diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/alignment/BamView.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/alignment/BamView.java
index d2aa1adc8c0bcc6c64ae7ec90224da59b7cc4cc5..c5b4e5483d54a32ab5bea63738a30851e68da977 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/alignment/BamView.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/alignment/BamView.java
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ public class BamView extends JPanel
       // Use Picard to index the file
       // requires reads to be sorted by coordinate
       new BuildBamIndex().instanceMain(
-          new String[]{ "I="+bam, "O="+bamIndexFile.getAbsolutePath() });  
+          new String[]{ "I="+bam, "O="+bamIndexFile.getAbsolutePath(), "MAX_RECORDS_IN_RAM=50000" });  
     }
     
     final SAMFileReader samFileReader;