diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index ee9f495ec..504750c1d 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -2130,3 +2130,5 @@
 * filemanager: Add new file creation action and collapse new and upload actions
 * rsync: add warning to remove lifecycle rules
 * Add volume management
+* backups: adjust node's heap size based on memory limit
+
diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index df894b919..9369ff7d1 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -851,15 +851,23 @@ function runBackupUpload(uploadConfig, progressCallback, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof progressCallback, 'function');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    const { backupId, format, dataLayout, progressTag } = uploadConfig;
+    const { backupId, backupConfig, dataLayout, progressTag } = uploadConfig;
     assert.strictEqual(typeof backupId, 'string');
-    assert.strictEqual(typeof format, 'string');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof backupConfig, 'object');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof progressTag, 'string');
     assert(dataLayout instanceof DataLayout, 'dataLayout must be a DataLayout');
 
     let result = ''; // the script communicates error result as a string
 
-    shell.sudo(`backup-${backupId}`, [ BACKUP_UPLOAD_CMD, backupId, format, dataLayout.toString() ], { preserveEnv: true, ipc: true }, function (error) {
+    // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48387040/node-js-recommended-max-old-space-size
+    const envCopy = Object.assign({}, process.env);
+    if (backupConfig.memoryLimit && backupConfig.memoryLimit >= 2*1024*1024*1024) {
+        const heapSize = Math.min((backupConfig.memoryLimit/1024/1024) - 256, 8192);
+        debug(`runBackupUpload: adjusting heap size to ${heapSize}M`);
+        envCopy.NODE_OPTIONS = `--max-old-space-size=${heapSize}`;
+    }
+
+    shell.sudo(`backup-${backupId}`, [ BACKUP_UPLOAD_CMD, backupId, backupConfig.format, dataLayout.toString() ], { env: envCopy, ipc: true }, function (error) {
         if (error && (error.code === null /* signal */ || (error.code !== 0 && error.code !== 50))) { // backuptask crashed
             return callback(new BoxError(BoxError.INTERNAL_ERROR, 'Backuptask crashed'));
         } else if (error && error.code === 50) { // exited with error
@@ -928,7 +936,7 @@ function uploadBoxSnapshot(backupConfig, progressCallback, callback) {
 
         const uploadConfig = {
             backupId: 'snapshot/box',
-            format: backupConfig.format,
+            backupConfig,
             dataLayout: new DataLayout(boxDataDir, []),
             progressTag: 'box'
         };
@@ -1115,7 +1123,7 @@ function uploadAppSnapshot(backupConfig, app, progressCallback, callback) {
 
         const uploadConfig = {
             backupId,
-            format: backupConfig.format,
+            backupConfig,
             dataLayout,
             progressTag: app.fqdn
         };