diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f698d58a..78b9ec4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ This package provides methods for traversing the file system and returning pathn
   * [Output control](#output-control)
     * [absolute](#absolute)
     * [markDirectories](#markdirectories)
+    * [maxMatches](#maxmatches)
     * [objectMode](#objectmode)
     * [onlyDirectories](#onlydirectories)
     * [onlyFiles](#onlyfiles)
@@ -419,6 +420,18 @@ fs.sync('*', { onlyFiles: false, markDirectories: false }); // ['index.js', 'con
 fs.sync('*', { onlyFiles: false, markDirectories: true });  // ['index.js', 'controllers/']
 ```
 
+#### maxMatches
+
+* Type: `number`
+* Default: `Infinity`
+
+Limits the number of matches.
+
+```js
+fs.sync('*', { maxMatches: Infinity }); // ['a.js', 'b.js', ...]
+fs.sync('*', { maxMatches: 1 }); // ['a.js']
+```
+
 #### objectMode
 
 * Type: `boolean`
diff --git a/src/providers/provider.ts b/src/providers/provider.ts
index 5e293f0b..a1f41888 100644
--- a/src/providers/provider.ts
+++ b/src/providers/provider.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ export default abstract class Provider<T> {
 			errorFilter: this.errorFilter.getFilter(),
 			followSymbolicLinks: this._settings.followSymbolicLinks,
 			fs: this._settings.fs,
+			maxMatches: this._settings.maxMatches,
 			stats: this._settings.stats,
 			throwErrorOnBrokenSymbolicLink: this._settings.throwErrorOnBrokenSymbolicLink,
 			transform: this.entryTransformer.getTransformer()
diff --git a/src/readers/stream.spec.ts b/src/readers/stream.spec.ts
index f7312500..482fae8c 100644
--- a/src/readers/stream.spec.ts
+++ b/src/readers/stream.spec.ts
@@ -137,5 +137,50 @@ describe('Readers → ReaderStream', () => {
 				done();
 			});
 		});
+
+		describe('maxMatches', () => {
+			it('can be used to limit matches', (done) => {
+				const reader = getReader();
+				const maxMatches = 2;
+				const readerOptions = getReaderOptions({
+					maxMatches,
+					entryFilter: () => true
+				});
+
+				reader.stat.yields(null, new Stats());
+
+				const entries: Entry[] = [];
+
+				const stream = reader.static(['1.txt', '2.txt', '3.txt'], readerOptions);
+
+				stream.on('data', (entry: Entry) => entries.push(entry));
+				stream.once('end', () => {
+					assert.strictEqual(entries.length, maxMatches);
+					assert.strictEqual(entries[0].name, '1.txt');
+					assert.strictEqual(entries[1].name, '2.txt');
+					done();
+				});
+			});
+
+			it('is ignored if less or equal than 1', (done) => {
+				const reader = getReader();
+				const readerOptions = getReaderOptions({
+					maxMatches: -1,
+					entryFilter: () => true
+				});
+
+				reader.stat.yields(null, new Stats());
+
+				let matches = 0;
+
+				const stream = reader.static(['1.txt', '2.txt', '3.txt'], readerOptions);
+
+				stream.on('data', () => matches++);
+				stream.once('end', () => {
+					assert.strictEqual(matches, 3);
+					done();
+				});
+			});
+		});
 	});
 });
diff --git a/src/readers/stream.ts b/src/readers/stream.ts
index 800b3a3e..4a9e347a 100644
--- a/src/readers/stream.ts
+++ b/src/readers/stream.ts
@@ -19,15 +19,26 @@ export default class ReaderStream extends Reader<NodeJS.ReadableStream> {
 		const filepaths = patterns.map(this._getFullEntryPath, this);
 
 		const stream = new PassThrough({ objectMode: true });
+		let matches = 0;
 
 		stream._write = (index: number, _enc, done) => {
+			if (options.maxMatches === matches) {
+				// this is not ideal because we are still passing patterns to write
+				// even though we know the stream is already finished. We can't use
+				// .writableEnded either because finding matches is asynchronous
+				// The best we could do is to await the write inside the for loop below
+				// however that would mean that this whole function would become async
+				done();
+				return;
+			}
 			return this._getEntry(filepaths[index], patterns[index], options)
 				.then((entry) => {
 					if (entry !== null && options.entryFilter(entry)) {
 						stream.push(entry);
+						matches++;
 					}
 
-					if (index === filepaths.length - 1) {
+					if (index === filepaths.length - 1 || options.maxMatches === matches) {
 						stream.end();
 					}
 
diff --git a/src/readers/sync.spec.ts b/src/readers/sync.spec.ts
index 06994a0d..47e023e5 100644
--- a/src/readers/sync.spec.ts
+++ b/src/readers/sync.spec.ts
@@ -113,5 +113,38 @@ describe('Readers → ReaderSync', () => {
 
 			assert.strictEqual(actual.length, 0);
 		});
+
+		describe('maxMatches', () => {
+			it('can be used to limit matches', () => {
+				const reader = getReader();
+				const maxMatches = 2;
+				const readerOptions = getReaderOptions({
+					maxMatches,
+					entryFilter: () => true
+				});
+
+				reader.statSync.returns(new Stats());
+
+				const actual = reader.static(['1.txt', '2.txt', '3.txt'], readerOptions);
+
+				assert.strictEqual(actual.length, maxMatches);
+				assert.strictEqual(actual[0].name, '1.txt');
+				assert.strictEqual(actual[1].name, '2.txt');
+			});
+
+			it('is ignored if less or equal than 1', () => {
+				const reader = getReader();
+				const readerOptions = getReaderOptions({
+					maxMatches: -1,
+					entryFilter: () => true
+				});
+
+				reader.statSync.returns(new Stats());
+
+				const actual = reader.static(['1.txt', '2.txt', '3.txt'], readerOptions);
+
+				assert.strictEqual(actual.length, 3);
+			});
+		});
 	});
 });
diff --git a/src/readers/sync.ts b/src/readers/sync.ts
index 39096f14..164caeae 100644
--- a/src/readers/sync.ts
+++ b/src/readers/sync.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export default class ReaderSync extends Reader<Entry[]> {
 
 	public static(patterns: Pattern[], options: ReaderOptions): Entry[] {
 		const entries: Entry[] = [];
+		let matches = 0;
 
 		for (const pattern of patterns) {
 			const filepath = this._getFullEntryPath(pattern);
@@ -26,6 +27,9 @@ export default class ReaderSync extends Reader<Entry[]> {
 			}
 
 			entries.push(entry);
+			if (options.maxMatches === ++matches) {
+				break;
+			}
 		}
 
 		return entries;
diff --git a/src/settings.ts b/src/settings.ts
index 7b8aacb1..a70c4fa9 100644
--- a/src/settings.ts
+++ b/src/settings.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,13 @@ export type Options = {
 	 * @default false
 	 */
 	markDirectories?: boolean;
+	/**
+	 * Exit after having gathered `maxMatches` matches.
+	 * If given, expects a positive number greater or equal to 1.
+	 *
+	 * @default Infinity
+	 */
+	maxMatches?: number;
 	/**
 	 * Returns objects (instead of strings) describing entries.
 	 *
@@ -165,6 +172,8 @@ export default class Settings {
 	public readonly globstar: boolean = this._getValue(this._options.globstar, true);
 	public readonly ignore: Pattern[] = this._getValue(this._options.ignore, [] as Pattern[]);
 	public readonly markDirectories: boolean = this._getValue(this._options.markDirectories, false);
+	// If 0 or negative maxMatches is given, we revert to infinite matches
+	public readonly maxMatches: number = Math.max(0, this._getValue(this._options.maxMatches, Infinity)) || Infinity;
 	public readonly objectMode: boolean = this._getValue(this._options.objectMode, false);
 	public readonly onlyDirectories: boolean = this._getValue(this._options.onlyDirectories, false);
 	public readonly onlyFiles: boolean = this._getValue(this._options.onlyFiles, true);
diff --git a/src/tests/smoke/max-matches.smoke.ts b/src/tests/smoke/max-matches.smoke.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ecfc0e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/smoke/max-matches.smoke.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import * as smoke from './smoke';
+
+smoke.suite('Smoke → MarkDirectories', [
+	{
+		pattern: 'fixtures/**/*',
+		fgOptions: { maxMatches: 1 }
+	}
+]);
diff --git a/src/types/index.ts b/src/types/index.ts
index 646ed42e..9afd3de4 100644
--- a/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/types/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export type ReaderOptions = fsWalk.Options & {
 	entryFilter: EntryFilterFunction;
 	errorFilter: ErrorFilterFunction;
 	fs: FileSystemAdapter;
+	maxMatches: number;
 	stats: boolean;
 };