diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
index 2348831e771..5f3e16318e7 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TcpTransport.java
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ public abstract class TcpTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent implements
 
     // This is the number of bytes necessary to read the message size
     private static final int BYTES_NEEDED_FOR_MESSAGE_SIZE = TcpHeader.MARKER_BYTES_SIZE + TcpHeader.MESSAGE_LENGTH_SIZE;
-    private static final long NINETY_PER_HEAP_SIZE = (long) (JvmInfo.jvmInfo().getMem().getHeapMax().getBytes() * 0.9);
+    private static final long THIRTY_PER_HEAP_SIZE = (long) (JvmInfo.jvmInfo().getMem().getHeapMax().getBytes() * 0.3);
     private static final BytesReference EMPTY_BYTES_REFERENCE = new BytesArray(new byte[0]);
 
     // this limit is per-address
@@ -755,9 +755,9 @@ public abstract class TcpTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent implements
             throw new StreamCorruptedException("invalid data length: " + messageLength);
         }
 
-        if (messageLength > NINETY_PER_HEAP_SIZE) {
+        if (messageLength > THIRTY_PER_HEAP_SIZE) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("transport content length received [" + new ByteSizeValue(messageLength) + "] exceeded ["
-                + new ByteSizeValue(NINETY_PER_HEAP_SIZE) + "]");
+                + new ByteSizeValue(THIRTY_PER_HEAP_SIZE) + "]");
         }
 
         return messageLength;