsync_commands=()
 for file_list in $tempdir/*.rsync; do
   if $CLUSTER; then
     server=$(basename $file_list .rsync)
   else
     server=$host
   fi
-  ghe_verbose "* Transferring repository networks to $server ..."
-  ghe-rsync -avrR --delete \
-    -e "ssh -q $opts -p $port $ssh_config_file_opt -l $user" \
-    --rsync-path="sudo -u git rsync" \
-    --files-from=$file_list \
-    "$GHE_DATA_DIR/$GHE_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT/repositories/./" \
-    "$server:$GHE_REMOTE_DATA_USER_DIR/repositories/" 1>&3
+
+  rsync_commands+=("
+    if [ -n \"$GHE_VERBOSE\" ]; then
+      echo \"* Transferring repository networks to $server ($file_list) ...\" 1>&3
+    fi
+
+    ghe-rsync -avrR --delete \
+      -e \"ssh -q $opts -p $port $ssh_config_file_opt -l $user\" \
+      --rsync-path=\"sudo -u git rsync\" \
+      --files-from=$file_list \
+      \"$GHE_DATA_DIR/$GHE_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT/repositories/./\" \
+      \"$server:$GHE_REMOTE_DATA_USER_DIR/repositories/\" 1>&3
+    ")
 done
+
+if [ "$GHE_PARALLEL_ENABLED" = "yes" ]; then
+  $GHE_PARALLEL_COMMAND $GHE_PARALLEL_RSYNC_COMMAND_OPTIONS -- "${rsync_commands[@]}"
+else
+  for c in "${rsync_commands[@]}"; do
+    eval "$c"
+  done
+fi
+
 bm_end "$(basename $0) - Restoring repository networks"
 
 # Tell dgit about the repositories restored
diff --git a/test/test-ghe-restore-parallel.sh b/test/test-ghe-restore-parallel.sh
index 835cbdd29..35d85d2d0 100755
--- a/test/test-ghe-restore-parallel.sh
+++ b/test/test-ghe-restore-parallel.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ set -e
 
 export GHE_PARALLEL_ENABLED=yes
 
+# use temp dir to fix rsync file issues in parallel execution:
+# we are imitating remote server by local files, and running rsync in parallel may cause
+# race conditions when two processes writing to same folder
+parallel_rsync_tempdir=$(mktemp -d -t backup-utils-restore-temp-XXXXXX)
+export GHE_EXTRA_RSYNC_OPTS="--copy-dirlinks --temp-dir=$parallel_rsync_tempdir"
+
 TESTS_DIR="$PWD/$(dirname "$0")"
 # shellcheck source=test/test-ghe-restore.sh
 . "$TESTS_DIR/test-ghe-restore.sh"