diff --git a/lib/grading/test_threads.c b/lib/grading/test_threads.c
index 1f1c4f5..3188b2c 100644
--- a/lib/grading/test_threads.c
+++ b/lib/grading/test_threads.c
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+#include <aos/deferred.h>
 #include <test_threads.h>
 #include <test_helper.h>
 #include <spawn/spawn.h>
+#include <time.h>
 
-#define PROCESS_COUNT 100
+#define PROCESS_COUNT 1
 
 void do_test_threads(void) {
     debug_printf("[do_test_threads]\n");
@@ -14,4 +16,19 @@ void do_test_threads(void) {
         debug_printf("TEST_THREADS: spawn %u\n", i);
         CHECK_ERR(spawn_load_by_name("mallocator", &(si[i]), &(pid[i])));
     }
+
+    // while (true) {
+    //     debug_printf("[do_test_threads]: processes alive: ");
+
+    //     struct spawninfo* process = spawn_get_process_list();
+    //     while (process != NULL) {
+    //         printf("%d, ", process->pid);
+    //         process = process->next;
+    //     }
+
+    //     printf("\n");
+
+    //     //wait for 1 second but handle events in the mean time
+    //     barrelfish_usleep(1000000);
+    // }
 }
diff --git a/usr/mallocator/main.c b/usr/mallocator/main.c
index bc03868..3ae49f1 100644
--- a/usr/mallocator/main.c
+++ b/usr/mallocator/main.c
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@
 #include <aos/paging.h>
 
 #define NUM_SMALL_BUFFERS 128
+#define NUM_THREADS 16
 
-static void test_large_buffer(void) {
+static struct thread* threads[NUM_THREADS];
+
+__attribute__((__used__))
+static int test_large_buffer(void * __args) {
     //allocate a 256 MiB buffer
     debug_printf("allocating 256MiB buffer\n");
     char * big_buf = malloc(1<<28);
@@ -33,8 +37,12 @@ static void test_large_buffer(void) {
 
     debug_printf("freeing 256MiB buffer\n");
     free(big_buf);
+    debug_printf("thread done!\n");
+
+    return 0;
 }
 
+__attribute__((__used__))
 static void test_many_buffers(void) {
 
     char* buffers[NUM_SMALL_BUFFERS];
@@ -52,10 +60,23 @@ static void test_many_buffers(void) {
     }
 }
 
+
+static void test_multi_thread(void) {
+    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; ++i) {
+        threads[i] = thread_create(test_large_buffer, NULL);
+    }
+
+    //wait for the threads
+    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; ++i) {
+        thread_join(threads[i], NULL);
+    }
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    test_large_buffer();
-    test_many_buffers();
+    // test_large_buffer();
+    // test_many_buffers();
+    test_multi_thread();
 
     debug_printf("i am done!\n");
 }
\ No newline at end of file