diff --git a/l10n_update.module b/l10n_update.module
index aee9b5c..da7aba1 100644
--- a/l10n_update.module
+++ b/l10n_update.module
@@ -29,6 +29,17 @@ define('L10N_UPDATE_CHECK_ALL', L10N_UPDATE_CHECK_REMOTE | L10N_UPDATE_CHECK_LOC
 define('LOCALE_UPDATE_OVERRIDE_DEFAULT', 2);
 
 /**
+ * The maximum number of projects which are checked for available translations each cron run.
+ */
+define('L10N_UPDATE_CRON_PROJECTS', 10);
+
+/**
+ * The maximum number of projects which are updated each cron run.
+ */
+define('L10N_UPDATE_CRON_UPDATES', 2);
+
+
+/**
  * Implements hook_help().
  */
 function l10n_update_help($path, $arg) {
@@ -87,7 +98,7 @@ function l10n_update_menu_alter(&$menu) {
 function l10n_update_cron() {
   if ($frequency = variable_get('l10n_update_check_frequency', 0)) {
     module_load_include('check.inc', 'l10n_update');
-    list($checked, $updated) = l10n_update_check_translations(1, REQUEST_TIME - $frequency * 24 * 3600);
+    list($checked, $updated) = l10n_update_check_translations(L10N_UPDATE_CRON_PROJECTS, REQUEST_TIME - $frequency * 24 * 3600, L10N_UPDATE_CRON_UPDATES);
     watchdog('l10n_update', 'Automatically checked @checked translations, updated @updated.', array('@checked' => count($checked), '@updated' => count($updated)));
   }
 }