diff --git a/puppet/files/puppet-check b/puppet/files/puppet-check
index fe1db2b..813b17d 100755
--- a/puppet/files/puppet-check
+++ b/puppet/files/puppet-check
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@ end
 # check that process is still alive
 begin
     Process.kill(0, pid)
+
+    # check memory usage and restart if over 256M
+    rss = `ps -o rss= -p '#{pid}'`.to_i / 1024
+    if rss > 256
+        printf("puppetd memory usage too high (%d MB), on host '%s' sending HUP\n",
+               rss, Socket.gethostname)
+        Process.kill("HUP", pid)
+    end
+
     exit
 rescue Errno::ESRCH
     nil