Adaptive load balancing in packet processing

A method for forwarding packets in a network device is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a packet; mapping the packet to a bucket, where the bucket is associated with a packet processing thread from a plurality of packet processing threads; and determining whether the packet processing thread is oversubscribed. The method continues with, in response to determining that the packet processing thread is not oversubscribed, mapping the packet to the packet processing thread; and in response to determining that the packet processing thread is oversubscribed, the method comprises distributing the packet to one of the plurality of packet processing threads based on a predefined load balancing scheme, processing the packet in the one of the plurality of packet processing threads, and forwarding the packet according to a predetermined order, where the predetermined order is based on a position of the packet relative to other packets at their receipt.