diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index b646bbe2edfd..039863f82a79 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -305,9 +305,10 @@ readonly KUBE_TEST_SERVER_BINARIES=("${KUBE_TEST_SERVER_TARGETS[@]##*/}")
 readonly KUBE_TEST_SERVER_PLATFORMS=("${KUBE_SERVER_PLATFORMS[@]:+"${KUBE_SERVER_PLATFORMS[@]}"}")
 
 # Gigabytes necessary for parallel platform builds.
-# As of January 2018, RAM usage is exceeding 30G
-# Setting to 40 to provide some headroom
-readonly KUBE_PARALLEL_BUILD_MEMORY=40
+# As of January 2018, RAM usage is exceeding 30G.
+# This variable can be overwritten at your own risk.
+# It's defaulting to 40G to provide some headroom
+readonly KUBE_PARALLEL_BUILD_MEMORY=${KUBE_PARALLEL_BUILD_MEMORY:-40}
 
 readonly KUBE_ALL_TARGETS=(
   "${KUBE_SERVER_TARGETS[@]}"