diff --git a/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml b/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
index 8b7640e58..69295fafc 100644
--- a/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
@@ -602,6 +602,19 @@ flag, e.g. <literal>--option gc-keep-outputs false</literal>.</para>
   </varlistentry>
 
 
+  <varlistentry xml:id="conf-sandbox-dev-shm-size"><term><literal>sandbox-dev-shm-size</literal></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>This option determines the maximum size of the
+    <literal>tmpfs</literal> filesystem mounted on
+    <filename>/dev/shm</filename> in Linux sandboxes. For the format,
+    see the description of the <option>size</option> option of
+    <literal>tmpfs</literal> in
+    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>. The
+    default is <literal>50%</literal>.</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+
 </variablelist>
 
 </para>
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index 476453412..e7054a05a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -2346,7 +2346,8 @@ void DerivationGoal::runChild()
 
             /* Mount a new tmpfs on /dev/shm to ensure that whatever
                the builder puts in /dev/shm is cleaned up automatically. */
-            if (pathExists("/dev/shm") && mount("none", (chrootRootDir + "/dev/shm").c_str(), "tmpfs", 0, 0) == -1)
+            if (pathExists("/dev/shm") && mount("none", (chrootRootDir + "/dev/shm").c_str(), "tmpfs", 0,
+                    fmt("size=%s", settings.get("sandbox-dev-shm-size", std::string("50%"))).c_str()) == -1)
                 throw SysError("mounting /dev/shm");
 
             /* Mount a new devpts on /dev/pts.  Note that this