diff --git a/puppet/zulip/lib/puppet/parser/functions/zulipconf.rb b/puppet/zulip/lib/puppet/parser/functions/zulipconf.rb
index 43e15c95d3..0778716ea9 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/lib/puppet/parser/functions/zulipconf.rb
+++ b/puppet/zulip/lib/puppet/parser/functions/zulipconf.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,16 @@ module Puppet::Parser::Functions
     end
   end
 
+  newfunction(:zulipconf_keys, :type => :rvalue, :arity => 1) do |args|
+    zulip_conf_path = lookupvar('zulip_conf_path')
+    output = `/usr/bin/crudini --get #{zulip_conf_path} #{args[0]} 2>&1`; result=$?.success?
+    if result
+      return output.lines.map { |l| l.strip }
+    else
+      return []
+    end
+  end
+
   newfunction(:zulipconf_nagios_hosts, :type => :rvalue, :arity => 0) do |args|
     section = "nagios"
     prefix = "hosts_"
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/manifests/app_frontend_base.pp b/puppet/zulip/manifests/app_frontend_base.pp
index 942890b2f5..4750c7754d 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/manifests/app_frontend_base.pp
+++ b/puppet/zulip/manifests/app_frontend_base.pp
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ class zulip::app_frontend_base {
   } else {
     $uwsgi_default_processes = 4
   }
+  $tornado_ports = $zulip::tornado_sharding::tornado_ports
   file { "${zulip::common::supervisor_conf_dir}/zulip.conf":
     ensure  => file,
     require => Package[supervisor],
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/manifests/tornado_sharding.pp b/puppet/zulip/manifests/tornado_sharding.pp
index fef7cd10af..a2da188ac5 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/manifests/tornado_sharding.pp
+++ b/puppet/zulip/manifests/tornado_sharding.pp
@@ -38,16 +38,9 @@ class zulip::tornado_sharding {
     loglevel  => 'warning',
   }
 
-  # The number of Tornado processes to run on the server; this
-  # defaults to 1, since Tornado sharding is currently only at the
-  # Realm level.
-  $tornado_processes = Integer(zulipconf('application_server', 'tornado_processes', 1))
-  if $tornado_processes > 1 {
-    $tornado_ports = range(9800, 9800 + $tornado_processes - 1)
-    $tornado_multiprocess = true
-  } else {
-    $tornado_multiprocess = false
-  }
+  # The ports of Tornado processes to run on the server; defaults to
+  # 9800.
+  $tornado_ports = zulipconf_keys('tornado_sharding')
 
   file { '/etc/nginx/zulip-include/tornado-upstreams':
     require => Package[$zulip::common::nginx],
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/templates/nginx/tornado-upstreams.conf.template.erb b/puppet/zulip/templates/nginx/tornado-upstreams.conf.template.erb
index b60d581c3a..2591d5603f 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/templates/nginx/tornado-upstreams.conf.template.erb
+++ b/puppet/zulip/templates/nginx/tornado-upstreams.conf.template.erb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<% if @tornado_multiprocess -%>
+<% if @tornado_ports.length > 1 -%>
 <% @tornado_ports.each do |port| -%>
 upstream tornado<%= port %> {
     server 127.0.0.1:<%= port %>;
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/templates/supervisor/zulip.conf.template.erb b/puppet/zulip/templates/supervisor/zulip.conf.template.erb
index c142bd59e6..30a22220dd 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/templates/supervisor/zulip.conf.template.erb
+++ b/puppet/zulip/templates/supervisor/zulip.conf.template.erb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stopasgroup=true              ; Without this, we leak processes every restart
 killasgroup=true              ; Without this, we leak processes every restart
 directory=/home/zulip/deployments/current/
 
-<% if @tornado_multiprocess -%>
+<% if @tornado_ports.length > 1 -%>
 [program:zulip-tornado]
 command=env PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 /home/zulip/deployments/current/manage.py runtornado 127.0.0.1:98%(process_num)02d
 process_name=zulip-tornado-port-98%(process_num)02d
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ stdout_logfile=/var/log/zulip/tornado-98%(process_num)02d.log         ; stdout l
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=100MB   ; max # logfile bytes b4 rotation (default 50MB)
 stdout_logfile_backups=10     ; # of stdout logfile backups (default 10)
 directory=/home/zulip/deployments/current/
-numprocs=<%= @tornado_processes %>
+numprocs=<%= @tornado_ports.length %>
 <% else -%>
 [program:zulip-tornado]
 command=env PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 /home/zulip/deployments/current/manage.py runtornado 127.0.0.1:9800
diff --git a/scripts/lib/sharding.py b/scripts/lib/sharding.py
index 8999669de0..44ab8dc7ec 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/sharding.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/sharding.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from scripts.lib.setup_path import setup_path
 
 setup_path()
 
-from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import get_config_file
+from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import get_config_file, get_tornado_ports
 
 
 def write_realm_nginx_config_line(f: Any, host: str, port: str) -> None:
@@ -61,7 +61,13 @@ with open('/etc/zulip/nginx_sharding.conf.tmp', 'w') as nginx_sharding_conf_f, \
     nginx_sharding_conf_f.write(f"# Configuration hash: {new_hash}\n")
 
     config_file = get_config_file()
-    if not config_file.has_section("tornado_sharding"):
+    ports = get_tornado_ports(config_file)
+
+    expected_ports = list(range(9800, max(ports)+1))
+    assert sorted(ports) == expected_ports, \
+        f"ports ({sorted(ports)}) must be contiguous, starting with 9800"
+
+    if len(ports) == 1:
         nginx_sharding_conf_f.write("set $tornado_server http://tornado;\n")
         sharding_json_f.write('{}\n')
         sys.exit(0)
@@ -72,16 +78,17 @@ with open('/etc/zulip/nginx_sharding.conf.tmp', 'w') as nginx_sharding_conf_f, \
                                              'EXTERNAL_HOST'],
                                             universal_newlines=True).strip()
     for port in config_file["tornado_sharding"]:
-        shards = config_file["tornado_sharding"][port].strip().split(' ')
+        shards = config_file["tornado_sharding"][port].strip()
 
-        for shard in shards:
-            if '.' in shard:
-                host = shard
-            else:
-                host = f"{shard}.{external_host}"
-            assert host not in shard_map, f"host {host} duplicated"
-            shard_map[host] = int(port)
-            write_realm_nginx_config_line(nginx_sharding_conf_f, host, port)
+        if shards:
+            for shard in shards.split(' '):
+                if '.' in shard:
+                    host = shard
+                else:
+                    host = f"{shard}.{external_host}"
+                assert host not in shard_map, f"host {host} duplicated"
+                shard_map[host] = int(port)
+                write_realm_nginx_config_line(nginx_sharding_conf_f, host, port)
         nginx_sharding_conf_f.write('\n')
 
     sharding_json_f.write(json.dumps(shard_map) + '\n')
diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2 b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
index 9fe9e9a141..01dd567c2b 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import (
     assert_running_as_root,
     get_config,
     get_config_file,
+    get_tornado_ports,
     parse_os_release,
     set_config,
     su_to_zulip,
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ deploy_path = args.deploy_path
 os.chdir(deploy_path)
 
 config_file = get_config_file()
-tornado_processes = int(get_config(config_file, 'application_server', 'tornado_processes', '1'))
+tornado_processes = len(get_tornado_ports(config_file))
 
 IS_SERVER_UP = True
 
diff --git a/scripts/lib/zulip_tools.py b/scripts/lib/zulip_tools.py
index f707cc59db..743cfe0d47 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/zulip_tools.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/zulip_tools.py
@@ -515,6 +515,14 @@ def get_config_file() -> configparser.RawConfigParser:
 def get_deploy_options(config_file: configparser.RawConfigParser) -> List[str]:
     return get_config(config_file, 'deployment', 'deploy_options', "").strip().split()
 
+def get_tornado_ports(config_file: configparser.RawConfigParser) -> List[int]:
+    ports = []
+    if config_file.has_section("tornado_sharding"):
+        ports = [int(port) for port in config_file.options("tornado_sharding")]
+    if not ports:
+        ports = [9800]
+    return ports
+
 def get_or_create_dev_uuid_var_path(path: str) -> str:
     absolute_path = '{}/{}'.format(get_dev_uuid_var_path(), path)
     os.makedirs(absolute_path, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/scripts/nagios/check-rabbitmq-consumers b/scripts/nagios/check-rabbitmq-consumers
index 80e444a9ff..0b7b99a6f4 100755
--- a/scripts/nagios/check-rabbitmq-consumers
+++ b/scripts/nagios/check-rabbitmq-consumers
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import argparse
-import configparser
 import os
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@ from typing import Dict
 ZULIP_PATH = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
 sys.path.append(ZULIP_PATH)
 from scripts.lib.check_rabbitmq_queue import normal_queues
+from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import get_config_file, get_tornado_ports
 
 states = {
     0: "OK",
@@ -33,13 +33,8 @@ parser.add_argument('--min-threshold',
 
 options = parser.parse_args()
 
-config_file = configparser.RawConfigParser()
-config_file.read("/etc/zulip/zulip.conf")
-def get_config(section: str, key: str, default_value: str) -> str:
-    if config_file.has_option(section, key):
-        return config_file.get(section, key)
-    return default_value
-TORNADO_PROCESSES = int(get_config('application_server', 'tornado_processes', '1'))
+config_file = get_config_file()
+TORNADO_PROCESSES = len(get_tornado_ports(config_file))
 
 output = subprocess.check_output(['/usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl', 'list_consumers'],
                                  universal_newlines=True)
diff --git a/scripts/restart-server b/scripts/restart-server
index 6b318fa1aa..eae0b3f695 100755
--- a/scripts/restart-server
+++ b/scripts/restart-server
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import argparse
-import configparser
 import logging
 import os
 import pwd
@@ -10,7 +9,15 @@ import sys
 import time
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
-from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, ENDC, OKGREEN, WARNING, overwrite_symlink
+from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import (
+    DEPLOYMENTS_DIR,
+    ENDC,
+    OKGREEN,
+    WARNING,
+    get_config_file,
+    get_tornado_ports,
+    overwrite_symlink,
+)
 
 logging.Formatter.converter = time.gmtime
 logging.basicConfig(format="%(asctime)s restart-server: %(message)s",
@@ -46,21 +53,16 @@ if change_symlink:
     overwrite_symlink(os.readlink(current_symlink), last_symlink)
     overwrite_symlink(deploy_path, current_symlink)
 
-config_file = configparser.RawConfigParser()
-config_file.read("/etc/zulip/zulip.conf")
-
-try:
-    tornado_processes = int(config_file.get('application_server', 'tornado_processes'))
-except (configparser.NoSectionError, configparser.NoOptionError):
-    tornado_processes = 1
+config_file = get_config_file()
+tornado_ports = get_tornado_ports(config_file)
 
 # We restart just the zulip-tornado service early, in order to
 # minimize downtime of the tornado service caused by too many Python
 # processes restarting at the same time resulting in it receiving
 # insufficient priority.  This is important, because Tornado is the
 # main source of user-visible downtime when we restart a Zulip server.
-if tornado_processes > 1:
-    for p in range(9800, 9800+tornado_processes):
+if len(tornado_ports) > 1:
+    for p in tornado_ports:
         # Restart Tornado processes individually for a better rate of
         # restarts.  This also avoids behavior with restarting a whole
         # supervisord group where if any individual process is slow to
diff --git a/zproject/computed_settings.py b/zproject/computed_settings.py
index 15d01690eb..f85a693f92 100644
--- a/zproject/computed_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/computed_settings.py
@@ -8,12 +8,14 @@ from urllib.parse import urljoin
 from django.template.loaders import app_directories
 
 import zerver.lib.logging_util
+from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import get_tornado_ports
 from zerver.lib.db import TimeTrackingConnection
 
 from .config import (
     DEPLOY_ROOT,
     DEVELOPMENT,
     PRODUCTION,
+    config_file,
     get_config,
     get_from_file_if_exists,
     get_secret,
@@ -231,7 +233,9 @@ INSTALLED_APPS += EXTRA_INSTALLED_APPS
 ZILENCER_ENABLED = 'zilencer' in INSTALLED_APPS
 CORPORATE_ENABLED = 'corporate' in INSTALLED_APPS
 
-TORNADO_PROCESSES = int(get_config('application_server', 'tornado_processes', '1'))
+TORNADO_PORTS = get_tornado_ports(config_file)
+TORNADO_PROCESSES = len(TORNADO_PORTS)
+
 RUNNING_INSIDE_TORNADO = False
 AUTORELOAD = DEBUG