diff --git a/src/Adaptive.Aeron/Aeron.cs b/src/Adaptive.Aeron/Aeron.cs
index aa14d100..1fa392c4 100644
--- a/src/Adaptive.Aeron/Aeron.cs
+++ b/src/Adaptive.Aeron/Aeron.cs
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public Subscription AddSubscription(string channel, int streamId)
 
         private Aeron Start()
         {
-            AgentRunner.StartOnThread(_conductorRunner);
+            AgentRunner.StartOnThread(_conductorRunner, _ctx.ThreadFactory());
             return this;
         }
 
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ public class Context : IDisposable
             private UnsafeBuffer _countersMetaDataBuffer;
             private UnsafeBuffer _countersValuesBuffer;
             private MapMode _imageMapMode = MapMode.ReadOnly;
+            private IThreadFactory threadFactory = new DefaultThreadFactory();
 
             /// <summary>
             /// The top level Aeron directory used for communication between a Media Driver and client.
@@ -524,6 +525,26 @@ public Context ImageMapMode(MapMode imageMapMode)
                 return this;
             }
 
+            /// <summary>
+            /// Specify the thread factory to use when starting the conductor thread.
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <param name="threadFactory"> thread factory to construct the thread.</param>
+            /// <returns> this for a fluent API.</returns>
+            public Context ThreadFactory(IThreadFactory threadFactory)
+            {
+                this.threadFactory = threadFactory;
+                return this;
+            }
+
+            /// <summary>
+            /// The thread factory to be use to construct the conductor thread
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <returns>the specified thread factory of <see cref="DefaultThreadFactory"/> if none is provided.</returns>
+            public IThreadFactory ThreadFactory()
+            {
+                return threadFactory;
+            }
+
             /// <summary>
             /// Return the timeout, in milliseconds, that this client will use to determine if a <seealso cref="Publication"/>
             /// has active subscribers or not.