diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/TermsFacetParser.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/TermsFacetParser.java
index 25cac946126..b6be22f425d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/TermsFacetParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/TermsFacetParser.java
@@ -53,10 +53,13 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
  */
 public class TermsFacetParser extends AbstractComponent implements FacetParser {
 
+    private final int ordinalsCacheAbove;
+
     @Inject
     public TermsFacetParser(Settings settings) {
         super(settings);
         InternalTermsFacet.registerStreams();
+        this.ordinalsCacheAbove = componentSettings.getAsInt("ordinals_cache_above", 10000); // above 40k we want to cache
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -176,7 +179,7 @@ public class TermsFacetParser extends AbstractComponent implements FacetParser {
             if (script != null || "map".equals(executionHint)) {
                 return new TermsStringFacetExecutor(indexFieldData, size, comparatorType, allTerms, context, excluded, pattern, searchScript);
             } else if (indexFieldData instanceof IndexFieldData.WithOrdinals) {
-                return new TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor((IndexFieldData.WithOrdinals) indexFieldData, size, comparatorType, allTerms, context, excluded, pattern);
+                return new TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor((IndexFieldData.WithOrdinals) indexFieldData, size, comparatorType, allTerms, context, excluded, pattern, ordinalsCacheAbove);
             } else {
                 return new TermsStringFacetExecutor(indexFieldData, size, comparatorType, allTerms, context, excluded, pattern, searchScript);
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/strings/TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/strings/TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor.java
index 94c2aca318e..54882e8962f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/strings/TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/terms/strings/TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor.java
@@ -54,17 +54,19 @@ public class TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor extends FacetExecutor {
     private final int minCount;
     private final ImmutableSet<BytesRef> excluded;
     private final Matcher matcher;
+    final int ordinalsCacheAbove;
 
     final List<ReaderAggregator> aggregators;
     long missing;
     long total;
 
     public TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor(IndexFieldData.WithOrdinals indexFieldData, int size, TermsFacet.ComparatorType comparatorType, boolean allTerms, SearchContext context,
-                                            ImmutableSet<BytesRef> excluded, Pattern pattern) {
+                                            ImmutableSet<BytesRef> excluded, Pattern pattern, int ordinalsCacheAbove) {
         this.indexFieldData = indexFieldData;
         this.size = size;
         this.comparatorType = comparatorType;
         this.numberOfShards = context.numberOfShards();
+        this.ordinalsCacheAbove = ordinalsCacheAbove;
 
         if (excluded == null || excluded.isEmpty()) {
             this.excluded = null;
@@ -136,7 +138,9 @@ public class TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor extends FacetExecutor {
             }
 
             for (ReaderAggregator aggregator : aggregators) {
-                CacheRecycler.pushIntArray(aggregator.counts);
+                if (aggregator.counts.length > ordinalsCacheAbove) {
+                    CacheRecycler.pushIntArray(aggregator.counts);
+                }
             }
 
             return new InternalStringTermsFacet(facetName, comparatorType, size, Arrays.asList(list), missing, total);
@@ -174,7 +178,9 @@ public class TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor extends FacetExecutor {
 
 
         for (ReaderAggregator aggregator : aggregators) {
-            CacheRecycler.pushIntArray(aggregator.counts);
+            if (aggregator.counts.length > ordinalsCacheAbove) {
+                CacheRecycler.pushIntArray(aggregator.counts);
+            }
         }
 
         return new InternalStringTermsFacet(facetName, comparatorType, size, ordered, missing, total);
@@ -197,7 +203,7 @@ public class TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor extends FacetExecutor {
                 }
             }
             values = indexFieldData.load(context).getBytesValues();
-            current = new ReaderAggregator(values);
+            current = new ReaderAggregator(values, ordinalsCacheAbove);
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -231,11 +237,15 @@ public class TermsStringOrdinalsFacetExecutor extends FacetExecutor {
         int total;
         private final int maxOrd;
 
-        public ReaderAggregator(BytesValues.WithOrdinals values) {
+        public ReaderAggregator(BytesValues.WithOrdinals values, int ordinalsCacheLimit) {
             this.values = values;
             this.maxOrd = values.ordinals().getMaxOrd();
 
-            this.counts = CacheRecycler.popIntArray(maxOrd);
+            if (maxOrd > ordinalsCacheLimit) {
+                this.counts = CacheRecycler.popIntArray(maxOrd);
+            } else {
+                this.counts = new int[maxOrd];
+            }
         }
 
         @Override