diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 45165930..333da53f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -169,9 +169,11 @@ echo "
   CXXFLAGS........... $CXXFLAGS
   FLUX..............: $FLUX
   FLUX_VERSION......: $($FLUX version | sed -n 's/libflux-core:\t*//p')
-  FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS.:. $FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS
+  FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS..: $FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS
+  FLUX_IDSET_CFLAGS.: $FLUX_IDSET_CFLAGS
   FLUX_CORE_LIBS....: $FLUX_CORE_LIBS
   FLUX_HOSTLIST_LIBS: $FLUX_HOSTLIST_LIBS
+  FLUX_IDSET_LIBS...: $FLUX_IDSET_LIBS
   LIBFLUX_VERSION...: $LIBFLUX_VERSION
   FLUX_PREFIX.......: $FLUX_PREFIX
   LDFLAGS...........: $LDFLAGS
diff --git a/src/plugins/Makefile.am b/src/plugins/Makefile.am
index 35576e03..aae17b25 100644
--- a/src/plugins/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/plugins/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 AM_LDFLAGS = -module -shared $(CODE_COVERAGE_LDFLAGS)
 
-AM_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir) $(FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS)
+AM_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir) $(FLUX_CORE_CFLAGS) $(FLUX_IDSET_CFLAGS)
 
 AM_CXXFLAGS = $(CODE_COVERAGE_CXXFLAGS) -fPIC -shared
 
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ jobtap_LTLIBRARIES = mf_priority.la
 mf_priority_la_SOURCES = mf_priority.cpp accounting.cpp
 mf_priority_la_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/src/plugins
 mf_priority_la_LDFLAGS = $(fluxplugin_ldflags) -module
+mf_priority_la_LIBADD = $(FLUX_IDSET_LIBS)
diff --git a/src/plugins/mf_priority.cpp b/src/plugins/mf_priority.cpp
index e1825d04..308e14e0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mf_priority.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/mf_priority.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 #include <flux/core.h>
 #include <flux/jobtap.h>
+#include <flux/idset.h>
 #include <jansson.h>
 }
 
@@ -43,6 +44,9 @@ extern "C" {
 #define DEFAULT_QUEUE_WEIGHT 10000
 #define DEFAULT_AGE_WEIGHT 1000
 
+// set up cores-per-node count for the system
+size_t ncores_per_node = 0;
+
 std::map<int, std::map<std::string, Association>> users;
 std::map<std::string, Queue> queues;
 std::map<int, std::string> users_def_bank;
@@ -254,9 +258,11 @@ static int query_cb (flux_plugin_t *p,
 
     if (flux_plugin_arg_pack (args,
                               FLUX_PLUGIN_ARG_OUT,
-                              "{s:O}",
+                              "{s:O s:i}",
                               "mf_priority_map",
-                              accounting_data) < 0)
+                              accounting_data,
+                              "ncores_per_node",
+                              ncores_per_node) < 0)
         flux_log_error (flux_jobtap_get_flux (p),
                         "mf_priority: query_cb: flux_plugin_arg_pack: %s",
                         flux_plugin_arg_strerror (args));
@@ -1184,6 +1190,49 @@ extern "C" int flux_plugin_init (flux_plugin_t *p)
     priority_weights["queue"] = DEFAULT_QUEUE_WEIGHT;
     priority_weights["age"] = DEFAULT_AGE_WEIGHT;
 
+    // initialize the plugin with total node and core counts
+    flux_t *h;
+    flux_future_t *f;
+    const char *core;
+
+    h = flux_jobtap_get_flux (p);
+    // This synchronous call to fetch R from the KVS is needed in order to
+    // validate and enforce resource limits on jobs. The job manager will
+    // block here while waiting for R when the plugin is loaded but it *should*
+    // occur over a very short time.
+    if (!(f = flux_kvs_lookup (h,
+                               NULL,
+                               FLUX_KVS_WAITCREATE,
+                               "resource.R"))) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "flux_kvs_lookup");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    // Equal number of cores on all nodes in R is assumed here; thus, only
+    // the first entry is looked at
+    if (flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack (f,
+                                    "{s{s[{s{s:s}}]}}",
+                                    "execution",
+                                      "R_lite",
+                                        "children",
+                                          "core", &core) < 0) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "flux_kvs_lookup_unpack");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (core == NULL) {
+        flux_log_error (h,
+                        "mf_priority: could not get system "
+                        "cores-per-node information");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    // calculate number of cores-per-node on system
+    idset* cores_decoded = idset_decode (core);
+    ncores_per_node = idset_count (cores_decoded);
+
+    flux_future_destroy (f);
+    idset_destroy (cores_decoded);
+
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/Makefile.am b/t/Makefile.am
index a84e27e9..8274d920 100644
--- a/t/Makefile.am
+++ b/t/Makefile.am
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ TESTSCRIPTS = \
 	t1041-view-jobs-by-project.t \
 	t1042-issue508.t \
 	t1043-view-jobs-by-bank.t \
+	t1044-mf-priority-resource-counting.t \
 	t5000-valgrind.t \
 	python/t1000-example.py \
 	python/t1001_db.py \
diff --git a/t/t1044-mf-priority-resource-counting.t b/t/t1044-mf-priority-resource-counting.t
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..8bb1fd8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t1044-mf-priority-resource-counting.t
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+test_description='test calculating and storing system core information in priority plugin'
+
+. `dirname $0`/sharness.sh
+
+mkdir -p conf.d
+
+MULTI_FACTOR_PRIORITY=${FLUX_BUILD_DIR}/src/plugins/.libs/mf_priority.so
+
+export TEST_UNDER_FLUX_SCHED_SIMPLE_MODE="limited=1"
+test_under_flux 4 job -o,--config-path=$(pwd)/conf.d
+
+flux setattr log-stderr-level 1
+
+test_expect_success 'load multi-factor priority plugin' '
+	flux jobtap load -r .priority-default ${MULTI_FACTOR_PRIORITY}
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'check that mf_priority plugin is loaded' '
+	flux jobtap list | grep mf_priority
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'check that cores-per-node count is correct' '
+	flux jobtap query mf_priority.so > query.json &&
+	test_debug "jq -S . <query.json" &&
+	flux resource R --include=0 | flux R decode --count=core > ncores_per_node.test &&
+	jq -e ".ncores_per_node == $(cat ncores_per_node.test)" <query.json
+'
+
+test_done