diff --git a/Lib/concurrent/futures/thread.py b/Lib/concurrent/futures/thread.py
index 2af31a106dd..ad6b4c20b56 100644
--- a/Lib/concurrent/futures/thread.py
+++ b/Lib/concurrent/futures/thread.py
@@ -80,7 +80,14 @@ def _worker(executor_reference, work_queue, initializer, initargs):
                 work_item.run()
                 # Delete references to object. See issue16284
                 del work_item
+
+                # attempt to increment idle count
+                executor = executor_reference()
+                if executor is not None:
+                    executor._idle_semaphore.release()
+                del executor
                 continue
+
             executor = executor_reference()
             # Exit if:
             #   - The interpreter is shutting down OR
@@ -133,6 +140,7 @@ def __init__(self, max_workers=None, thread_name_prefix='',
 
         self._max_workers = max_workers
         self._work_queue = queue.SimpleQueue()
+        self._idle_semaphore = threading.Semaphore(0)
         self._threads = set()
         self._broken = False
         self._shutdown = False
@@ -178,12 +186,15 @@ def submit(*args, **kwargs):
     submit.__doc__ = _base.Executor.submit.__doc__
 
     def _adjust_thread_count(self):
+        # if idle threads are available, don't spin new threads
+        if self._idle_semaphore.acquire(timeout=0):
+            return
+
         # When the executor gets lost, the weakref callback will wake up
         # the worker threads.
         def weakref_cb(_, q=self._work_queue):
             q.put(None)
-        # TODO(bquinlan): Should avoid creating new threads if there are more
-        # idle threads than items in the work queue.
+
         num_threads = len(self._threads)
         if num_threads < self._max_workers:
             thread_name = '%s_%d' % (self._thread_name_prefix or self,
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures.py b/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures.py
index 212ccd8d532..de6ad8f2aa1 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures.py
@@ -346,10 +346,15 @@ def _prime_executor(self):
         pass
 
     def test_threads_terminate(self):
-        self.executor.submit(mul, 21, 2)
-        self.executor.submit(mul, 6, 7)
-        self.executor.submit(mul, 3, 14)
+        def acquire_lock(lock):
+            lock.acquire()
+
+        sem = threading.Semaphore(0)
+        for i in range(3):
+            self.executor.submit(acquire_lock, sem)
         self.assertEqual(len(self.executor._threads), 3)
+        for i in range(3):
+            sem.release()
         self.executor.shutdown()
         for t in self.executor._threads:
             t.join()
@@ -753,6 +758,27 @@ def test_default_workers(self):
         self.assertEqual(executor._max_workers,
                          (os.cpu_count() or 1) * 5)
 
+    def test_saturation(self):
+        executor = self.executor_type(4)
+        def acquire_lock(lock):
+            lock.acquire()
+
+        sem = threading.Semaphore(0)
+        for i in range(15 * executor._max_workers):
+            executor.submit(acquire_lock, sem)
+        self.assertEqual(len(executor._threads), executor._max_workers)
+        for i in range(15 * executor._max_workers):
+            sem.release()
+        executor.shutdown(wait=True)
+
+    def test_idle_thread_reuse(self):
+        executor = self.executor_type()
+        executor.submit(mul, 21, 2).result()
+        executor.submit(mul, 6, 7).result()
+        executor.submit(mul, 3, 14).result()
+        self.assertEqual(len(executor._threads), 1)
+        executor.shutdown(wait=True)
+
 
 class ProcessPoolExecutorTest(ExecutorTest):
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-04-04-14-54-30.bpo-24882.urybpa.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-04-04-14-54-30.bpo-24882.urybpa.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8c418824a99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-04-04-14-54-30.bpo-24882.urybpa.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Change ThreadPoolExecutor to use existing idle threads before spinning up new ones.
\ No newline at end of file