diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/OzoneClientConfig.java b/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/OzoneClientConfig.java
index b3c774a2c22f..c2e01487067b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/OzoneClientConfig.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/OzoneClientConfig.java
@@ -54,6 +54,18 @@ public class OzoneClientConfig {
       tags = ConfigTag.CLIENT)
   private int streamBufferSize = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
 
+  @Config(key = "stream.buffer.increment",
+      defaultValue = "0B",
+      type = ConfigType.SIZE,
+      description = "Buffer (defined by ozone.client.stream.buffer.size) "
+          + "will be incremented with this steps. If zero, the full buffer "
+          + "will "
+          + "be created at once. Setting it to a variable between 0 and "
+          + "ozone.client.stream.buffer.size can reduce the memory usage for "
+          + "very small keys, but has a performance overhead.",
+      tags = ConfigTag.CLIENT)
+  private int bufferIncrement = 0;
+
   @Config(key = "stream.buffer.flush.delay",
       defaultValue = "true",
       description = "Default true, when call flush() and determine whether "
@@ -118,6 +130,9 @@ private void validate() {
     Preconditions.checkState(streamBufferFlushSize > 0);
     Preconditions.checkState(streamBufferMaxSize > 0);
 
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(bufferIncrement < streamBufferSize,
+        "Buffer increment should be smaller than the size of the stream "
+            + "buffer");
     Preconditions.checkState(streamBufferMaxSize % streamBufferFlushSize == 0,
         "expected max. buffer size (%s) to be a multiple of flush size (%s)",
         streamBufferMaxSize, streamBufferFlushSize);
@@ -209,4 +224,7 @@ public void setChecksumVerify(boolean checksumVerify) {
     this.checksumVerify = checksumVerify;
   }
 
+  public int getBufferIncrement() {
+    return bufferIncrement;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/storage/BlockOutputStream.java b/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/storage/BlockOutputStream.java
index e29bbe3663e0..272120bb6972 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/storage/BlockOutputStream.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/storage/BlockOutputStream.java
@@ -46,14 +46,13 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.common.ChecksumData;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.common.ChunkBuffer;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.common.OzoneChecksumException;
+import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.Token;
+import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.TokenIdentifier;
 
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdds.scm.storage.ContainerProtocolCalls.putBlockAsync;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdds.scm.storage.ContainerProtocolCalls.writeChunkAsync;
-
-import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.Token;
-import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.TokenIdentifier;
 import org.apache.ratis.thirdparty.com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -281,7 +280,7 @@ private void doFlushOrWatchIfNeeded() throws IOException {
 
   private void allocateNewBufferIfNeeded() {
     if (currentBufferRemaining == 0) {
-      currentBuffer = bufferPool.allocateBuffer(config.getBytesPerChecksum());
+      currentBuffer = bufferPool.allocateBuffer(config.getBufferIncrement());
       currentBufferRemaining = currentBuffer.remaining();
     }
   }