diff --git a/lib/intel_drm.c b/lib/intel_drm.c
index 55a534d5..9cc76d3c 100644
--- a/lib/intel_drm.c
+++ b/lib/intel_drm.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include <sys/fcntl.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <sys/sysinfo.h>
 
 #include "intel_gpu_tools.h"
 #include "i915_drm.h"
@@ -73,3 +74,19 @@ int intel_gen(uint32_t devid)
 
 	return -1;
 }
+
+uint64_t
+intel_get_total_ram_mb(void)
+{
+	struct sysinfo sysinf;
+	uint64_t retval;
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = sysinfo(&sysinf);
+	assert(ret == 0);
+
+	retval = sysinf.totalram;
+	retval *= sysinf.mem_unit;
+
+	return retval / (1024*1024);
+}
diff --git a/lib/intel_gpu_tools.h b/lib/intel_gpu_tools.h
index 4315b503..f2134bf6 100644
--- a/lib/intel_gpu_tools.h
+++ b/lib/intel_gpu_tools.h
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ struct pci_device *intel_get_pci_device(void);
 
 uint32_t intel_get_drm_devid(int fd);
 int intel_gen(uint32_t devid);
+uint64_t intel_get_total_ram_mb(void);
 
 void intel_map_file(char *);
 
diff --git a/tests/gem_linear_blits.c b/tests/gem_linear_blits.c
index ae188ff8..14cf4f4b 100644
--- a/tests/gem_linear_blits.c
+++ b/tests/gem_linear_blits.c
@@ -248,6 +248,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		count = atoi(argv[1]);
 	if (count == 0)
 		count = 3 * gem_aperture_size(fd) / (1024*1024) / 2;
+
+	if (count > intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10) {
+		count = intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10;
+		fprintf(stderr, "not enough RAM to run test, reducing buffer count\n");
+		return 77;
+	}
+
 	printf("Using %d 1MiB buffers\n", count);
 
 	handle = malloc(sizeof(uint32_t)*count*2);
diff --git a/tests/gem_tiled_blits.c b/tests/gem_tiled_blits.c
index 54b2d400..8c48b760 100644
--- a/tests/gem_tiled_blits.c
+++ b/tests/gem_tiled_blits.c
@@ -144,6 +144,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		count = 3 * gem_aperture_size(fd) / (1024*1024) / 2;
 		count += (count & 1) == 0;
 	}
+
+	if (count > intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10) {
+		count = intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10;
+		fprintf(stderr, "not enough RAM to run test, reducing buffer count\n");
+		return 77;
+	}
+
 	printf("Using %d 1MiB buffers\n", count);
 
 	bo = malloc(sizeof(drm_intel_bo *)*count);
diff --git a/tests/gem_tiled_fence_blits.c b/tests/gem_tiled_fence_blits.c
index 9f41f7be..6d53bcd1 100644
--- a/tests/gem_tiled_fence_blits.c
+++ b/tests/gem_tiled_fence_blits.c
@@ -148,6 +148,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	fd = drm_open_any();
 	count = 3 * gem_aperture_size(fd) / (1024*1024) / 2;
+	if (count > intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10) {
+		count = intel_get_total_ram_mb() * 9 / 10;
+		fprintf(stderr, "not enough RAM to run test, reducing buffer count\n");
+		return 77;
+	}
 	count |= 1;
 	printf("Using %d 1MiB buffers\n", count);