diff --git a/python/pyarrow/feather.py b/python/pyarrow/feather.py
index 3754aec7372..34783a71e3d 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/feather.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/feather.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def __init__(self, source):
         self.source = source
         self.open(source)
 
-    def read(self, columns=None):
+    def read(self, columns=None, nthreads=1):
         if columns is not None:
             column_set = set(columns)
         else:
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def read(self, columns=None):
                 names.append(name)
 
         table = Table.from_arrays(columns, names=names)
-        return table.to_pandas()
+        return table.to_pandas(nthreads=nthreads)
 
 
 class FeatherWriter(object):
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def write_feather(df, dest):
         raise
 
 
-def read_feather(source, columns=None):
+def read_feather(source, columns=None, nthreads=1):
     """
     Read a pandas.DataFrame from Feather format
 
@@ -128,10 +128,12 @@ def read_feather(source, columns=None):
     columns : sequence, optional
         Only read a specific set of columns. If not provided, all columns are
         read
+    nthreads : int, default 1
+        Number of CPU threads to use when reading to pandas.DataFrame
 
     Returns
     -------
     df : pandas.DataFrame
     """
     reader = FeatherReader(source)
-    return reader.read(columns=columns)
+    return reader.read(columns=columns, nthreads=nthreads)
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_feather.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_feather.py
index 69c32be5f3d..287e0da2f55 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_feather.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_feather.py
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ def _get_null_counts(self, path, columns=None):
         return counts
 
     def _check_pandas_roundtrip(self, df, expected=None, path=None,
-                                columns=None, null_counts=None):
+                                columns=None, null_counts=None,
+                                nthreads=1):
         if path is None:
             path = random_path()
 
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ def _check_pandas_roundtrip(self, df, expected=None, path=None,
         if not os.path.exists(path):
             raise Exception('file not written')
 
-        result = read_feather(path, columns)
+        result = read_feather(path, columns, nthreads=nthreads)
         if expected is None:
             expected = df
 
@@ -293,6 +294,12 @@ def test_empty_strings(self):
         df = pd.DataFrame({'strings': [''] * 10})
         self._check_pandas_roundtrip(df)
 
+    def test_multithreaded_read(self):
+        data = {'c{0}'.format(i): [''] * 10
+                for i in range(100)}
+        df = pd.DataFrame(data)
+        self._check_pandas_roundtrip(df, nthreads=4)
+
     def test_nan_as_null(self):
         # Create a nan that is not numpy.nan
         values = np.array(['foo', np.nan, np.nan * 2, 'bar'] * 10)