diff --git a/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.cc b/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.cc
index a7bce26234dac0f9626c7928f5ccdf74f206aea2..73b9800d4373fcfd67196aecb8ba5770a8edc793 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.cc
+++ b/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.cc
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ limitations under the License. */
 
 #include "paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.h"
 
+#include <gflags/gflags.h>
 #include <chrono>  // NOLINT
 #include <thread>  // NOLINT
 
@@ -24,6 +25,13 @@ limitations under the License. */
 #include "paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/parameter_send.h"
 #include "paddle/fluid/operators/math/selected_rows_functor.h"
 
+DEFINE_bool(communicator_independent_recv_thread, true,
+            "use an independent to recv vars from parameter server");
+DEFINE_int32(communicator_send_queue_size, 20,
+             "queue size to recv gradient before send");
+DEFINE_int32(communicator_recv_wait_ms, 200, "wait time between each recv");
+DEFINE_int32(communicator_thread_pool_size, 5, "wait time between each recv");
+
 namespace paddle {
 namespace operators {
 namespace distributed {
@@ -70,6 +78,38 @@ static inline void MergeVars(const std::string &var_name,
 std::unique_ptr<Communicator> Communicator::communicator_(nullptr);
 std::once_flag Communicator::init_flag_;
 
+Communicator::Communicator(const RpcCtxMap &send_varname_to_ctx,
+                           const RpcCtxMap &recv_varname_to_ctx,
+                           Scope *recv_scope)
+    : send_varname_to_ctx_(send_varname_to_ctx),
+      recv_varname_to_ctx_(recv_varname_to_ctx),
+      recv_scope_(recv_scope) {
+  // get all send information from graph, build vars_to_send
+  VLOG(0) << "communicator_independent_recv_thread: "
+          << FLAGS_communicator_independent_recv_thread;
+  VLOG(0) << "communicator_send_queue_size: "
+          << FLAGS_communicator_send_queue_size;
+  VLOG(0) << "communicator_recv_wait_ms: " << FLAGS_communicator_recv_wait_ms;
+  VLOG(0) << "communicator_thread_pool_size: "
+          << FLAGS_communicator_thread_pool_size;
+  send_scope_.reset(new Scope());
+  for (auto &iter : send_varname_to_ctx_) {
+    send_varname_to_queue_[iter.first] =
+        std::make_shared<BlockingQueue<std::shared_ptr<Variable>>>(
+            FLAGS_communicator_send_queue_size);
+  }
+  send_threadpool_.reset(new ::ThreadPool(FLAGS_communicator_thread_pool_size));
+  recv_threadpool_.reset(new ::ThreadPool(FLAGS_communicator_thread_pool_size));
+}
+
+Communicator::~Communicator() {
+  VLOG(3) << "~Communicator";
+  running_ = false;
+  if (send_thread_) send_thread_->join();
+  if (recv_thread_) recv_thread_->join();
+  VLOG(3) << "~Communicator done";
+}
+
 void Communicator::SendThread() {
   VLOG(3) << "SendThread start!";
   while (running_) {
@@ -105,7 +145,9 @@ void Communicator::SendThread() {
       task_f.wait();
     }
     VLOG(3) << "run send graph done";
-    RecvAll();
+    if (!FLAGS_communicator_independent_recv_thread) {
+      RecvAll();
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -132,8 +174,8 @@ void Communicator::RecvThread() {
   VLOG(3) << "RecvThread start!";
   while (running_) {
     RecvAll();
-    // TODO(qiao) need to be configuable
-    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(200));
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(
+        std::chrono::milliseconds(FLAGS_communicator_recv_wait_ms));
   }
 }
 
@@ -157,8 +199,10 @@ void Communicator::Start() {
   // start send and recv thread
   send_thread_.reset(
       new std::thread(std::bind(&Communicator::SendThread, this)));
-  //  recv_thread_.reset(
-  //      new std::thread(std::bind(&Communicator::RecvThread, this)));
+  if (FLAGS_communicator_independent_recv_thread) {
+    recv_thread_.reset(
+        new std::thread(std::bind(&Communicator::RecvThread, this)));
+  }
 }
 
 }  // namespace distributed
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.h b/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.h
index 3c98b36b747b02668ee88222d8b035ddc7bbd661..4104cb20a369b398f98e1dc008b6b0c8e900f2f6 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.h
+++ b/paddle/fluid/operators/distributed/communicator.h
@@ -96,28 +96,9 @@ using RpcCtxMap = std::unordered_map<std::string, RpcContext>;
 class Communicator {
  public:
   Communicator(const RpcCtxMap& send_varname_to_ctx,
-               const RpcCtxMap& recv_varname_to_ctx, Scope* recv_scope)
-      : send_varname_to_ctx_(send_varname_to_ctx),
-        recv_varname_to_ctx_(recv_varname_to_ctx),
-        recv_scope_(recv_scope) {
-    // get all send information from graph, build vars_to_send
-    send_scope_.reset(new Scope());
-    for (auto& iter : send_varname_to_ctx_) {
-      send_varname_to_queue_[iter.first] =
-          std::make_shared<BlockingQueue<std::shared_ptr<Variable>>>(10);
-    }
-    // TODO(qiao): default 5, need to config
-    send_threadpool_.reset(new ::ThreadPool(5));
-    recv_threadpool_.reset(new ::ThreadPool(5));
-  }
+               const RpcCtxMap& recv_varname_to_ctx, Scope* recv_scope);
 
-  ~Communicator() {
-    VLOG(3) << "~Communicator";
-    running_ = false;
-    send_thread_->join();
-    recv_thread_->join();
-    VLOG(3) << "~Communicator done";
-  }
+  ~Communicator();
 
   void Start();
 
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/__init__.py b/python/paddle/fluid/__init__.py
index d12f04a6abefecbb8e3e43fd2f0b87e43264b07f..8af5e1c509e40c2976db82d608a6bf563e641e9d 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/__init__.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/__init__.py
@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ def __bootstrap__():
         read_env_flags.append('rpc_get_thread_num')
         read_env_flags.append('rpc_prefetch_thread_num')
         read_env_flags.append('rpc_disable_reuse_port')
+        read_env_flags.append('communicator_independent_recv_thread')
+        read_env_flags.append('communicator_send_queue_size')
+        read_env_flags.append('communicator_recv_wait_ms')
+        read_env_flags.append('communicator_thread_pool_size')
         if core.is_compiled_with_brpc():
             read_env_flags.append('max_body_size')
             #set brpc max body size