diff --git a/bin/kafka-run-class.sh b/bin/kafka-run-class.sh
index b689b2eea58d5..6f862b6763871 100755
--- a/bin/kafka-run-class.sh
+++ b/bin/kafka-run-class.sh
@@ -154,6 +154,10 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
       DAEMON_MODE="true"
       shift
       ;;
+    --soft-file-limit)
+      ulimit -n $2
+      shift 2
+      ;;
     *)
       break
       ;;
diff --git a/bin/kafka-server-start.sh b/bin/kafka-server-start.sh
index dc01d46a13f16..79bb3da4528c3 100755
--- a/bin/kafka-server-start.sh
+++ b/bin/kafka-server-start.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 if [ $# -lt 1 ];
 then
-	echo "USAGE: $0 [-daemon] server.properties [--override property=value]*"
+	echo "USAGE: $0 [-daemon] [--soft-file-limit number] server.properties [--override property=value]*"
 	exit 1
 fi
 base_dir=$(dirname $0)
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ case $COMMAND in
     EXTRA_ARGS="-daemon "$EXTRA_ARGS
     shift
     ;;
+  --soft-file-limit)
+    EXTRA_ARGS="--soft-file-limit ${2} "$EXTRA_ARGS
+    shift 2
+    ;;
   *)
     ;;
 esac