diff --git a/src/restic/backend/swift/config.go b/src/restic/backend/swift/config.go
index 78765e56d..6ef2d4d6f 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/swift/config.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/swift/config.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package swift
 import (
 	"os"
 	"restic/errors"
+	"restic/options"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -24,6 +25,19 @@ type Config struct {
 	Container              string
 	Prefix                 string
 	DefaultContainerPolicy string
+
+	Connections uint `option:"connections" help:"set a limit for the number of concurrent connections (default: 20)"`
+}
+
+func init() {
+	options.Register("swift", Config{})
+}
+
+// NewConfig returns a new config with the default values filled in.
+func NewConfig() Config {
+	return Config{
+		Connections: 20,
+	}
 }
 
 // ParseConfig parses the string s and extract swift's container name and prefix.
@@ -47,10 +61,9 @@ func ParseConfig(s string) (interface{}, error) {
 	}
 	prefix = prefix[1:]
 
-	cfg := Config{
-		Container: container,
-		Prefix:    prefix,
-	}
+	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg.Container = container
+	cfg.Prefix = prefix
 
 	return cfg, nil
 }
diff --git a/src/restic/backend/swift/config_test.go b/src/restic/backend/swift/config_test.go
index bd087bd47..2c1f4c4aa 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/swift/config_test.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/swift/config_test.go
@@ -6,9 +6,28 @@ var configTests = []struct {
 	s   string
 	cfg Config
 }{
-	{"swift:cnt1:/", Config{Container: "cnt1", Prefix: ""}},
-	{"swift:cnt2:/prefix", Config{Container: "cnt2", Prefix: "prefix"}},
-	{"swift:cnt3:/prefix/longer", Config{Container: "cnt3", Prefix: "prefix/longer"}},
+	{
+		"swift:cnt1:/",
+		Config{
+			Container:   "cnt1",
+			Prefix:      "",
+			Connections: 20,
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		"swift:cnt2:/prefix",
+		Config{Container: "cnt2",
+			Prefix:      "prefix",
+			Connections: 20,
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		"swift:cnt3:/prefix/longer",
+		Config{Container: "cnt3",
+			Prefix:      "prefix/longer",
+			Connections: 20,
+		},
+	},
 }
 
 func TestParseConfig(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/src/restic/backend/swift/swift.go b/src/restic/backend/swift/swift.go
index 733dc3221..9c459f03d 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/swift/swift.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/swift/swift.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const connLimit = 10
 // beSwift is a backend which stores the data on a swift endpoint.
 type beSwift struct {
 	conn      *swift.Connection
-	connChan  chan struct{}
+	sem       *backend.Semaphore
 	container string // Container name
 	prefix    string // Prefix of object names in the container
 	backend.Layout
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ type beSwift struct {
 func Open(cfg Config) (restic.Backend, error) {
 	debug.Log("config %#v", cfg)
 
+	sem, err := backend.NewSemaphore(cfg.Connections)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	be := &beSwift{
 		conn: &swift.Connection{
 			UserName:       cfg.UserName,
@@ -50,6 +55,7 @@ func Open(cfg Config) (restic.Backend, error) {
 
 			Transport: backend.Transport(),
 		},
+		sem:       sem,
 		container: cfg.Container,
 		prefix:    cfg.Prefix,
 		Layout: &backend.DefaultLayout{
@@ -57,7 +63,6 @@ func Open(cfg Config) (restic.Backend, error) {
 			Join: path.Join,
 		},
 	}
-	be.createConnections()
 
 	// Authenticate if needed
 	if !be.conn.Authenticated() {
@@ -94,13 +99,6 @@ func Open(cfg Config) (restic.Backend, error) {
 	return be, nil
 }
 
-func (be *beSwift) createConnections() {
-	be.connChan = make(chan struct{}, connLimit)
-	for i := 0; i < connLimit; i++ {
-		be.connChan <- struct{}{}
-	}
-}
-
 func (be *beSwift) createContainer(policy string) error {
 	var h swift.Headers
 	if policy != "" {
@@ -136,9 +134,9 @@ func (be *beSwift) Load(h restic.Handle, length int, offset int64) (io.ReadClose
 
 	objName := be.Filename(h)
 
-	<-be.connChan
+	be.sem.GetToken()
 	defer func() {
-		be.connChan <- struct{}{}
+		be.sem.ReleaseToken()
 	}()
 
 	headers := swift.Headers{}
@@ -186,9 +184,9 @@ func (be *beSwift) Save(h restic.Handle, rd io.Reader) (err error) {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "conn.Object")
 	}
 
-	<-be.connChan
+	be.sem.GetToken()
 	defer func() {
-		be.connChan <- struct{}{}
+		be.sem.ReleaseToken()
 	}()
 
 	encoding := "binary/octet-stream"