diff --git a/picard.wdl b/picard.wdl
index e81cd4e3b8eda17f3286e4979d7b5dc971e4f6a2..436369d7d092feaf2abeaa9c3e3617de7da190cf 100644
--- a/picard.wdl
+++ b/picard.wdl
@@ -1038,7 +1038,7 @@ task UmiAwareMarkDuplicatesWithMateCigar {
         String outputPath
         String outputPathMetrics = outputPath + ".metrics"
         String outputPathUmiMetrics = outputPath + ".umi-metrics"
-        Int maxRecordsInRam = 3000000  # Default is 500_000 but that will lead to very small files on disk.
+        Int maxRecordsInRam = 1500000  # Default is 500_000 but that will lead to very small files on disk.
         String? assumeSortOrder
         String tempdir = "temp"
         Boolean removeDuplicates = true