diff --git a/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-env b/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-env
index dbd876cac9a3..1aa7d7596b18 100755
--- a/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-env
+++ b/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-env
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@ if [ -z "$ERL_MAX_PORTS" ]; then
     export ERL_MAX_PORTS=65536
 fi
 
+if [ -z "$RABBITMQ_MAX_OPEN_FILES" ]; then
+    export RABBITMQ_MAX_OPEN_FILES=65535
+fi
+
 [ -n "$ERL_EPMD_PORT" ] && export ERL_EPMD_PORT
 [ -n "$ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS" ] && export ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS
 
diff --git a/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-server b/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-server
index 07f5c04daedf..7d0165898a32 100755
--- a/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-server
+++ b/deps/rabbit/scripts/rabbitmq-server
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ start_rabbitmq_server() {
 
     _rmq_env_set_erl_libs
 
+    if [ -n "$RABBITMQ_MAX_OPEN_FILES" ]; then
+        ulimit -n ${RABBITMQ_MAX_OPEN_FILES} || true
+    fi
+
     RABBITMQ_START_RABBIT=
     [ "x" = "x$RABBITMQ_ALLOW_INPUT" ] && RABBITMQ_START_RABBIT=" -noinput"
     if test -z "$RABBITMQ_NODE_ONLY"; then