diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/baseoperator.py b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/baseoperator.py
index 9a3c67db..4ff6300d 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/baseoperator.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/baseoperator.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """ Base Operator class for all operators """
 
 import asyncio
+import os
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from kubernetes.utils import parse_quantity
 
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ else:
 class K8sOpAPI(K8sAPI):
     """Additional k8s api for operators"""
 
+    has_pod_metrics: bool
+    max_crawler_memory_size: int
+
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
         self.config_file = "/config/config.yaml"
@@ -38,6 +42,8 @@ class K8sOpAPI(K8sAPI):
         self.compute_crawler_resources()
         self.compute_profile_resources()
 
+        self.max_crawler_memory_size = 0
+
     def compute_crawler_resources(self):
         """compute memory / cpu resources for crawlers"""
         p = self.shared_params
@@ -69,6 +75,15 @@ class K8sOpAPI(K8sAPI):
             crawler_memory = int(parse_quantity(p["crawler_memory"]))
             print(f"memory = {crawler_memory}")
 
+        max_crawler_memory_size = 0
+        max_crawler_memory = os.environ.get("MAX_CRAWLER_MEMORY")
+        if max_crawler_memory:
+            max_crawler_memory_size = int(parse_quantity(max_crawler_memory_size))
+
+        self.max_crawler_memory_size = max_crawler_memory_size or crawler_memory
+
+        print("max crawler memory size", self.max_crawler_memory_size)
+
         p["crawler_cpu"] = crawler_cpu
         p["crawler_memory"] = crawler_memory
 
diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
index 3bb2c11c..95f657b5 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
@@ -1033,6 +1033,13 @@ class CrawlOperator(BaseOperator):
 
             # if pod is using >MEM_SCALE_UP_THRESHOLD of its memory, increase mem
             if mem_usage > MEM_SCALE_UP_THRESHOLD:
+                if new_memory > self.k8s.max_crawler_memory_size:
+                    print(
+                        f"Mem {mem_usage}: Not resizing pod {name}: "
+                        + f"mem {new_memory} > max allowed {self.k8s.max_crawler_memory_size}"
+                    )
+                    return
+
                 pod.newMemory = new_memory
                 print(
                     f"Mem {mem_usage}: Resizing pod {name} -> mem {pod.newMemory} - Scale Up"
diff --git a/chart/templates/configmap.yaml b/chart/templates/configmap.yaml
index ea0b067e..ffde193e 100644
--- a/chart/templates/configmap.yaml
+++ b/chart/templates/configmap.yaml
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ data:
 
   MIN_QA_CRAWLER_IMAGE: "{{ .Values.min_qa_crawler_image }}"
 
+  MAX_CRAWLER_MEMORY: "{{ .Values.max_crawler_memory }}"
+
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
diff --git a/chart/values.yaml b/chart/values.yaml
index e509912c..fe97ed32 100644
--- a/chart/values.yaml
+++ b/chart/values.yaml
@@ -249,6 +249,11 @@ crawler_extra_memory_per_browser: 768Mi
 # crawler_memory = crawler_memory_base + crawler_memory_per_extra_browser * (crawler_browser_instances - 1)
 # crawler_memory:
 
+
+# max crawler memory, if set, will enable auto-resizing of crawler pods up to this size
+# if not set, no auto-resizing is done, and crawls always use 'crawler_memory' memory
+# max_crawler_memory:
+
 # optional: defaults to crawler_memory_base and crawler_cpu_base if not set
 # profile_browser_memory:
 #