diff --git a/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb b/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
index 8d148bc41..e7d7a8952 100644
--- a/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
+++ b/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ require "logstash/pipeline_reporter"
 require "logstash/output_delegator"
 
 module LogStash; class Pipeline
-  attr_reader :inputs, :filters, :outputs, :worker_threads, :events_consumed, :events_filtered, :reporter, :pipeline_id
+  attr_reader :inputs, :filters, :outputs, :worker_threads, :events_consumed, :events_filtered, :reporter, :pipeline_id, :logger
 
   DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     :default_pipeline_workers => LogStash::Config::CpuCoreStrategy.fifty_percent,
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ module LogStash; class Pipeline
     :flush_interval => 5, # in seconds
     :flush_timeout_interval => 60 # in seconds
   }
+  MAX_INFLIGHT_WARN_THRESHOLD = 10_000
 
   def initialize(config_str, settings = {})
     @pipeline_id = settings[:pipeline_id] || self.object_id
@@ -157,11 +158,16 @@ module LogStash; class Pipeline
       pipeline_workers = safe_pipeline_worker_count
       batch_size = @settings[:pipeline_batch_size]
       batch_delay = @settings[:pipeline_batch_delay]
+      max_inflight = batch_size * pipeline_workers
       @logger.info("Starting pipeline",
                    :id => self.pipeline_id,
                    :pipeline_workers => pipeline_workers,
                    :batch_size => batch_size,
-                   :batch_delay => batch_delay)
+                   :batch_delay => batch_delay,
+                   :max_inflight => max_inflight)
+      if max_inflight > MAX_INFLIGHT_WARN_THRESHOLD
+        @logger.warn "CAUTION: Recommended inflight events max exceeded! Logstash will run with up to #{max_inflight} events in memory in your current configuration. If your message sizes are large this may cause instability with the default heap size. Please consider setting a non-standard heap size, changing the batch size (currently #{batch_size}), or changing the number of pipeline workers (currently #{pipeline_workers})"
+      end
 
       pipeline_workers.times do |t|
         @worker_threads << Thread.new do
diff --git a/logstash-core/spec/logstash/pipeline_spec.rb b/logstash-core/spec/logstash/pipeline_spec.rb
index b410816ef..43926eecd 100644
--- a/logstash-core/spec/logstash/pipeline_spec.rb
+++ b/logstash-core/spec/logstash/pipeline_spec.rb
@@ -276,6 +276,36 @@ describe LogStash::Pipeline do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "max inflight warning" do
+    let(:config) { "input { dummyinput {} } output { dummyoutput {} }" }
+    let(:batch_size) { 1 }
+    let(:pipeline) { LogStash::Pipeline.new(config, :pipeline_batch_size => batch_size, :pipeline_workers => 1) }
+    let(:logger) { pipeline.logger }
+    let(:warning_prefix) { /CAUTION: Recommended inflight events max exceeded!/ }
+
+    before(:each) do
+      allow(LogStash::Plugin).to receive(:lookup).with("input", "dummyinput").and_return(DummyInput)
+      allow(LogStash::Plugin).to receive(:lookup).with("codec", "plain").and_return(DummyCodec)
+      allow(LogStash::Plugin).to receive(:lookup).with("output", "dummyoutput").and_return(DummyOutput)
+      allow(logger).to receive(:warn)
+      thread = Thread.new { pipeline.run }
+      pipeline.shutdown
+      thread.join
+    end
+
+    it "should not raise a max inflight warning if the max_inflight count isn't exceeded" do
+      expect(logger).not_to have_received(:warn).with(warning_prefix)
+    end
+
+    context "with a too large inflight count" do
+      let(:batch_size) { LogStash::Pipeline::MAX_INFLIGHT_WARN_THRESHOLD + 1 }
+
+      it "should raise a max inflight warning if the max_inflight count is exceeded" do
+        expect(logger).to have_received(:warn).with(warning_prefix)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   context "compiled filter funtions" do
 
     context "new events should propagate down the filters" do