diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index ac49ef440..b31c855f1 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 * The `skip_filters` parameter to SstFileWriter is now considered deprecated. Use `BlockBasedTableOptions::filter_policy` to control generation of filters.
 * ClockCache is known to have bugs that could lead to crash or corruption, so should not be used until fixed. Use NewLRUCache instead.
 
+### Default Option Change
+* When options.arena_block_size <= 0 (default value 0), still use writer_buffer_size / 8 but cap to 1MB. Too large alloation size might not be friendly to allocator and might cause performance issues in extreme cases.
+
 ## 6.20.0 (04/16/2021)
 ### Behavior Changes
 * `ColumnFamilyOptions::sample_for_compression` now takes effect for creation of all block-based tables. Previously it only took effect for block-based tables created by flush.
diff --git a/db/column_family.cc b/db/column_family.cc
index 356c164af..d8f483908 100644
--- a/db/column_family.cc
+++ b/db/column_family.cc
@@ -214,7 +214,8 @@ ColumnFamilyOptions SanitizeOptions(const ImmutableDBOptions& db_options,
   // if user sets arena_block_size, we trust user to use this value. Otherwise,
   // calculate a proper value from writer_buffer_size;
   if (result.arena_block_size <= 0) {
-    result.arena_block_size = result.write_buffer_size / 8;
+    result.arena_block_size =
+        std::min(size_t{1024 * 1024}, result.write_buffer_size / 8);
 
     // Align up to 4k
     const size_t align = 4 * 1024;
diff --git a/db/column_family_test.cc b/db/column_family_test.cc
index 28c572168..09d055184 100644
--- a/db/column_family_test.cc
+++ b/db/column_family_test.cc
@@ -2286,6 +2286,8 @@ TEST_P(ColumnFamilyTest, SanitizeOptions) {
               // not a multiple of 4k, round up 4k
               expected_arena_block_size += 4 * 1024;
             }
+            expected_arena_block_size =
+                std::min(size_t{1024 * 1024}, expected_arena_block_size);
             ASSERT_EQ(expected_arena_block_size, result.arena_block_size);
           }
         }
diff --git a/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h b/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
index 84a3061b0..c682003a4 100644
--- a/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
+++ b/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
@@ -390,7 +390,8 @@ struct AdvancedColumnFamilyOptions {
 
   // size of one block in arena memory allocation.
   // If <= 0, a proper value is automatically calculated (usually 1/8 of
-  // writer_buffer_size, rounded up to a multiple of 4KB).
+  // writer_buffer_size, rounded up to a multiple of 4KB, or 1MB which ever is
+  // smaller).
   //
   // There are two additional restriction of the specified size:
   // (1) size should be in the range of [4096, 2 << 30] and