diff --git a/include/rocksdb/write_buffer_manager.h b/include/rocksdb/write_buffer_manager.h
index 63f9add9f..185e8baf9 100644
--- a/include/rocksdb/write_buffer_manager.h
+++ b/include/rocksdb/write_buffer_manager.h
@@ -43,11 +43,19 @@ class WriteBufferManager {
 
   // Should only be called from write thread
   bool ShouldFlush() const {
-    // Flush if memory usage hits a hard limit, or total size that hasn't been
-    // scheduled to free hits a soft limit, which is 7/8 of the hard limit.
-    return enabled() &&
-           (memory_usage() >= buffer_size() ||
-            mutable_memtable_memory_usage() >= buffer_size() / 8 * 7);
+    if (enabled()) {
+      if (mutable_memtable_memory_usage() > mutable_limit_) {
+        return true;
+      }
+      if (memory_usage() >= buffer_size_ &&
+          mutable_memtable_memory_usage() >= buffer_size_ / 2) {
+        // If the memory exceeds the buffer size, we trigger more aggressive
+        // flush. But if already more than half memory is being flushed,
+        // triggering more flush may not help. We will hold it instead.
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
   }
 
   void ReserveMem(size_t mem) {
@@ -77,6 +85,7 @@ class WriteBufferManager {
 
  private:
   const size_t buffer_size_;
+  const size_t mutable_limit_;
   std::atomic<size_t> memory_used_;
   // Memory that hasn't been scheduled to free.
   std::atomic<size_t> memory_active_;
diff --git a/memtable/write_buffer_manager.cc b/memtable/write_buffer_manager.cc
index bb61c85d2..c00d842ab 100644
--- a/memtable/write_buffer_manager.cc
+++ b/memtable/write_buffer_manager.cc
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ struct WriteBufferManager::CacheRep {};
 WriteBufferManager::WriteBufferManager(size_t _buffer_size,
                                        std::shared_ptr<Cache> cache)
     : buffer_size_(_buffer_size),
+      mutable_limit_(buffer_size_ * 7 / 8),
       memory_used_(0),
       memory_active_(0),
       cache_rep_(nullptr) {
diff --git a/memtable/write_buffer_manager_test.cc b/memtable/write_buffer_manager_test.cc
index 64ec840b6..e0cdff2dd 100644
--- a/memtable/write_buffer_manager_test.cc
+++ b/memtable/write_buffer_manager_test.cc
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class WriteBufferManagerTest : public testing::Test {};
 
 #ifndef ROCKSDB_LITE
 TEST_F(WriteBufferManagerTest, ShouldFlush) {
-  // A write buffer manager of size 50MB
+  // A write buffer manager of size 10MB
   std::unique_ptr<WriteBufferManager> wbf(
       new WriteBufferManager(10 * 1024 * 1024));
 
@@ -27,16 +27,28 @@ TEST_F(WriteBufferManagerTest, ShouldFlush) {
   // 90% of the hard limit will hit the condition
   wbf->ReserveMem(1 * 1024 * 1024);
   ASSERT_TRUE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
-  // Scheduling for feeing will release the condition
+  // Scheduling for freeing will release the condition
   wbf->ScheduleFreeMem(1 * 1024 * 1024);
   ASSERT_FALSE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
 
   wbf->ReserveMem(2 * 1024 * 1024);
   ASSERT_TRUE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
-  wbf->ScheduleFreeMem(5 * 1024 * 1024);
-  // hard limit still hit
+
+  wbf->ScheduleFreeMem(4 * 1024 * 1024);
+  // 11MB total, 6MB mutable. hard limit still hit
   ASSERT_TRUE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
-  wbf->FreeMem(10 * 1024 * 1024);
+
+  wbf->ScheduleFreeMem(2 * 1024 * 1024);
+  // 11MB total, 4MB mutable. hard limit stills but won't flush because more
+  // than half data is already being flushed.
+  ASSERT_FALSE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
+
+  wbf->ReserveMem(4 * 1024 * 1024);
+  // 15 MB total, 8MB mutable.
+  ASSERT_TRUE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
+
+  wbf->FreeMem(7 * 1024 * 1024);
+  // 9MB total, 8MB mutable.
   ASSERT_FALSE(wbf->ShouldFlush());
 }