--- a/NEWS	Tue Jul 09 16:47:57 2013 -0700
+++ b/NEWS	Tue Jul 09 17:37:26 2013 -0700
@@ -186,22 +186,22 @@
       inputdlg   msgbox    warndlg
 
  ** Other new functions added in 3.8.0:
-
-      atan2d                      erfcinv         polyeig                   
-      base64_decode               erfi            readline_re_read_init_file
-      base64_encode               expint          readline_read_init_file   
-      betaincinv                  findfigs        rgbplot                   
-      built_in_docstrings_file    flintmax        save_default_options      
-      cmpermute                   fminsearch      shrinkfaces               
-      cmunique                    gallery         splinefit                 
-      colorcube                   gco             stemleaf                  
-      copyobj                     hdl2struct      strjoin                   
-      dawson                      history_save    struct2hdl                
-      dblist                      imformats       tetramesh                 
-      debug_jit                   importdata      waterfall                 
-      doc_cache_create            iscolormap      
+                                                  
+      atan2d                      erfcinv         lines       
+      base64_decode               erfi            polyeig                   
+      base64_encode               expint          readline_re_read_init_file
+      betaincinv                  findfigs        readline_read_init_file   
+      built_in_docstrings_file    flintmax        rgbplot                   
+      cmpermute                   fminsearch      save_default_options      
+      cmunique                    gallery         shrinkfaces               
+      colorcube                   gco             splinefit                 
+      copyobj                     hdl2struct      stemleaf                  
+      dawson                      history_save    strjoin                   
+      dblist                      imformats       struct2hdl                
+      debug_jit                   importdata      tetramesh                 
+      doc_cache_create            iscolormap      waterfall                 
       ellipj                      jit_enable      
-      ellipke                     lines       
+      ellipke                     jit_startcnt    
 
  ** Deprecated functions.
 

--- a/doc/interpreter/vectorize.txi	Tue Jul 09 16:47:57 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/vectorize.txi	Tue Jul 09 17:37:26 2013 -0700
@@ -519,8 +519,8 @@
 statements into another language, compiling the new code segment into an
 executable, and then running the executable and collecting any results.  The
 process is not simple and there is a significant amount of work to perform for
-each step.  It can still make sense, however, if the loop counter is a
-large number.  Because Octave is an interpreted language every time through a
+each step.  It can still make sense, however, if the number of loop iterations
+is large.  Because Octave is an interpreted language every time through a
 loop Octave must parse the statements in the loop body before executing them.
 With a JIT compiler this is done just once when the body is translated to
 another language.
@@ -528,12 +528,16 @@
 The JIT compiler is a very new feature in Octave and not all valid Octave
 statements can currently be accelerated.  However, if no other technique
 is available it may be worth benchmarking the code with JIT enabled.  The
-function @code{jit_enable} is used to turn compilation on or off.  The function
-@code{debug_jit} is not likely to be of use to anyone not working directly on
-the implementation of the JIT compiler.
+function @code{jit_enable} is used to turn compilation on or off.  The
+function @code{jit_startcnt} sets the threshold for acceleration.  Loops
+with iteration counts above @code{jit_startcnt} will be accelerated.  The
+function @code{debug_jit} is not likely to be of use to anyone not working
+directly on the implementation of the JIT compiler.
 
 @DOCSTRING(jit_enable)
 
+@DOCSTRING(jit_startcnt)
+
 @DOCSTRING(debug_jit)
 
 @node Miscellaneous Techniques

--- a/libinterp/corefcn/pt-jit.cc	Tue Jul 09 16:47:57 2013 -0700
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/pt-jit.cc	Tue Jul 09 17:37:26 2013 -0700
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
 
 static bool Vjit_enable = true;
 
+static int Vjit_startcnt = 1000;
+
 #include <llvm/Analysis/CallGraph.h>
 #include <llvm/Analysis/Passes.h>
 #include <llvm/Analysis/Verifier.h>
@@ -1880,8 +1882,6 @@
 bool
 tree_jit::do_execute (tree_simple_for_command& cmd, const octave_value& bounds)
 {
-  const size_t MIN_TRIP_COUNT = 1000;
-
   size_t tc = trip_count (bounds);
   if (! tc || ! initialize () || ! enabled ())
     return false;
@@ -1892,7 +1892,7 @@
   jit_info *info = cmd.get_info ();
   if (! info || ! info->match (extra_vars))
     {
-      if (tc < MIN_TRIP_COUNT)
+      if (tc < static_cast<size_t> (Vjit_startcnt))
         return false;
 
       delete info;
@@ -2293,7 +2293,7 @@
 When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
 changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
 variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
-@seealso{jit_enable}\n\
+@seealso{jit_enable, jit_startcnt}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
 #if defined (HAVE_LLVM)
@@ -2314,7 +2314,7 @@
 When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
 changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
 variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
-@seealso{debug_jit}\n\
+@seealso{jit_startcnt, debug_jit}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
 #if defined (HAVE_LLVM)
@@ -2325,3 +2325,27 @@
 #endif
 }
 
+DEFUN (jit_startcnt, args, nargout,
+  "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
+@deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} jit_startcnt ()\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} jit_startcnt (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} jit_startcnt (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
+Query or set the internal variable that determines whether JIT compilation\n\
+will take place for a specific loop.  Because compilation is a costly\n\
+operation it does not make sense to employ JIT when the loop count is low.\n\
+By default only loops with greater than 1000 iterations will be accelerated.\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
+@seealso{jit_enable, debug_jit}\n\
+@end deftypefn")
+{
+#if defined (HAVE_LLVM)
+  return SET_INTERNAL_VARIABLE_WITH_LIMITS (jit_startcnt, 1,
+                                            std::numeric_limits<int>::max ());
+#else
+  warning ("jit_enable: JIT compiling not available in this version of Octave");
+  return octave_value ();
+#endif
+}