diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 6cb31d1fe2..d7d398f1b2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,6 +1,28 @@
 v3.3.15 (XXXX-XX-XX)
 --------------------
 
+* added startup option `--query.optimizer-max-plans value`
+
+  This option allows limiting the number of query execution plans created by the 
+  AQL optimizer for any incoming queries. The default value is `128`.
+
+  By adjusting this value it can be controlled how many different query execution 
+  plans the AQL query optimizer will generate at most for any given AQL query. 
+  Normally the AQL query optimizer will generate a single execution plan per AQL query, 
+  but there are some cases in which it creates multiple competing plans. More plans
+  can lead to better optimized queries, however, plan creation has its costs. The
+  more plans are created and shipped through the optimization pipeline, the more time 
+  will be spent in the optimizer.
+
+  Lowering this option's value will make the optimizer stop creating additional plans 
+  when it has already created enough plans.
+
+  Note that this setting controls the default maximum number of plans to create. The
+  value can still be adjusted on a per-query basis by setting the *maxNumberOfPlans*
+  attribute when running a query.
+
+  This change also lowers the default maximum number of query plans from 192 to 128.
+
 * bug fix: facilitate faster shutdown of coordinators and db servers
 
 * upgraded arangodb starter version to 0.13.2
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Manual/Administration/Configuration/GeneralArangod.md b/Documentation/Books/Manual/Administration/Configuration/GeneralArangod.md
index 547ef8260d..3d668f96ae 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Manual/Administration/Configuration/GeneralArangod.md
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Manual/Administration/Configuration/GeneralArangod.md
@@ -456,6 +456,26 @@ default timeout value (600 seconds) and that time out. The option has no effect
 in single-server mode.
 
 
+### Limiting the number of query execution plans created by the AQL optimizer
+
+`--query.optimizer-max-plans value`
+
+By setting *value* it can be controlled how many different query execution plans
+the AQL query optimizer will generate at most for any given AQL query. Normally
+the AQL query optimizer will generate a single execution plan per AQL query, but
+there are some cases in which it creates multiple competing plans. More plans
+can lead to better optimized queries, however, plan creation has its costs. The
+more plans are created and shipped through the optimization pipeline, the more
+time will be spent in the optimizer.
+Lowering *value* will make the optimizer stop creating additional plans when it
+has already created enough plans.
+Note that this setting controls the default maximum number of plans to create. The
+value can still be adjusted on a per-query basis by setting the *maxNumberOfPlans*
+attribute when running a query.
+
+The default value is *128*.
+
+
 ### Throw collection not loaded error
 
 `--database.throw-collection-not-loaded-error flag`
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/ExecutionNode.cpp b/arangod/Aql/ExecutionNode.cpp
index 8d4754e40f..5bf33b8423 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/ExecutionNode.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Aql/ExecutionNode.cpp
@@ -1504,9 +1504,7 @@ struct SubqueryVarUsageFinder final : public WalkerWorker<ExecutionNode> {
 
   bool before(ExecutionNode* en) override final {
     // Add variables used here to _usedLater:
-    for (auto const& v : en->getVariablesUsedHere()) {
-      _usedLater.emplace(v);
-    }
+    en->getVariablesUsedHere(_usedLater);
     return false;
   }
 
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.cpp b/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.cpp
index 577671efb4..c4bdc64d39 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.cpp
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ using namespace arangodb::aql;
 
 // @brief constructor, this will initialize the rules database
 Optimizer::Optimizer(size_t maxNumberOfPlans)
-    : _maxNumberOfPlans(maxNumberOfPlans > 0 ? maxNumberOfPlans
-                                             : defaultMaxNumberOfPlans),
+    : _maxNumberOfPlans(maxNumberOfPlans),
       _runOnlyRequiredRules(false) {}
   
-size_t Optimizer::hasEnoughPlans(size_t extraPlans) const {
-  return (_newPlans.size() + extraPlans >= _maxNumberOfPlans);
+bool Optimizer::runOnlyRequiredRules(size_t extraPlans) const {
+  return (_runOnlyRequiredRules ||
+          (_newPlans.size() + _plans.size() + extraPlans >= _maxNumberOfPlans));
 }
   
 void Optimizer::disableRule(int rule) {
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ void Optimizer::addPlan(std::unique_ptr<ExecutionPlan> plan, OptimizerRule const
     // else use user-specified new level
   }
 
-
   if (wasModified) {
     if (!rule->isHidden) {
       // register which rules modified / created the plan
@@ -70,6 +69,11 @@ void Optimizer::addPlan(std::unique_ptr<ExecutionPlan> plan, OptimizerRule const
   // hand over ownership
   _newPlans.push_back(plan.get(), newLevel);
   plan.release();
+  
+  // stop adding new plans in case we already have enough
+  if (_newPlans.size() + _plans.size() >= _maxNumberOfPlans) {
+    _runOnlyRequiredRules = true;
+  }
 }
 
 // @brief the actual optimization
@@ -185,14 +189,6 @@ int Optimizer::createPlans(ExecutionPlan* plan,
         leastDoneLevel = l;
       }
     }
-
-    // Stop if the result gets out of hand:
-    if (!_runOnlyRequiredRules && _plans.size() >= _maxNumberOfPlans) {
-      // must still iterate over all REQUIRED remaining transformation rules
-      // because there are some rules which are required to make the query
-      // work in cluster mode etc
-      _runOnlyRequiredRules = true;
-    }
   }
 
   _stats.plansCreated = _plans.size();
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.h b/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.h
index 8cdad60df9..9aa12be75a 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.h
+++ b/arangod/Aql/Optimizer.h
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class Optimizer {
   /// @brief constructor, this will initialize the rules database
   /// the .cpp file includes Aql/OptimizerRules.h
   /// and add all methods there to the rules database
-  explicit Optimizer(size_t);
+  explicit Optimizer(size_t maxNumberOfPlans);
 
   ~Optimizer() {}
 
@@ -167,8 +167,6 @@ class Optimizer {
   /// stealPlans.
   int createPlans(ExecutionPlan* p, std::vector<std::string> const&, bool);
 
-  size_t hasEnoughPlans(size_t extraPlans) const;
-
   /// @brief add a plan to the optimizer
   void addPlan(std::unique_ptr<ExecutionPlan>, OptimizerRule const*, bool, int newLevel = 0);
 
@@ -200,8 +198,8 @@ class Optimizer {
 
     return res;
   }
-
-  bool runOnlyRequiredRules() const { return _runOnlyRequiredRules; }
+  
+  bool runOnlyRequiredRules(size_t extraPlans) const;
 
   /// @brief numberOfPlans, returns the current number of plans in the system
   /// this should be called from rules, it will consider those that the
@@ -242,9 +240,6 @@ class Optimizer {
   
   /// @brief run only the required optimizer rules
   bool _runOnlyRequiredRules;
-
-  /// @brief default value for maximal number of plans to produce
-  static constexpr size_t defaultMaxNumberOfPlans = 192;
 };
 
 }  // namespace aql
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRule.h b/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRule.h
index 86afb2807f..5676e6597e 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRule.h
+++ b/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRule.h
@@ -54,10 +54,6 @@ struct OptimizerRule {
     // "Pass 1": moving nodes "up" (potentially outside loops):
     // ========================================================
 
-    // determine the "right" type of CollectNode and
-    // add a sort node for each COLLECT (may be removed later)
-    specializeCollectRule_pass1,
-
     inlineSubqueriesRule_pass1,
 
     // split and-combined filters into multiple smaller filters
@@ -84,6 +80,10 @@ struct OptimizerRule {
 
     // remove calculations that are never necessary
     removeUnnecessaryCalculationsRule_pass2,
+    
+    // determine the "right" type of CollectNode and
+    // add a sort node for each COLLECT (may be removed later)
+    specializeCollectRule_pass1,
 
     // remove redundant sort blocks
     removeRedundantSortsRule_pass2,
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRules.cpp b/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRules.cpp
index 16f8bb155e..657447fb6f 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRules.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Aql/OptimizerRules.cpp
@@ -715,7 +715,9 @@ void arangodb::aql::removeCollectVariablesRule(
     if (outVariable != nullptr &&
         varsUsedLater.find(outVariable) == varsUsedLater.end()) {
       // outVariable not used later
-      collectNode->clearOutVariable();
+      if (!collectNode->count()) {
+        collectNode->clearOutVariable();
+      }
       modified = true;
     }
 
@@ -1140,7 +1142,7 @@ void arangodb::aql::specializeCollectRule(Optimizer* opt,
          (!collectNode->hasOutVariable() || collectNode->count()) &&
          collectNode->getOptions().canUseMethod(CollectOptions::CollectMethod::HASH));
 
-    if (canUseHashAggregation && !opt->runOnlyRequiredRules()) {
+    if (canUseHashAggregation && !opt->runOnlyRequiredRules(1)) {
       if (collectNode->getOptions().shouldUseMethod(CollectOptions::CollectMethod::HASH)) {
         // user has explicitly asked for hash method
         // specialize existing the CollectNode so it will become a HashedCollectBlock
@@ -2506,7 +2508,7 @@ void arangodb::aql::interchangeAdjacentEnumerationsRule(
     do {
       // check if we already have enough plans (plus the one plan that we will
       // add at the end of this function)
-      if (opt->hasEnoughPlans(1)) {
+      if (opt->runOnlyRequiredRules(1)) {
         // have enough plans. stop permutations
         break;
       }
diff --git a/arangod/Aql/QueryOptions.cpp b/arangod/Aql/QueryOptions.cpp
index a0667623d8..fc9a6b3525 100644
--- a/arangod/Aql/QueryOptions.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Aql/QueryOptions.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ QueryOptions::QueryOptions() :
   // "cache" only defaults to true if query cache is turned on
   auto queryCacheMode = QueryCache::instance()->mode();
   cache = (queryCacheMode == CACHE_ALWAYS_ON);
+  
+  maxNumberOfPlans = q->maxQueryPlans();
+  TRI_ASSERT(maxNumberOfPlans > 0);
 }
   
 void QueryOptions::fromVelocyPack(VPackSlice const& slice) {
@@ -87,6 +90,9 @@ void QueryOptions::fromVelocyPack(VPackSlice const& slice) {
   value = slice.get("maxNumberOfPlans"); 
   if (value.isNumber()) {
     maxNumberOfPlans = value.getNumber<size_t>();
+    if (maxNumberOfPlans == 0) {
+      maxNumberOfPlans = 1;
+    }
   }
   value = slice.get("maxWarningCount"); 
   if (value.isNumber()) {
diff --git a/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.cpp b/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.cpp
index 6f7e282be5..c5fa9e4333 100644
--- a/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.cpp
+++ b/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "Aql/Query.h"
 #include "Aql/QueryCache.h"
 #include "Aql/QueryRegistry.h"
+#include "Logger/Logger.h"
 #include "ProgramOptions/ProgramOptions.h"
 #include "ProgramOptions/Section.h"
 
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ QueryRegistryFeature::QueryRegistryFeature(ApplicationServer* server)
       _trackBindVars(true),
       _failOnWarning(false),
       _queryMemoryLimit(0),
+      _maxQueryPlans(128),
       _slowQueryThreshold(10.0),
       _queryCacheMode("off"),
       _queryCacheEntries(128),
@@ -82,11 +84,25 @@ void QueryRegistryFeature::collectOptions(
   options->addOption("--query.cache-entries",
                      "maximum number of results in query result cache per database",
                      new UInt64Parameter(&_queryCacheEntries));
+
+  options->addOption("--query.optimizer-max-plans", "maximum number of query plans to create for a query",
+                     new UInt64Parameter(&_maxQueryPlans));
   
   options->addHiddenOption("--query.registry-ttl", "Default time-to-live of query snippets (in seconds)",
                            new DoubleParameter(&_queryRegistryTTL));
 }
 
+void QueryRegistryFeature::validateOptions(
+    std::shared_ptr<ProgramOptions> options) {
+  if (_maxQueryPlans == 0) {
+    LOG_TOPIC(FATAL, Logger::FIXME) << "invalid value for `--query.optimizer-max-plans`. expecting at least 1";
+    FATAL_ERROR_EXIT();
+  }
+
+  // cap the value somehow. creating this many plans really does not make sense
+  _maxQueryPlans = std::min(_maxQueryPlans, decltype(_maxQueryPlans)(1024));
+}
+
 void QueryRegistryFeature::prepare() {
   // configure the query cache
   std::pair<std::string, size_t> cacheProperties{_queryCacheMode,
diff --git a/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.h b/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.h
index 41540f1eba..b88c631a1b 100644
--- a/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.h
+++ b/arangod/RestServer/QueryRegistryFeature.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ class QueryRegistryFeature final : public application_features::ApplicationFeatu
 
  public:
   void collectOptions(std::shared_ptr<options::ProgramOptions>) override final;
+  void validateOptions(std::shared_ptr<options::ProgramOptions>) override final;
   void prepare() override final;
   void start() override final;
   void unprepare() override final;
@@ -48,12 +49,14 @@ class QueryRegistryFeature final : public application_features::ApplicationFeatu
   double slowQueryThreshold() const { return _slowQueryThreshold; }
   bool failOnWarning() const { return _failOnWarning; }
   uint64_t queryMemoryLimit() const { return _queryMemoryLimit; }
+  uint64_t maxQueryPlans() const { return _maxQueryPlans; }
 
  private:
   bool _trackSlowQueries;
   bool _trackBindVars;
   bool _failOnWarning;
   uint64_t _queryMemoryLimit;
+  uint64_t _maxQueryPlans;
   double _slowQueryThreshold;
   std::string _queryCacheMode;
   uint64_t _queryCacheEntries;
diff --git a/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-collect-methods.js b/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-collect-methods.js
index 411f05990f..7edc0c1b1d 100644
--- a/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-collect-methods.js
+++ b/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-collect-methods.js
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ function optimizerCollectMethodsTestSuite () {
         g.push("q" + i);
       }
       q += "RETURN INTERSECTION(" + g.join(", ") + ")";
-      assertTrue(AQL_EXPLAIN(q, null).stats.plansCreated >= 256);
+      assertTrue(AQL_EXPLAIN(q, null).stats.plansCreated >= 128);
       var result = AQL_EXECUTE(q).json;
       assertEqual([3], result[0]);
     },
diff --git a/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-rule-interchange-adjacent-enumerations-noncluster.js b/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-rule-interchange-adjacent-enumerations-noncluster.js
index bebe95166a..4b398843c6 100644
--- a/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-rule-interchange-adjacent-enumerations-noncluster.js
+++ b/js/server/tests/aql/aql-optimizer-rule-interchange-adjacent-enumerations-noncluster.js
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ function optimizerRuleTestSuite () {
                   "FOR o IN " + collectionName + " RETURN 1";
 
       var explain = AQL_EXPLAIN(query);
-      assertEqual(192, explain.stats.plansCreated); // default limit enforced by optimizer
+      assertEqual(128, explain.stats.plansCreated); // default limit enforced by optimizer
     },
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////