diff --git a/pkg/sql/tablewriter.go b/pkg/sql/tablewriter.go
index 2caa59ae78c1..84385d8243d8 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/tablewriter.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/tablewriter.go
@@ -715,8 +715,9 @@ func (tu *tableUpserter) close(ctx context.Context) {
 
 // tableDeleter handles writing kvs and forming table rows for deletes.
 type tableDeleter struct {
-	rd    sqlbase.RowDeleter
-	alloc *sqlbase.DatumAlloc
+	rd        sqlbase.RowDeleter
+	alloc     *sqlbase.DatumAlloc
+	batchSize int
 
 	// Set by init.
 	txn     *client.Txn
@@ -736,6 +737,18 @@ func (td *tableDeleter) init(txn *client.Txn, evalCtx *tree.EvalContext) error {
 func (td *tableDeleter) row(
 	ctx context.Context, values tree.Datums, traceKV bool,
 ) (tree.Datums, error) {
+	// Rudimentarily chunk the deletions to avoid memory blowup in queries such
+	// as `DELETE FROM mytable`.
+	const maxBatchSize = 10000
+	if td.batchSize >= maxBatchSize {
+		if err := td.txn.Run(ctx, td.b); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		td.b = td.txn.NewBatch()
+		td.batchSize = 0
+	}
+	td.batchSize++
+
 	return nil, td.rd.DeleteRow(ctx, td.b, values, sqlbase.CheckFKs, traceKV)
 }