diff --git a/buildman/manager/executor.py b/buildman/manager/executor.py
index 2ef5d04c9..a4de058ef 100644
--- a/buildman/manager/executor.py
+++ b/buildman/manager/executor.py
@@ -323,18 +323,18 @@ class KubernetesExecutor(BuilderExecutor):
     return '%s/%s' % (self._jobs_path(), build_uuid)
 
   def _job_resource(self, build_uuid, user_data, coreos_channel='stable'):
-    vm_memory_limit = self.executor_config.get('VM_MEMORY_LIMIT', '8G')
+    vm_memory_limit = self.executor_config.get('VM_MEMORY_LIMIT', '4G')
     vm_volume_size = self.executor_config.get('VOLUME_SIZE', '32G')
 
     # Max values for this container
     container_limits = {
-      'memory' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_MEMORY_LIMIT', '8Gi'),
+      'memory' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_MEMORY_LIMIT', '4Gi'),
       'cpu' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_CPU_LIMIT', "2"),
     }
 
     # Minimum acceptable free resources for this container to "fit" in a quota
     container_requests = {
-      'memory' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_MEMORY_REQUEST', '8Gi'),
+      'memory' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_MEMORY_REQUEST', '4Gi'),
       'cpu' : self.executor_config.get('CONTAINER_CPU_REQUEST', "2"),
     }
 
diff --git a/buildman/qemu-coreos/start.sh b/buildman/qemu-coreos/start.sh
index f96acfa02..ccb1f63e1 100644
--- a/buildman/qemu-coreos/start.sh
+++ b/buildman/qemu-coreos/start.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 VM_VOLUME_SIZE="${VM_VOLUME_SIZE:-32G}"
-VM_MEMORY="${VM_MEMORY:-8G}"
+VM_MEMORY="${VM_MEMORY:-4G}"
 
 set -e
 set -x