diff --git a/java/droiddoc.go b/java/droiddoc.go
index f62f5f9..a10ec81 100644
--- a/java/droiddoc.go
+++ b/java/droiddoc.go
@@ -1456,6 +1456,8 @@
 
 func metalavaCmd(ctx android.ModuleContext, rule *android.RuleBuilder, javaVersion javaVersion, srcs android.Paths,
 	srcJarList android.Path, bootclasspath, classpath classpath, sourcepaths android.Paths) *android.RuleBuilderCommand {
+	// Metalava uses lots of memory, restrict the number of metalava jobs that can run in parallel.
+	rule.HighMem()
 	cmd := rule.Command().BuiltTool(ctx, "metalava").
 		Flag(config.JavacVmFlags).
 		FlagWithArg("-encoding ", "UTF-8").