diff --git a/src/libcamera/camera_sensor.cpp b/src/libcamera/camera_sensor.cpp
index cde431cc4c80..d8ed010bfd08 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/camera_sensor.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/camera_sensor.cpp
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ CameraSensor::CameraSensor(const MediaEntity *entity)
 	: entity_(entity), pad_(UINT_MAX), bayerFormat_(nullptr),
 	  properties_(properties::properties)
 {
+	properties_.set(properties::MinimumRequests, 1);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
index 42911a8fdfdb..cb4ca9a85fa8 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <libcamera/ipa/core_ipa_interface.h>
 #include <libcamera/ipa/rkisp1_ipa_interface.h>
 #include <libcamera/ipa/rkisp1_ipa_proxy.h>
+#include <libcamera/property_ids.h>
 #include <libcamera/request.h>
 #include <libcamera/stream.h>
 
@@ -944,6 +945,7 @@ int PipelineHandlerRkISP1::createCamera(MediaEntity *sensor)
 
 	/* Initialize the camera properties. */
 	data->properties_ = data->sensor_->properties();
+	data->properties_.set(properties::MinimumRequests, 3);
 
 	/*
 	 * \todo Read dealy values from the sensor itself or from a
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
index b29fff9820e5..348c554c8be4 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/camera.h>
 #include <libcamera/control_ids.h>
+#include <libcamera/property_ids.h>
 #include <libcamera/request.h>
 #include <libcamera/stream.h>
 
@@ -436,6 +437,7 @@ int SimpleCameraData::init()
 	}
 
 	properties_ = sensor_->properties();
+	properties_.set(properties::MinimumRequests, 3);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
index 0f634b8da609..6ad7fb3c9f0c 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
@@ -525,6 +525,8 @@ int UVCCameraData::init(MediaDevice *media)
 	properties_.set(properties::PixelArraySize, resolution);
 	properties_.set(properties::PixelArrayActiveAreas, { Rectangle(resolution) });
 
+	properties_.set(properties::MinimumRequests, 1);
+
 	/* Initialise the supported controls. */
 	ControlInfoMap::Map ctrls;
 
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
index 12f7517fd0ae..44c198ccf8b8 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <libcamera/control_ids.h>
 #include <libcamera/controls.h>
 #include <libcamera/formats.h>
+#include <libcamera/property_ids.h>
 #include <libcamera/request.h>
 #include <libcamera/stream.h>
 
@@ -516,6 +517,7 @@ int VimcCameraData::init()
 
 	/* Initialize the camera properties. */
 	properties_ = sensor_->properties();
+	properties_.set(properties::MinimumRequests, 2);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/libcamera/property_ids.yaml b/src/libcamera/property_ids.yaml
index 12ecbce5eed4..23ef0e9d38c4 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/property_ids.yaml
+++ b/src/libcamera/property_ids.yaml
@@ -678,6 +678,16 @@ controls:
         \todo Turn this property into a "maximum control value" for the
         ScalerCrop control once "dynamic" controls have been implemented.
 
+  - MinimumRequests:
+      type: int32_t
+      description: |
+        The minimum number of capture requests that the camera pipeline requires
+        to have queued in order to sustain capture operations.
+
+        This property usually corresponds to the minimum number of memory
+        buffers needed to fill the capture pipeline composed of hardware
+        processing blocks.
+
   # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   # Draft properties section