diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/cnf/maxscale.cnf.template.mxs173_throttle_filter b/maxscale-system-test/cnf/maxscale.cnf.template.mxs173_throttle_filter
index 0ac5943e0..8903c666c 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/cnf/maxscale.cnf.template.mxs173_throttle_filter
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/cnf/maxscale.cnf.template.mxs173_throttle_filter
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ port = 4009
 [throttle]
 type = filter
 module = throttlefilter
-max_qps = 1000
+max_qps = 500
 throttling_duration = 10000
 sampling_duration = 250
 continuous_duration = 2000
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mxs173_throttle_filter.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/mxs173_throttle_filter.cpp
index 1ce5dfd1b..6215b0be7 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/mxs173_throttle_filter.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mxs173_throttle_filter.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ DEFINE_EXCEPTION(Whoopsy);
 
 // TODO these should be read from maxscale.cnf. Maybe the test-lib should replace
 // any "###ENV_VAR###", with environment variables so that code and conf can share.
-constexpr int max_qps = 1000;
+constexpr int max_qps = 500;
 constexpr float throttling_duration = 10000 / 1000.0;
 constexpr float sampling_duration = 250 / 1000.0;
 constexpr float continuous_duration = 2000 / 1000.0;