diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 13e3df4..35c82a2 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ blocking = "0.5.0"
 easy-parallel = "3.1.0"
 futures-lite = "0.1.9"
 num_cpus = "1.13.0"
+cfg-if = "0.1.10"
 
 [dependencies.tokio]
 version = "0.2.22"
diff --git a/examples/ctrl-c.rs b/examples/ctrl-c.rs
index 523c792..0c190d0 100644
--- a/examples/ctrl-c.rs
+++ b/examples/ctrl-c.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ fn main() {
     // Set a handler that sends a message through a channel.
     let (s, ctrl_c) = async_channel::bounded(100);
     let handle = move || {
-        let _ = future::poll_once(s.send(()));
+        let _ = s.try_send(());
     };
     ctrlc::set_handler(handle).unwrap();
 
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index b625fa6..d6a8a9f 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -51,10 +51,11 @@
 #![forbid(unsafe_code)]
 #![warn(missing_docs, missing_debug_implementations, rust_2018_idioms)]
 
+use std::env;
 use std::future::Future;
 
-use async_channel::{unbounded, Receiver};
 use async_executor::{Executor, LocalExecutor};
+use cfg_if::cfg_if;
 use easy_parallel::Parallel;
 
 #[doc(inline)]
@@ -86,14 +87,59 @@ pub mod prelude {
     };
 }
 
-/// Starts executors and runs the future.
+/// Starts a thread-local executor and then runs the future.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// ```
+/// use smol::Task;
+///
+/// smol::block_on(async {
+///     let task = Task::local(async {
+///         println!("Hello world");
+///     });
+///     task.await;
+/// })
+/// ```
+pub fn block_on<T>(future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
+    let local_ex = LocalExecutor::new();
+
+    cfg_if! {
+        if #[cfg(not(feature = "tokio02"))] {
+            local_ex.run(future)
+        } else {
+            // A minimal tokio runtime to support libraries depending on it.
+            let mut rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new()
+                .enable_all()
+                .basic_scheduler()
+                .build()
+                .expect("cannot start tokio runtime");
+            let handle = rt.handle().clone();
+
+            // A channel that coordinates shutdown when the main future completes.
+            let (trigger, shutdown) = async_channel::unbounded::<()>();
+            let future = async move {
+                let _trigger = trigger; // Dropped at the end of this async block.
+                future.await
+            };
+
+            Parallel::new()
+                .add(|| rt.block_on(shutdown.recv()))
+                .finish(|| handle.enter(|| local_ex.run(future)))
+                .1
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Starts a thread-local and a multi-threaded executor and then runs the future.
 ///
 /// This function runs two executors at the same time:
 ///
 /// 1. The current thread runs a [`LocalExecutor`] and the main `future` on it.
 /// 2. A thread pool runs an [`Executor`] until the main `future` completes.
 ///
-/// The number of spawned threads matches the number of logical CPU cores on the system.
+/// The number of spawned threads matches the number of logical CPU cores on the system, but it can
+/// be overriden by setting the `SMOL_THREADS` environment variable.
 ///
 /// # Examples
 ///
@@ -109,42 +155,43 @@ pub mod prelude {
 /// ```
 pub fn run<T>(future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
     // A channel that coordinates shutdown when the main future completes.
-    let (trigger, shutdown) = unbounded::<()>();
+    let (trigger, shutdown) = async_channel::unbounded::<()>();
     let future = async move {
         let _trigger = trigger; // Dropped at the end of this async block.
         future.await
     };
 
-    setup(num_cpus::get(), shutdown, future)
-}
-
-#[cfg(not(feature = "tokio02"))]
-fn setup<T>(num_threads: usize, shutdown: Receiver<()>, future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
-    let ex = Executor::new();
-    let local_ex = LocalExecutor::new();
-
-    Parallel::new()
-        .each(0..num_threads, |_| ex.run(shutdown.recv()))
-        .finish(|| ex.enter(|| local_ex.run(future)))
-        .1
-}
-
-#[cfg(feature = "tokio02")]
-fn setup<T>(num_threads: usize, shutdown: Receiver<()>, future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
-    // A minimal tokio runtime.
-    let mut rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new()
-        .enable_all()
-        .basic_scheduler()
-        .build()
-        .expect("cannot start tokio runtime");
-    let handle = rt.handle().clone();
+    let num_threads = {
+        // Parse SMOL_THREADS or use the number of CPU cores on the system.
+        env::var("SMOL_THREADS")
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|s| s.parse().ok())
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| num_cpus::get())
+    };
 
     let ex = Executor::new();
     let local_ex = LocalExecutor::new();
 
-    Parallel::new()
-        .add(|| ex.enter(|| rt.block_on(shutdown.recv())))
-        .each(0..num_threads, |_| handle.enter(|| ex.run(shutdown.recv())))
-        .finish(|| handle.enter(|| ex.enter(|| local_ex.run(future))))
-        .1
+    cfg_if! {
+        if #[cfg(not(feature = "tokio02"))] {
+            Parallel::new()
+                .each(0..num_threads, |_| ex.run(shutdown.recv()))
+                .finish(|| ex.enter(|| local_ex.run(future)))
+                .1
+        } else {
+            // A minimal tokio runtime to support libraries depending on it.
+            let mut rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new()
+                .enable_all()
+                .basic_scheduler()
+                .build()
+                .expect("cannot start tokio runtime");
+            let handle = rt.handle().clone();
+
+            Parallel::new()
+                .add(|| ex.enter(|| rt.block_on(shutdown.recv())))
+                .each(0..num_threads, |_| handle.enter(|| ex.run(shutdown.recv())))
+                .finish(|| handle.enter(|| ex.enter(|| local_ex.run(future))))
+                .1
+        }
+    }
 }