diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
index 5286f7b4c211a..e62f3415b4a5e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ class KryoSerializer(conf: SparkConf)
   with Serializable {
 
   private val bufferSize = conf.getInt("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.mb", 2) * 1024 * 1024
+  private val maxBufferSize = conf.getInt("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.max.mb", 64) * 1024 * 1024
   private val referenceTracking = conf.getBoolean("spark.kryo.referenceTracking", true)
   private val registrator = conf.getOption("spark.kryo.registrator")
 
-  def newKryoOutput() = new KryoOutput(bufferSize)
+  def newKryoOutput() = new KryoOutput(bufferSize, math.max(bufferSize, maxBufferSize))
 
   def newKryo(): Kryo = {
     val instantiator = new EmptyScalaKryoInstantiator
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializerSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializerSuite.scala
index cdd6b3d8feed7..5d10f10ad1f63 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializerSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializerSuite.scala
@@ -194,6 +194,36 @@ class KryoSerializerSuite extends FunSuite with SharedSparkContext {
   }
 }
 
+class KryoSerializerResizableOutputSuite extends FunSuite {
+  import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
+  import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
+  import org.apache.spark.LocalSparkContext
+  import org.apache.spark.SparkException
+
+  // trial and error showed this will not serialize with 1mb buffer
+  val x = (1 to 400000).toArray
+
+  test("kryo without resizable output buffer should fail on large array") {
+    val conf = new SparkConf(false)
+    conf.set("spark.serializer", "org.apache.spark.serializer.KryoSerializer")
+    conf.set("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.mb", "1")
+    conf.set("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.max.mb", "1")
+    val sc = new SparkContext("local", "test", conf)
+    intercept[SparkException](sc.parallelize(x).collect)
+    LocalSparkContext.stop(sc)
+  }
+
+  test("kryo with resizable output buffer should succeed on large array") {
+    val conf = new SparkConf(false)
+    conf.set("spark.serializer", "org.apache.spark.serializer.KryoSerializer")
+    conf.set("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.mb", "1")
+    conf.set("spark.kryoserializer.buffer.max.mb", "2")
+    val sc = new SparkContext("local", "test", conf)
+    assert(sc.parallelize(x).collect === x)
+    LocalSparkContext.stop(sc)
+  }
+}
+
 object KryoTest {
   case class CaseClass(i: Int, s: String) {}
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index b84104cc7e653..c7949c0a115b9 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -385,10 +385,17 @@ Apart from these, the following properties are also available, and may be useful
   <td><code>spark.kryoserializer.buffer.mb</code></td>
   <td>2</td>
   <td>
-    Maximum object size to allow within Kryo (the library needs to create a buffer at least as
-    large as the largest single object you'll serialize). Increase this if you get a "buffer limit
-    exceeded" exception inside Kryo. Note that there will be one buffer <i>per core</i> on each
-    worker.
+    Object size to allow within Kryo using default (pre-allocated) buffers (the library needs to create
+    a buffer at least as large as the largest single object you'll serialize). Note that there will be 
+    one buffer <i>per core</i> on each worker.
+  </td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td><code>spark.kryoserializer.buffer.max.mb</code></td>
+  <td>64</td>
+  <td>
+    Maximum object size to allow within Kryo by resizing buffers as needed (which has some overhead).
+    Increase this if you get a "buffer limit exceeded" exception inside Kryo.
   </td>
 </tr>
 </table>