diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
index c66f6f2..6de4202 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ spec:
         args:
           - >-
             {{- if $zk:=.Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
+            export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             until bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ spec:
           - >
             bin/apply-config-from-env.py conf/bookkeeper.conf;
             {{- include "pulsar.toolset.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 12 }}
+            export BOOKIE_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             if bin/bookkeeper shell whatisinstanceid; then
                 echo "bookkeeper cluster already initialized";
             else
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
index ddbc9a2..199cc8c 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ spec:
         args:
           - >-
             {{- include "pulsar.broker.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 12 }}
+            export BOOKIE_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             {{- if .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStore }}
             until bin/bookkeeper org.apache.zookeeper.ZooKeeperMain -server {{ template "pulsar.configurationStore.connect" . }} get {{ .Values.configurationStoreMetadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
             {{- end }}
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@ spec:
           - >
             {{- include "pulsar.broker.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 12 }}
             bin/apply-config-from-env.py conf/bookkeeper.conf;
+            export BOOKIE_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             until bin/bookkeeper shell whatisinstanceid; do
               echo "bookkeeper cluster is not initialized yet. backoff for 3 seconds ...";
               sleep 3;
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
index ccbb21d..e162134 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ spec:
         command: ["sh", "-c"]
         args:
           - >-
+            export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             {{- if $zk:=.Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
             until bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
index 0c71824..40fa032 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ spec:
         args:
           - >-
             {{- if $zk:=.Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
+            export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             until bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
@@ -75,6 +76,9 @@ spec:
         args:
         - >
           bin/apply-config-from-env.py conf/bookkeeper.conf;
+          echo Default BOOKIE_MEM settings are set very high, which can cause the init container to fail.;
+          echo Setting the memory to a lower value to avoid OOM as operations below are not memory intensive.;
+          export BOOKIE_MEM="-Xmx128M";
           {{- include "pulsar.toolset.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 10 }}
           until bin/bookkeeper shell whatisinstanceid; do
             sleep 3;
@@ -96,6 +100,7 @@ spec:
         args:
           - |
             {{- include "pulsar.toolset.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 12 }}
+            export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             bin/pulsar initialize-cluster-metadata \
               --cluster {{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }} \
               --zookeeper {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }}{{ .Values.metadataPrefix }} \