diff --git a/sambamba/pileup.d b/sambamba/pileup.d
index 9acc4c90..4b5d05d4 100644
--- a/sambamba/pileup.d
+++ b/sambamba/pileup.d
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
     This file is part of Sambamba.
-    Copyright (C) 2012-2015    Artem Tarasov <lomereiter@gmail.com>
+    Copyright (C) 2012-2016    Artem Tarasov <lomereiter@gmail.com>
 
     Sambamba is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
     it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -357,6 +357,8 @@ class ChunkDispatcher(ChunkRange) {
     private FileFormat format_;
     private std.stdio.File output_file_;
     private size_t max_queue_length_;
+    private size_t max_queue_data_size_;
+    private size_t curr_queue_data_size_;
 
     private Mutex mutex_, queue_mutex_;
     private Condition queue_not_empty_condition_, queue_not_full_condition_;
@@ -368,7 +370,8 @@ class ChunkDispatcher(ChunkRange) {
     alias ElementType!(Unqual!(ChunkRange)) Chunk;
 
     this(string tmp_dir, ChunkRange chunks, MultiBamReader bam,
-         FileFormat format, std.stdio.File output_file, size_t max_queue_length) {
+         FileFormat format, std.stdio.File output_file, size_t max_queue_length,
+         size_t max_queue_data_size) {
         tmp_dir_ = tmp_dir;
         chunks_ = chunks;
         bam_ = bam;
@@ -382,6 +385,7 @@ class ChunkDispatcher(ChunkRange) {
         format_ = format;
         output_file_ = output_file;
         max_queue_length_ = max_queue_length;
+        max_queue_data_size_ = max_queue_data_size;
     }
 
     Nullable!(Tuple!(Chunk, string, size_t)) nextChunk() {
@@ -435,11 +439,24 @@ class ChunkDispatcher(ChunkRange) {
 
     void queueResult(size_t num, char[] data) {
         synchronized(queue_mutex_) {
-            while(result_queue_.length >= max_queue_length_ && num != curr_num_) {
-                stderr.writeln("[chunk waiting for dump queue] ", num, " (output is too slow: reduce threads or improve output speed)");
-                queue_not_full_condition_.wait();
+            while (true) { // wait until it's good time to put the result into the output queue
+                if (num == curr_num_) // always put if it should be written out now
+                    break;
+                if (result_queue_.empty) // always put if the queue is empty
+                    break;
+
+                if (result_queue_.length >= max_queue_length_) {
+                    stderr.writeln("[chunk waiting for dump queue] ", num, " (output is too slow: reduce threads or improve output speed)");
+                    queue_not_full_condition_.wait();
+                } else if (curr_queue_data_size_ + data.length > max_queue_data_size_) {
+                    stderr.writeln("[chunk waiting for dump queue] ", num, " (output is too large: increase buffer size)");
+                    queue_not_full_condition_.wait();
+                } else {
+                    break;
+                }
             }
             result_queue_.insert(Result(num, data));
+            curr_queue_data_size_ += data.length;
             queue_not_empty_condition_.notify();
         }
         stderr.writeln("[chunk queued for dumping] ", num);
@@ -454,6 +471,7 @@ class ChunkDispatcher(ChunkRange) {
                 }
                 result = result_queue_.front;
                 result_queue_.popFront();
+                curr_queue_data_size_ -= result.data.length;
                 ++curr_num_;
                 queue_not_full_condition_.notifyAll();
             }
@@ -538,8 +556,8 @@ void worker(Dispatcher)(Dispatcher d,
 
 auto chunkDispatcher(ChunkRange)(string tmp_dir, ChunkRange chunks,
                                  MultiBamReader bam, FileFormat format,
-                                 std.stdio.File output_file, size_t max_queue_length) {
-    return new ChunkDispatcher!ChunkRange(tmp_dir, chunks, bam, format, output_file, max_queue_length);
+                                 std.stdio.File output_file, size_t max_queue_length, size_t max_queue_data_size) {
+  return new ChunkDispatcher!ChunkRange(tmp_dir, chunks, bam, format, output_file, max_queue_length, max_queue_data_size);
 }
 
 void printUsage() {
@@ -578,6 +596,8 @@ void printUsage() {
     stderr.writeln("                    maximum number of threads to use");
     stderr.writeln("         -b, --buffer-size=64_000_000");
     stderr.writeln("                    chunk size (in bytes)");
+    stderr.writeln("         -B, --output-buffer-size=512_000_000");
+    stderr.writeln("                    output buffer size (in bytes)");
 }
 
 version(standalone) {
@@ -613,6 +633,7 @@ int pileup_main(string[] args) {
     uint n_threads = defaultPoolThreads;
     std.stdio.File output_file = stdout;
     size_t buffer_size = 64_000_000;
+    size_t output_buffer_size = 512_000_000;
 
     string tmp_dir_prefix = defaultTmpDir();
 
@@ -624,7 +645,8 @@ int pileup_main(string[] args) {
                "output-filename|o", &output_filename,
                "tmpdir",            &tmp_dir_prefix,
                "nthreads|t",        &n_threads,
-               "buffer-size|b",     &buffer_size);
+               "buffer-size|b",     &buffer_size,
+               "output-buffer-size|B", &output_buffer_size);
 
         if (own_args.length < 2) {
             printUsage();
@@ -658,7 +680,8 @@ int pileup_main(string[] args) {
         }
 
         auto chunks = reads.pileupChunks(false, buffer_size);
-        auto dispatcher = chunkDispatcher(tmp_dir, chunks, bam, bundled_args.input_format, output_file, 2 * n_threads);
+        auto dispatcher = chunkDispatcher(tmp_dir, chunks, bam, bundled_args.input_format, output_file,
+                                          2 * n_threads, output_buffer_size);
 
         auto writer = new Thread(&dispatcher.dumpResults);
         writer.start();