diff --git a/native/core/src/execution/jni_api.rs b/native/core/src/execution/jni_api.rs
index bafde3a0c2..0193f3012c 100644
--- a/native/core/src/execution/jni_api.rs
+++ b/native/core/src/execution/jni_api.rs
@@ -87,19 +87,31 @@ use crate::execution::tracing::{log_memory_usage, trace_begin, trace_end, with_t
 use crate::execution::memory_pools::logging_pool::LoggingMemoryPool;
 use crate::execution::spark_config::{
     SparkConfig, COMET_DEBUG_ENABLED, COMET_DEBUG_MEMORY, COMET_EXPLAIN_NATIVE_ENABLED,
-    COMET_MAX_TEMP_DIRECTORY_SIZE, COMET_TRACING_ENABLED,
+    COMET_MAX_TEMP_DIRECTORY_SIZE, COMET_TRACING_ENABLED, SPARK_EXECUTOR_CORES,
 };
 use crate::parquet::encryption_support::{CometEncryptionFactory, ENCRYPTION_FACTORY_ID};
 use datafusion_comet_proto::spark_operator::operator::OpStruct;
 use log::info;
-use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
 #[cfg(feature = "jemalloc")]
 use tikv_jemalloc_ctl::{epoch, stats};
 
-static TOKIO_RUNTIME: Lazy<Runtime> = Lazy::new(|| {
+static TOKIO_RUNTIME: OnceLock<Runtime> = OnceLock::new();
+
+fn parse_usize_env_var(name: &str) -> Option<usize> {
+    std::env::var_os(name).and_then(|n| n.to_str().and_then(|s| s.parse::<usize>().ok()))
+}
+
+fn build_runtime(default_worker_threads: Option<usize>) -> Runtime {
     let mut builder = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread();
     if let Some(n) = parse_usize_env_var("COMET_WORKER_THREADS") {
+        info!("Comet tokio runtime: using COMET_WORKER_THREADS={n}");
+        builder.worker_threads(n);
+    } else if let Some(n) = default_worker_threads {
+        info!("Comet tokio runtime: using spark.executor.cores={n} worker threads");
         builder.worker_threads(n);
+    } else {
+        info!("Comet tokio runtime: using default thread count");
     }
     if let Some(n) = parse_usize_env_var("COMET_MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS") {
         builder.max_blocking_threads(n);
@@ -108,15 +120,17 @@ static TOKIO_RUNTIME: Lazy<Runtime> = Lazy::new(|| {
         .enable_all()
         .build()
         .expect("Failed to create Tokio runtime")
-});
+}
 
-fn parse_usize_env_var(name: &str) -> Option<usize> {
-    std::env::var_os(name).and_then(|n| n.to_str().and_then(|s| s.parse::<usize>().ok()))
+/// Initialize the global Tokio runtime with the given default worker thread count.
+/// If the runtime is already initialized, this is a no-op.
+pub fn init_runtime(default_worker_threads: usize) {
+    TOKIO_RUNTIME.get_or_init(|| build_runtime(Some(default_worker_threads)));
 }
 
 /// Function to get a handle to the global Tokio runtime
 pub fn get_runtime() -> &'static Runtime {
-    &TOKIO_RUNTIME
+    TOKIO_RUNTIME.get_or_init(|| build_runtime(None))
 }
 
 /// Comet native execution context. Kept alive across JNI calls.
@@ -192,6 +206,11 @@ pub unsafe extern "system" fn Java_org_apache_comet_Native_createPlan(
         let spark_configs = serde::deserialize_config(bytes.as_slice())?;
         let spark_config: HashMap<String, String> = spark_configs.entries.into_iter().collect();
 
+        // Initialize the tokio runtime with spark.executor.cores as the default
+        // worker thread count, falling back to 1 if not set.
+        let executor_cores = spark_config.get_usize(SPARK_EXECUTOR_CORES, 1);
+        init_runtime(executor_cores);
+
         // Access Comet configs
         let debug_native = spark_config.get_bool(COMET_DEBUG_ENABLED);
         let explain_native = spark_config.get_bool(COMET_EXPLAIN_NATIVE_ENABLED);
diff --git a/native/core/src/execution/spark_config.rs b/native/core/src/execution/spark_config.rs
index b257a5ba68..277c0eb43b 100644
--- a/native/core/src/execution/spark_config.rs
+++ b/native/core/src/execution/spark_config.rs
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@ pub(crate) const COMET_DEBUG_ENABLED: &str = "spark.comet.debug.enabled";
 pub(crate) const COMET_EXPLAIN_NATIVE_ENABLED: &str = "spark.comet.explain.native.enabled";
 pub(crate) const COMET_MAX_TEMP_DIRECTORY_SIZE: &str = "spark.comet.maxTempDirectorySize";
 pub(crate) const COMET_DEBUG_MEMORY: &str = "spark.comet.debug.memory";
+pub(crate) const SPARK_EXECUTOR_CORES: &str = "spark.executor.cores";
 
 pub(crate) trait SparkConfig {
     fn get_bool(&self, name: &str) -> bool;
     fn get_u64(&self, name: &str, default_value: u64) -> u64;
+    fn get_usize(&self, name: &str, default_value: usize) -> usize;
 }
 
 impl SparkConfig for HashMap<String, String> {
@@ -40,4 +42,10 @@ impl SparkConfig for HashMap<String, String> {
             .and_then(|str_val| str_val.parse::<u64>().ok())
             .unwrap_or(default_value)
     }
+
+    fn get_usize(&self, name: &str, default_value: usize) -> usize {
+        self.get(name)
+            .and_then(|str_val| str_val.parse::<usize>().ok())
+            .unwrap_or(default_value)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometExecIterator.scala b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometExecIterator.scala
index d27f88b496..f17d8f4f72 100644
--- a/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometExecIterator.scala
+++ b/spark/src/main/scala/org/apache/comet/CometExecIterator.scala
@@ -278,6 +278,11 @@ object CometExecIterator extends Logging {
         builder.putEntries(k, v)
       }
     }
+    // Inject the resolved executor cores so the native side can use it
+    // for tokio runtime thread count
+    val executorCores = numDriverOrExecutorCores(SparkEnv.get.conf)
+    builder.putEntries("spark.executor.cores", executorCores.toString)
+
     builder.build().toByteArray
   }