diff --git a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/DeterminePartitionsJob.java b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/DeterminePartitionsJob.java
index f34ff2988f2..425b33cedff 100644
--- a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/DeterminePartitionsJob.java
+++ b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/DeterminePartitionsJob.java
@@ -504,7 +504,6 @@ public class DeterminePartitionsJob implements Jobby
   public static class DeterminePartitionsDimSelectionReducer extends DeterminePartitionsDimSelectionBaseReducer
   {
     private static final double SHARD_COMBINE_THRESHOLD = 0.25;
-    private static final double SHARD_OVERSIZE_THRESHOLD = 1.5;
     private static final int HIGH_CARDINALITY_THRESHOLD = 3000000;
 
     @Override
@@ -672,7 +671,7 @@ public class DeterminePartitionsJob implements Jobby
         // Make sure none of these shards are oversized
         boolean oversized = false;
         for(final DimPartition partition : dimPartitions.partitions) {
-          if(partition.rows > config.getTargetPartitionSize() * SHARD_OVERSIZE_THRESHOLD) {
+          if(partition.rows > config.getMaxPartitionSize()) {
             log.info("Dimension[%s] has an oversized shard: %s", dimPartitions.dim, partition.shardSpec);
             oversized = true;
           }
diff --git a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfig.java b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfig.java
index 1dfad9de181..364b880518c 100644
--- a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfig.java
+++ b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfig.java
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ public class HadoopDruidIndexerConfig
       this.partitionsSpec = partitionsSpec;
     } else {
       // Backwards compatibility
-      this.partitionsSpec = new PartitionsSpec(partitionDimension, targetPartitionSize, false);
+      this.partitionsSpec = new PartitionsSpec(partitionDimension, targetPartitionSize, null, false);
     }
 
     if(granularitySpec != null) {
@@ -431,6 +431,11 @@ public class HadoopDruidIndexerConfig
     return partitionsSpec.getTargetPartitionSize();
   }
 
+  public long getMaxPartitionSize()
+  {
+    return partitionsSpec.getMaxPartitionSize();
+  }
+
   public boolean isUpdaterJobSpecSet()
   {
     return (updaterJobSpec != null);
diff --git a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/partitions/PartitionsSpec.java b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/partitions/PartitionsSpec.java
index e30bad393f6..5571422585c 100644
--- a/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/partitions/PartitionsSpec.java
+++ b/indexer/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/partitions/PartitionsSpec.java
@@ -8,22 +8,30 @@ import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 
 public class PartitionsSpec
 {
+  private static final double DEFAULT_OVERSIZE_THRESHOLD = 1.5;
+
   @Nullable
   private final String partitionDimension;
 
   private final long targetPartitionSize;
 
+  private final long maxPartitionSize;
+
   private final boolean assumeGrouped;
 
   @JsonCreator
   public PartitionsSpec(
       @JsonProperty("partitionDimension") @Nullable String partitionDimension,
       @JsonProperty("targetPartitionSize") @Nullable Long targetPartitionSize,
+      @JsonProperty("maxPartitionSize") @Nullable Long maxPartitionSize,
       @JsonProperty("assumeGrouped") @Nullable Boolean assumeGrouped
   )
   {
     this.partitionDimension = partitionDimension;
     this.targetPartitionSize = targetPartitionSize == null ? -1 : targetPartitionSize;
+    this.maxPartitionSize = maxPartitionSize == null
+                            ? (long) (this.targetPartitionSize * DEFAULT_OVERSIZE_THRESHOLD)
+                            : maxPartitionSize;
     this.assumeGrouped = assumeGrouped == null ? false : assumeGrouped;
   }
 
@@ -46,6 +54,12 @@ public class PartitionsSpec
     return targetPartitionSize;
   }
 
+  @JsonProperty
+  public long getMaxPartitionSize()
+  {
+    return maxPartitionSize;
+  }
+
   @JsonProperty
   public boolean isAssumeGrouped()
   {
diff --git a/indexer/src/test/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest.java b/indexer/src/test/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest.java
index 5fdff8ce8b8..87ee95fbfb0 100644
--- a/indexer/src/test/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest.java
+++ b/indexer/src/test/java/com/metamx/druid/indexer/HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest.java
@@ -248,6 +248,12 @@ public class HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest
         100
     );
 
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "getMaxPartitionSize",
+        partitionsSpec.getMaxPartitionSize(),
+        150
+    );
+
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "getPartitionDimension",
         partitionsSpec.getPartitionDimension(),
@@ -285,6 +291,58 @@ public class HadoopDruidIndexerConfigTest
         100
     );
 
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "getMaxPartitionSize",
+        partitionsSpec.getMaxPartitionSize(),
+        150
+    );
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "getPartitionDimension",
+        partitionsSpec.getPartitionDimension(),
+        "foo"
+    );
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testPartitionsSpecMaxPartitionSize() {
+    final HadoopDruidIndexerConfig cfg;
+
+    try {
+      cfg = jsonMapper.readValue(
+          "{"
+          + "\"partitionsSpec\":{"
+          + "   \"targetPartitionSize\":100,"
+          + "   \"maxPartitionSize\":200,"
+          + "   \"partitionDimension\":\"foo\""
+          + " }"
+          + "}",
+          HadoopDruidIndexerConfig.class
+      );
+    } catch(Exception e) {
+      throw Throwables.propagate(e);
+    }
+
+    final PartitionsSpec partitionsSpec = cfg.getPartitionsSpec();
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "isDeterminingPartitions",
+        partitionsSpec.isDeterminingPartitions(),
+        true
+    );
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "getTargetPartitionSize",
+        partitionsSpec.getTargetPartitionSize(),
+        100
+    );
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "getMaxPartitionSize",
+        partitionsSpec.getMaxPartitionSize(),
+        200
+    );
+
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "getPartitionDimension",
         partitionsSpec.getPartitionDimension(),