diff --git a/pubsub/topic.go b/pubsub/topic.go
index d1fea115168c..32aa0f58e70d 100644
--- a/pubsub/topic.go
+++ b/pubsub/topic.go
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ type PublishSettings struct {
 
 	// The maximum time that the client will attempt to publish a bundle of messages.
 	Timeout time.Duration
+
+	// The maximum number of bytes that the Bundler will keep in memory before
+	// returning ErrOverflow.
+	BufferedByteLimit int
 }
 
 // DefaultPublishSettings holds the default values for topics' PublishSettings.
@@ -90,6 +94,10 @@ var DefaultPublishSettings = PublishSettings{
 	CountThreshold: 100,
 	ByteThreshold:  1e6,
 	Timeout:        60 * time.Second,
+	// By default, limit the bundler to 10 times the max message size. The number 10 is
+	// chosen as a reasonable amount of messages in the worst case whilst still
+	// capping the number to a low enough value to not OOM users.
+	BufferedByteLimit: 10 * MaxPublishRequestBytes,
 }
 
 // CreateTopic creates a new topic.
@@ -331,9 +339,6 @@ func (t *Topic) Publish(ctx context.Context, msg *Message) *PublishResult {
 
 	// TODO(jba) [from bcmills] consider using a shared channel per bundle
 	// (requires Bundler API changes; would reduce allocations)
-	// The call to Add should never return an error because the bundler's
-	// BufferedByteLimit is set to maxInt; we do not perform any flow
-	// control in the client.
 	err := t.bundler.Add(&bundledMessage{msg, r}, msg.size)
 	if err != nil {
 		r.set("", err)
@@ -426,10 +431,8 @@ func (t *Topic) initBundler() {
 	}
 	t.bundler.BundleByteThreshold = t.PublishSettings.ByteThreshold
 
-	// Limit the bundler to 10 times the max message size. The number 10 is
-	// chosen as a reasonable amount of messages in the worst case whilst still
-	// capping the number to a low enough value to not OOM users.
-	t.bundler.BufferedByteLimit = 10 * MaxPublishRequestBytes
+	t.bundler.BufferedByteLimit = t.PublishSettings.BufferedByteLimit
+
 	t.bundler.BundleByteLimit = MaxPublishRequestBytes
 	// Unless overridden, allow many goroutines per CPU to call the Publish RPC concurrently.
 	// The default value was determined via extensive load testing (see the loadtest subdirectory).
diff --git a/pubsub/topic_test.go b/pubsub/topic_test.go
index 752f4811627f..43d3d3e728a3 100644
--- a/pubsub/topic_test.go
+++ b/pubsub/topic_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package pubsub
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"cloud.google.com/go/internal/testutil"
 	"google.golang.org/api/iterator"
 	"google.golang.org/api/option"
+	"google.golang.org/api/support/bundler"
 	pubsubpb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/pubsub/v1"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
@@ -137,6 +139,29 @@ func TestPublishTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestPublishBufferedByteLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	client, srv := newFake(t)
+	defer client.Close()
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	topic := mustCreateTopic(t, client, "topic-small-buffered-byte-limit")
+	defer topic.Stop()
+
+	// Test setting BufferedByteLimit to small number of bytes that should fail.
+	topic.PublishSettings.BufferedByteLimit = 100
+
+	const messageSizeBytes = 1000
+
+	msg := &Message{Data: bytes.Repeat([]byte{'A'}, int(messageSizeBytes))}
+	res := topic.Publish(ctx, msg)
+
+	_, err := res.Get(ctx)
+	if err != bundler.ErrOverflow {
+		t.Errorf("got %v, want ErrOverflow", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestUpdateTopic(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	client, srv := newFake(t)