diff --git a/lrzip_core.h b/lrzip_core.h
index 0ee8792..1bffc8b 100644
--- a/lrzip_core.h
+++ b/lrzip_core.h
@@ -47,4 +47,7 @@ extern void zpaq_compress(uchar *c_buf, i64 *c_len, uchar *s_buf, i64 s_len, int
 			  FILE *msgout, bool progress, long thread);
 extern void zpaq_decompress(uchar *s_buf, i64 *d_len, uchar *c_buf, i64 c_len,
 			    FILE *msgout, bool progress, long thread);
+
+static int current_priority;
+
 #endif
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index f3391a8..6ac481a 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -440,8 +440,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			break;
 		case 'N':
 			control->nice_val = atoi(optarg);
-			if (control->nice_val < -20 || control->nice_val > 19)
-				failure("Invalid nice value (must be -20..19)\n");
+			if (control->nice_val < PRIO_MIN || control->nice_val > PRIO_MAX)
+				failure("Invalid nice value (must be %d...%d)\n", PRIO_MIN, PRIO_MAX);
 			break;
 		case 'o':
 			if (control->outdir)
@@ -565,12 +565,20 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	/* Set the main nice value to half that of the backend threads since
 	 * the rzip stage is usually the rate limiting step */
-	if (control->nice_val > 0 && !NO_COMPRESS) {
-		if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val / 2) == -1))
-			print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value\n");
+	current_priority = getpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0);
+	if (!NO_COMPRESS) {
+		/* If niceness can't be set. just reset process priority */
+		if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val/2) == -1)) {
+			print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value %d...Resetting to %d\n",
+				control->nice_val, current_priority);
+			setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, (control->nice_val=current_priority));
+		}
 	} else {
-		if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1))
-			print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value\n");
+		if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1)) {
+			print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value %d...Resetting to %d\n",
+				control->nice_val, current_priority);
+			setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, (control->nice_val=current_priority));
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* One extra iteration for the case of no parameters means we will default to stdin/out */
diff --git a/stream.c b/stream.c
index 4dd2d82..430ddb3 100644
--- a/stream.c
+++ b/stream.c
@@ -1276,9 +1276,10 @@ static void *compthread(void *data)
 	cti = &cthread[i];
 	ctis = cti->sinfo;
 
-	if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1))
-		print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value on thread\n");
-
+	if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1)) {
+		print_err("Warning, unable to set thread nice value %d...Resetting to %d\n", control->nice_val, current_priority);
+		setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, (control->nice_val=current_priority));
+	}
 	cti->c_type = CTYPE_NONE;
 	cti->c_len = cti->s_len;
 
@@ -1512,8 +1513,10 @@ static void *ucompthread(void *data)
 	dealloc(data);
 	uci = &ucthread[i];
 
-	if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1))
-		print_err("Warning, unable to set nice value on thread\n");
+	if (unlikely(setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, control->nice_val) == -1)) {
+		print_err("Warning, unable to set thread nice value %d...Resetting to %d\n", control->nice_val, current_priority);
+		setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, (control->nice_val=current_priority));
+	}
 
 retry:
 	if (uci->c_type != CTYPE_NONE) {