diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index a066a6f..f93d15a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         julia-version:
-          - '~1.7'
           - '~1.8'
           - '~1.9'
           - 'nightly'
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 9cbcca0..6378630 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ DataStructures = "864edb3b-99cc-5e75-8d2d-829cb0a9cfe8"
 Distributed = "8ba89e20-285c-5b6f-9357-94700520ee1b"
 Mmap = "a63ad114-7e13-5084-954f-fe012c677804"
 Random = "9a3f8284-a2c9-5f02-9a11-845980a1fd5c"
+ScopedValues = "7e506255-f358-4e82-b7e4-beb19740aa63"
 Serialization = "9e88b42a-f829-5b0c-bbe9-9e923198166b"
 Sockets = "6462fe0b-24de-5631-8697-dd941f90decc"
 
 [compat]
 DataStructures = "0.18"
-julia = "1.7"
+ScopedValues = "1"
+julia = "1.8"
 
 [extras]
 Distributed = "8ba89e20-285c-5b6f-9357-94700520ee1b"
diff --git a/src/MemPool.jl b/src/MemPool.jl
index 223c8e0..65dd3bc 100644
--- a/src/MemPool.jl
+++ b/src/MemPool.jl
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using Serialization, Sockets, Random
 import Serialization: serialize, deserialize
 export DRef, FileRef, poolset, poolget, mmwrite, mmread, cleanup
 import .Threads: ReentrantLock
+using ScopedValues
 
 ## Wrapping-unwrapping of payloads:
 
@@ -117,6 +118,10 @@ function __init__()
     DISKCACHE_CONFIG[] = diskcache_config = DiskCacheConfig()
     setup_global_device!(diskcache_config)
 
+    if haskey(ENV, "JULIA_MEMPOOL_MEMORY_RESERVED")
+        MEM_RESERVED[] = parse(UInt, ENV["JULIA_MEMPOOL_MEMORY_RESERVED"])
+    end
+
     # Ensure we cleanup all references
     atexit(exit_hook)
 end
diff --git a/src/datastore.jl b/src/datastore.jl
index 89ef44a..99dd0ac 100644
--- a/src/datastore.jl
+++ b/src/datastore.jl
@@ -203,15 +203,18 @@ end
 mutable struct SendQueue
     queue::Channel{Any}
     @atomic task::Union{Task,Nothing}
+    processing::Bool
 end
-const SEND_QUEUE = SendQueue(Channel(typemax(Int)), nothing)
+const SEND_QUEUE = SendQueue(Channel(typemax(Int)), nothing, false)
 function _enqueue_work(f, args...; gc_context=false)
     if SEND_QUEUE.task === nothing
         task = Task() do
             while true
                 try
                     work, _args = take!(SEND_QUEUE.queue)
+                    SEND_QUEUE.processing = true
                     work(_args...)
+                    SEND_QUEUE.processing = false
                 catch err
                     exit_flag[] && continue
                     err isa ProcessExitedException && continue # TODO: Remove proc from counters
@@ -348,12 +351,73 @@ isondisk(id::Int) =
 isinmemory(x::DRef) = isinmemory(x.id)
 isondisk(x::DRef) = isondisk(x.id)
 
+const MEM_RESERVED = Ref{UInt}(512 * (1024^2)) # Reserve 512MB of RAM for OS
+const MEM_RESERVE_LOCK = Threads.ReentrantLock()
+
+"""
+When called, ensures that at least `MEM_RESERVED[] + size` bytes are available
+to the OS. If there is not enough memory available, then a variety of calls to
+the GC are performed to free up memory until either the reservation limit is
+satisfied, or `max_sweeps` number of cycles have elapsed.
+"""
+function ensure_memory_reserved(size::Integer=0; max_sweeps::Integer=5)
+    sat_sub(x::T, y::T) where T = x < y ? zero(T) : x-y
+
+    # Check whether the OS is running tight on memory
+    sweep_ctr = 0
+    while true
+        with(QUERY_MEM_OVERRIDE => true) do
+            Int(storage_available(CPURAMResource())) - size < MEM_RESERVED[]
+        end || break
+
+        # We need more memory! Let's encourage the GC to clear some memory...
+        sweep_start = time_ns()
+        mem_used = with(QUERY_MEM_OVERRIDE => true) do
+            storage_utilized(CPURAMResource())
+        end
+        if sweep_ctr == 0
+            @debug "Not enough memory to continue! Sweeping up unused memory..."
+            GC.gc(false)
+        elseif sweep_ctr == 1
+            GC.gc(true)
+        else
+            @everywhere GC.gc(true)
+        end
+
+        # Let finalizers run
+        yield()
+
+        # Wait for send queue to clear
+        while SEND_QUEUE.processing
+            yield()
+        end
+
+        with(QUERY_MEM_OVERRIDE => true) do
+            mem_freed = sat_sub(mem_used, storage_utilized(CPURAMResource()))
+            @debug "Freed $(Base.format_bytes(mem_freed)) bytes, available: $(Base.format_bytes(storage_available(CPURAMResource())))"
+        end
+
+        sweep_ctr += 1
+        if sweep_ctr == max_sweeps
+            @debug "Made too many sweeps, bailing out..."
+            break
+        end
+    end
+    if sweep_ctr > 0
+        @debug "Swept for $sweep_ctr cycles"
+    end
+end
+
 function poolset(@nospecialize(x), pid=myid(); size=approx_size(x),
                  retain=false, restore=false,
                  device=GLOBAL_DEVICE[], leaf_device=initial_leaf_device(device),
                  tag=nothing, leaf_tag=Tag(),
                  destructor=nothing)
     if pid == myid()
+        if !restore
+            @lock MEM_RESERVE_LOCK ensure_memory_reserved(size)
+        end
+
         id = atomic_add!(id_counter, 1)
         sstate = if !restore
             StorageState(Some{Any}(x),
diff --git a/src/storage.jl b/src/storage.jl
index 03d8061..42885b3 100644
--- a/src/storage.jl
+++ b/src/storage.jl
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ QueriedMemInfo() = QueriedMemInfo(UInt64(0), UInt64(0))
 const QUERY_MEM_AVAILABLE = Ref(QueriedMemInfo())
 const QUERY_MEM_CAPACITY = Ref(QueriedMemInfo())
 const QUERY_MEM_PERIOD = 10 * 1000^2 # 10ms
+const QUERY_MEM_OVERRIDE = ScopedValue(false)
 function _query_mem_periodically(kind::Symbol)
     if !(kind in (:available, :capacity))
         throw(ArgumentError("Invalid memory query kind: $kind"))
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ function _query_mem_periodically(kind::Symbol)
     end
     mem_info = mem_bin[]
     now_ns = time_ns()
-    if mem_info.last_ns < now_ns - QUERY_MEM_PERIOD
+    if QUERY_MEM_OVERRIDE[] || mem_info.last_ns < now_ns - QUERY_MEM_PERIOD
         if kind == :available
             new_mem_info = QueriedMemInfo(free_memory(), now_ns)
         elseif kind == :capacity