diff --git a/tests/gem_render_tiled_blits.c b/tests/gem_render_tiled_blits.c
index 8e0c7de7..9b6e9204 100644
--- a/tests/gem_render_tiled_blits.c
+++ b/tests/gem_render_tiled_blits.c
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
+	if (count > intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10) {
+		count = intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10;
+		printf("not enough RAM to run test, reducing buffer count\n");
+	}
+
 	printf("Using %d 1MiB buffers\n", count);
 
 	buf = malloc(sizeof(*buf)*count);