diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dac0163003
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[env]
+# Set the number of arenas to 16 when using jemalloc.
+JEMALLOC_SYS_WITH_MALLOC_CONF = "abort_conf:true,narenas:16"
+
diff --git a/common/malloc_utils/Cargo.toml b/common/malloc_utils/Cargo.toml
index dd368c7959..ed7aeb44a8 100644
--- a/common/malloc_utils/Cargo.toml
+++ b/common/malloc_utils/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,8 +11,11 @@ lighthouse_metrics = { path = "../lighthouse_metrics" }
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 libc = "0.2.79"
 parking_lot = "0.11.0"
-jemallocator = { version = "0.3.0", optional = true }
+jemallocator = { version = "0.3.0", optional = true, features = ["background_threads"] }
+jemalloc-sys = { version = "0.3.0", optional = true }
 
 [features]
 mallinfo2 = []
-jemalloc = ["jemallocator"]
+jemalloc = ["jemallocator", "jemalloc-sys"]
+jemalloc-stats = ["jemallocator/stats"]
+jemalloc-profiling = ["jemallocator/profiling"]
diff --git a/common/malloc_utils/src/jemalloc.rs b/common/malloc_utils/src/jemalloc.rs
index d088253dcd..6abb336122 100644
--- a/common/malloc_utils/src/jemalloc.rs
+++ b/common/malloc_utils/src/jemalloc.rs
@@ -1,2 +1,12 @@
+//! Set the allocator to `jemalloc`.
+//!
+//! Due to `jemalloc` requiring configuration at compile time or immediately upon runtime
+//! initialisation it is configured via a Cargo config file in `.cargo/config.toml`.
+//!
+//! The `jemalloc` tuning can be overriden by:
+//!
+//! A) `JEMALLOC_SYS_WITH_MALLOC_CONF` at compile-time.
+//! B) `_RJEM_MALLOC_CONF` at runtime.
+
 #[global_allocator]
 static ALLOC: jemallocator::Jemalloc = jemallocator::Jemalloc;
diff --git a/lighthouse/Cargo.toml b/lighthouse/Cargo.toml
index b7be2a534c..f30c28f301 100644
--- a/lighthouse/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lighthouse/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ edition = "2021"
 autotests = false
 
 [features]
+default = ["tree-states"]
 # Writes debugging .ssz files to /tmp during block processing.
 write_ssz_files = ["beacon_node/write_ssz_files"]
 # Compiles the BLS crypto code so that the binary is portable across machines.
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ spec-minimal = []
 # Support Gnosis spec and Gnosis Beacon Chain.
 gnosis = []
 # Use `milhouse` tree states.
-tree-states = ["beacon_node/tree-states"]
+tree-states = ["beacon_node/tree-states", "malloc_utils/jemalloc"]
 
 [dependencies]
 beacon_node = { "path" = "../beacon_node" }