diff --git a/src/cmd/dist/main.go b/src/cmd/dist/main.go
index 0dc409fc77..6194ea901c 100644
--- a/src/cmd/dist/main.go
+++ b/src/cmd/dist/main.go
@@ -159,6 +159,12 @@ func main() {
 	if gohostarch == "arm" || gohostarch == "mips64" || gohostarch == "mips64le" {
 		maxbg = min(maxbg, runtime.NumCPU())
 	}
+	// For deterministic make.bash debugging and for smallest-possible footprint,
+	// pay attention to GOMAXPROCS=1.  This was a bad idea for 1.4 bootstrap, but
+	// the bootstrap version is now 1.17+ and thus this is fine.
+	if runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0) == 1 {
+		maxbg = 1
+	}
 	bginit()
 
 	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "-check-goarm" {