diff --git a/src/scripts/starttask.sh b/src/scripts/starttask.sh
index acffa70c7..31f544a74 100755
--- a/src/scripts/starttask.sh
+++ b/src/scripts/starttask.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ fi
 readonly task_id="$1"
 readonly logfile="$2"
 readonly nice="$3"
+readonly memory_limit_mb="$4"
 
 readonly service_name="box-task-${task_id}"
 systemctl reset-failed "${service_name}" || true
@@ -31,9 +32,9 @@ readonly id=$(id -u $SUDO_USER)
 readonly ubuntu_version=$(lsb_release -rs)
 
 if [[ "${ubuntu_version}" == "16.04" ]]; then
-    options="-p MemoryLimit=400M --remain-after-exit"
+    options="-p MemoryLimit=${memory_limit_mb}M --remain-after-exit"
 else
-    options="-p MemoryMax=400M --pipe --wait"
+    options="-p MemoryMax=${memory_limit_mb}M --pipe --wait"
 
     # Note: BindsTo will kill this task when the box is stopped. but will not kill this task when restarted!
     # For this reason, we have code to kill the tasks both on shutdown and startup.
diff --git a/src/tasks.js b/src/tasks.js
index 026324e6e..a5bb6dfc2 100644
--- a/src/tasks.js
+++ b/src/tasks.js
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ function startTask(id, options, callback) {
 
     let killTimerId = null, timedOut = false;
 
-    gTasks[id] = shell.sudo('startTask', [ START_TASK_CMD, id, logFile, options.nice || 0 ], { preserveEnv: true }, function (error) {
+    gTasks[id] = shell.sudo('startTask', [ START_TASK_CMD, id, logFile, options.nice || 0, options.memoryLimit || 400 ], { preserveEnv: true }, function (error) {
         if (!gTasks[id]) return; // ignore task exit since we are shutting down. see stopAllTasks
 
         const code = error ? error.code : 0;