diff --git a/src/plugins/alsa09/ao_alsa09.c b/src/plugins/alsa09/ao_alsa09.c
index 721aa7c6be74dab59fb264a8949ff1f5e8265226..7a053fd4bfdf2ca05fe82b83a36e29ba1ce85639 100644
--- a/src/plugins/alsa09/ao_alsa09.c
+++ b/src/plugins/alsa09/ao_alsa09.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 #include <ao/plugin.h>
 
 #define AO_ALSA_BUF_SIZE 4096
-#define AO_ALSA_PERIODS  16
+#define AO_ALSA_PERIODS  8
 
 static char *ao_alsa_options[] = {
 	"dev",