diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/pgen.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/pgen.go
index 5bb4622f39..91cd1e35d7 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/pgen.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/pgen.go
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ func compileFunctions() {
 			})
 		}
 		var wg sync.WaitGroup
-		c := make(chan *Node)
+		c := make(chan *Node, nBackendWorkers)
 		for i := 0; i < nBackendWorkers; i++ {
 			wg.Add(1)
 			go func(worker int) {