diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/ChannelOutboundBuffer.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/ChannelOutboundBuffer.java
index 06cd3a3f50..6c1139cc6b 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/ChannelOutboundBuffer.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/ChannelOutboundBuffer.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import io.netty.util.Recycler;
 import io.netty.util.Recycler.Handle;
 import io.netty.util.ReferenceCountUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
+import io.netty.util.internal.SystemPropertyUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLogger;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
 
@@ -42,7 +43,14 @@ public class ChannelOutboundBuffer {
 
     private static final InternalLogger logger = InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(ChannelOutboundBuffer.class);
 
-    protected static final int INITIAL_CAPACITY = 32;
+    protected static final int INITIAL_CAPACITY =
+            SystemPropertyUtil.getInt("io.netty.outboundBufferInitialCapacity", 4);
+
+    static {
+        if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+            logger.debug("-Dio.netty.outboundBufferInitialCapacity: {}", INITIAL_CAPACITY);
+        }
+    }
 
     private static final Recycler<ChannelOutboundBuffer> RECYCLER = new Recycler<ChannelOutboundBuffer>() {
         @Override
diff --git a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest.java b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest.java
index 7f825d4b0e..d42100ceb6 100644
--- a/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest.java
+++ b/transport/src/test/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public class NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest {
         NioSocketChannelOutboundBuffer buffer = NioSocketChannelOutboundBuffer.newInstance(channel);
         assertEquals(0, buffer.nioBufferCount());
         ByteBuffer[] buffers = buffer.nioBuffers();
-        assertEquals(32, buffers.length);
+        assertNotNull(buffers);
         for (ByteBuffer b: buffers) {
             assertNull(b);
         }
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest {
         NioSocketChannelOutboundBuffer buffer = NioSocketChannelOutboundBuffer.newInstance(channel);
         assertEquals(0, buffer.nioBufferCount());
         ByteBuffer[] buffers = buffer.nioBuffers();
-        assertEquals(32, buffers.length);
+        assertNotNull(buffers);
         for (ByteBuffer b: buffers) {
             assertNull(b);
         }
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public class NioSocketChannelOutboundBufferTest {
         }
         buffer.addFlush();
         buffers = buffer.nioBuffers();
-        assertEquals(32, buffers.length);
+        assertNotNull(buffers);
         assertEquals("Should still be 0 as not flushed yet", 1, buffer.nioBufferCount());
         for (int i = 0;  i < buffers.length; i++) {
             if (i == 0) {