diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+## 2.4.0
+
+ * Add `writeBufferSize` (`write_buffer_size`) and `dbWriteBufferSize`
+   (`db_write_buffer_size`) to `Config`, to bound memtable memory.
+
 ## 2.3.1
 
  * Do not call next/prev on invalid iterators (fixes assertion failure).
diff --git a/rocksdb-haskell-jprupp.cabal b/rocksdb-haskell-jprupp.cabal
--- a/rocksdb-haskell-jprupp.cabal
+++ b/rocksdb-haskell-jprupp.cabal
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 -- see: https://github.com/sol/hpack
 
 name:           rocksdb-haskell-jprupp
-version:        2.3.1
+version:        2.4.0
 synopsis:       Haskell bindings for RocksDB
 description:    See README at <https://github.com/jprupp/rocksdb-haskell#readme>
 category:       Database, FFI
diff --git a/src/Database/RocksDB/C.hs b/src/Database/RocksDB/C.hs
--- a/src/Database/RocksDB/C.hs
+++ b/src/Database/RocksDB/C.hs
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@
     , c_rocksdb_options_set_error_if_exists
     , c_rocksdb_options_set_paranoid_checks
     , c_rocksdb_options_set_max_open_files
+    , c_rocksdb_options_set_write_buffer_size
+    , c_rocksdb_options_set_db_write_buffer_size
     , c_rocksdb_options_set_prefix_extractor
     , c_rocksdb_options_set_block_based_table_factory
     , c_rocksdb_block_based_options_create
@@ -370,6 +372,12 @@
 
 foreign import ccall safe "rocksdb/c.h rocksdb_options_set_max_open_files"
   c_rocksdb_options_set_max_open_files :: Options -> CInt -> IO ()
+
+foreign import ccall safe "rocksdb/c.h rocksdb_options_set_write_buffer_size"
+  c_rocksdb_options_set_write_buffer_size :: Options -> CSize -> IO ()
+
+foreign import ccall safe "rocksdb/c.h rocksdb_options_set_db_write_buffer_size"
+  c_rocksdb_options_set_db_write_buffer_size :: Options -> CSize -> IO ()
 
 foreign import ccall safe "rocksdb/c.h rocksdb_options_set_prefix_extractor"
   c_rocksdb_options_set_prefix_extractor :: Options
diff --git a/src/Database/RocksDB/Internal.hs b/src/Database/RocksDB/Internal.hs
--- a/src/Database/RocksDB/Internal.hs
+++ b/src/Database/RocksDB/Internal.hs
@@ -51,6 +51,13 @@
                      , maxFiles        :: !(Maybe Int)
                      , prefixLength    :: !(Maybe Int)
                      , bloomFilter     :: !Bool
+                     , writeBufferSize :: !(Maybe Int)
+                       -- ^ bytes per memtable (RocksDB default 64 MiB);
+                       -- per column family
+                     , dbWriteBufferSize :: !(Maybe Int)
+                       -- ^ bytes for all memtables across all column
+                       -- families (RocksDB default unlimited); database-wide,
+                       -- ignored in column family configs
                      } deriving (Eq, Show)
 
 instance Default Config where
@@ -60,6 +67,8 @@
                  , maxFiles         = Nothing
                  , prefixLength     = Nothing
                  , bloomFilter      = False
+                 , writeBufferSize  = Nothing
+                 , dbWriteBufferSize = Nothing
                  }
 
 withOptions :: Config -> (Options -> IO a) -> IO a
@@ -74,6 +83,10 @@
         c_rocksdb_options_set_prefix_extractor opts t
     forM_ maxFiles $
         c_rocksdb_options_set_max_open_files opts . intToCInt
+    forM_ writeBufferSize $
+        c_rocksdb_options_set_write_buffer_size opts . intToCSize
+    forM_ dbWriteBufferSize $
+        c_rocksdb_options_set_db_write_buffer_size opts . intToCSize
     c_rocksdb_options_set_create_if_missing
         opts (boolToCBool createIfMissing)
     c_rocksdb_options_set_error_if_exists
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
--- a/test/Spec.hs
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -227,3 +227,26 @@
         forM_ mReadOpts destroyReadOpts
         (k1, v1) `shouldBe` (Just "m", Just "10")
         (k2, v2) `shouldBe` (Just "n", Just "20")
+    describe "Write buffers" $ do
+      it "flushes small memtables and keeps the data" $ \_ -> do
+        let small =
+              conf
+                { writeBufferSize = Just (64 * 1024),
+                  dbWriteBufferSize = Just (256 * 1024)
+                }
+            cfConf = small {dbWriteBufferSize = Nothing}
+            key :: Int -> C.ByteString
+            key i = C.pack (printf "k%07d" i)
+            value = C.replicate 100 'v'
+        withSystemTempDirectory "rocksdb-tests-wb" $ \path ->
+          withDBCF path small [("one", cfConf), ("two", cfConf)] $ \db -> do
+            let [one, two] = columnFamilies db
+            forM_ [1 .. 20000] $ \i -> do
+              put db (key i) value
+              putCF db one (key i) value
+              putCF db two (key i) value
+            get db (key 1) `shouldReturn` Just value
+            getCF db one (key 10000) `shouldReturn` Just value
+            getCF db two (key 20000) `shouldReturn` Just value
+            files <- getProperty db SSTables
+            files `shouldSatisfy` maybe False (not . C.null)