diff --git a/distributed/deploy/adaptive.py b/distributed/deploy/adaptive.py
index 890e30c027f..8c260609638 100644
--- a/distributed/deploy/adaptive.py
+++ b/distributed/deploy/adaptive.py
@@ -135,10 +135,11 @@ def needs_cpu(self):
         Notes
         -----
         Returns ``True`` if the occupancy per core is some factor larger
-        than ``startup_cost``.
+        than ``startup_cost`` and the number of tasks exceeds the number of
+        cores
         """
         total_occupancy = self.scheduler.total_occupancy
-        total_cores = sum([ws.ncores for ws in self.scheduler.workers.values()])
+        total_cores = self.scheduler.total_ncores
 
         if total_occupancy / (total_cores + 1e-9) > self.startup_cost * 2:
             logger.info(
@@ -146,9 +147,22 @@ def needs_cpu(self):
                 total_occupancy,
                 total_cores,
             )
-            return True
-        else:
-            return False
+
+            tasks_processing = 0
+
+            for w in self.scheduler.workers.values():
+                tasks_processing += len(w.processing)
+
+                if tasks_processing > total_cores:
+                    logger.info(
+                        "pending tasks exceed number of cores " "[%d tasks / %d cores]",
+                        tasks_processing,
+                        total_cores,
+                    )
+
+                    return True
+
+        return False
 
     def needs_memory(self):
         """
diff --git a/distributed/deploy/tests/test_adaptive.py b/distributed/deploy/tests/test_adaptive.py
index 1d8a48bf7fc..50c4f0a45a3 100644
--- a/distributed/deploy/tests/test_adaptive.py
+++ b/distributed/deploy/tests/test_adaptive.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 from time import sleep
 
-import pytest
 from toolz import frequencies, pluck
 from tornado import gen
 from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop
@@ -331,7 +330,6 @@ def test_adapt_down():
         yield cluster.close()
 
 
-@pytest.mark.xfail(reason="we currently only judge occupancy, not ntasks")
 @gen_test(timeout=30)
 def test_no_more_workers_than_tasks():
     loop = IOLoop.current()