diff --git a/src/frontends/lean/parser.cpp b/src/frontends/lean/parser.cpp
index 64838b96d..b1097fdfe 100644
--- a/src/frontends/lean/parser.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/lean/parser.cpp
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ parser::parser(environment const & env, io_state const & ios,
     m_theorem_queue(*this, num_threads > 1 ? num_threads - 1 : 0),
     m_snapshot_vector(sv), m_info_manager(im), m_cache(nullptr), m_index(nullptr) {
     m_profile    = ios.get_options().get_bool("profile", false);
-    if (num_threads > 1)
+    if (num_threads > 1 && m_profile)
         throw exception("option --profile cannot be used when theorems are compiled in parallel");
     m_has_params = false;
     m_keep_theorem_mode = tmode;