diff --git a/src/configuration.cc b/src/configuration.cc
index 041cbbf5..2d41cdd1 100644
--- a/src/configuration.cc
+++ b/src/configuration.cc
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ constexpr const char kMetadataIngestionDefaultEndpointFormat[] =
     "/resourceMetadata:batchUpdate";
 constexpr const int kMetadataIngestionDefaultRequestSizeLimitBytes =
     8*1024*1024;
+constexpr const int kMetadataIngestionDefaultRequestSizeLimitCount = 1000;
 constexpr const char kMetadataIngestionDefaultRawContentVersion[] = "0.1";
 constexpr const int kInstanceUpdaterDefaultIntervalSeconds = 60*60;
 constexpr const char kDefaultInstanceResourceType[] =
@@ -95,6 +96,8 @@ Configuration::Configuration()
           kMetadataIngestionDefaultEndpointFormat),
       metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_bytes_(
           kMetadataIngestionDefaultRequestSizeLimitBytes),
+      metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_count_(
+          kMetadataIngestionDefaultRequestSizeLimitCount),
       metadata_ingestion_raw_content_version_(
           kMetadataIngestionDefaultRawContentVersion),
       instance_updater_interval_seconds_(
@@ -233,6 +236,9 @@ void Configuration::ParseConfiguration(std::istream& input) {
   metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_bytes_ =
       config["MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitBytes"].as<int>(
           metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_bytes_);
+  metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_count_ =
+      config["MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount"].as<int>(
+          metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_count_);
   metadata_ingestion_raw_content_version_ =
       config["MetadataIngestionRawContentVersion"].as<std::string>(
           metadata_ingestion_raw_content_version_);
diff --git a/src/configuration.h b/src/configuration.h
index 4b4cb98c..b8b97087 100644
--- a/src/configuration.h
+++ b/src/configuration.h
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ class Configuration {
     std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
     return metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_bytes_;
   }
+  int MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount() const {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
+    return metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_count_;
+  }
   const std::string& MetadataIngestionRawContentVersion() const {
     std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
     return metadata_ingestion_raw_content_version_;
@@ -183,6 +187,7 @@ class Configuration {
   std::string metadata_reporter_user_agent_;
   std::string metadata_ingestion_endpoint_format_;
   int metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_bytes_;
+  int metadata_ingestion_request_size_limit_count_;
   std::string metadata_ingestion_raw_content_version_;
   int instance_updater_interval_seconds_;
   std::string instance_resource_type_;
diff --git a/src/reporter.cc b/src/reporter.cc
index 767a39b6..a0072d69 100644
--- a/src/reporter.cc
+++ b/src/reporter.cc
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ void MetadataReporter::SendMetadata(
   const int empty_size = empty_request->ToString().size();
 
   const int limit_bytes = config_.MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitBytes();
+  const int limit_count = config_.MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount();
   int total_size = empty_size;
 
   std::vector<json::value> entries;
@@ -165,7 +166,7 @@ void MetadataReporter::SendMetadata(
                  << "B, dropping; entry " << *metadata_entry;
       continue;
     }
-    if (total_size + size > limit_bytes) {
+    if (entries.size() == limit_count || total_size + size > limit_bytes) {
       SendMetadataRequest(std::move(entries), endpoint, auth_header, user_agent,
                           config_.VerboseLogging());
       entries.clear();
diff --git a/test/configuration_unittest.cc b/test/configuration_unittest.cc
index 4e0cf574..f2730964 100644
--- a/test/configuration_unittest.cc
+++ b/test/configuration_unittest.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ void VerifyDefaultConfig(const Configuration& config) {
             "v1beta2/projects/{{project_id}}/resourceMetadata:batchUpdate",
             config.MetadataIngestionEndpointFormat());
   EXPECT_EQ(8*1024*1024, config.MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitBytes());
+  EXPECT_EQ(1000, config.MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount());
   EXPECT_EQ("0.1", config.MetadataIngestionRawContentVersion());
   EXPECT_EQ(60*60, config.InstanceUpdaterIntervalSeconds());
   EXPECT_EQ("", config.InstanceResourceType());
@@ -56,12 +57,14 @@ TEST(ConfigurationTest, PopulatedConfig) {
       "MetadataReporterPurgeDeleted: true\n"
       "MetadataReporterUserAgent: \"foobar/foobaz\"\n"
       "HealthCheckFile: /a/b/c\n"
+      "MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount: 500\n"
   ));
   EXPECT_EQ("TestProjectId", config.ProjectId());
   EXPECT_EQ(13, config.MetadataApiNumThreads());
   EXPECT_EQ(true, config.MetadataReporterPurgeDeleted());
   EXPECT_EQ("foobar/foobaz", config.MetadataReporterUserAgent());
   EXPECT_EQ("/a/b/c", config.HealthCheckFile());
+  EXPECT_EQ(500, config.MetadataIngestionRequestSizeLimitCount());
 }
 
 TEST(ConfigurationTest, CommentSkipped) {