diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d4d879b..2444ef9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project are documented here. Format loosely follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Changed
+- The JVM backend's heap, previously fixed at `-Xmx14g`, is now configurable via the `AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP` environment variable (e.g. `AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP=4g`), still defaulting to `14g`. Lets `AutoPYara()` run on smaller machines.
+
 ## [0.1.2] - 2026-09-03
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/autopyara/interface.py b/autopyara/interface.py
index babda08..bbf4c4b 100644
--- a/autopyara/interface.py
+++ b/autopyara/interface.py
@@ -41,11 +41,13 @@ def _start_jvm(cls):
 
             print(f"[*] Initializing Backend: {jar_path}")
 
+            heap = os.getenv("AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP", "14g")
+
             try:
                 jpype.startJVM(
                     jpype.getDefaultJVMPath(),
                     f"-Djava.class.path={jar_path}",
-                    "-Xmx14g", # Memory limit
+                    f"-Xmx{heap}", # Memory limit (override with AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP, e.g. "4g")
                     convertStrings=True
                 )
                 cls._jvm_started = True
diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
index 0c224c3..23fdc1e 100644
--- a/docs/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -143,7 +143,10 @@ cluster.resetYaraState()             # clear state before reuse
 
 The result dictionary carries `rule_string`, `k_clusters`, `strings`, `file_count`, `total_files`, `TP`, `TP_total`, `conditions_min`, `conditions_max`, `gram_size`, and `byte_candidate_count`. It is `None` when no rule satisfying the configured constraints could be built.
 
-The JVM is started once per process, and its heap is currently fixed at 14 GB in [`interface.py`](https://github.com/Botacin-s-Lab/AutoPYaraPyPI/blob/main/autopyara/interface.py) — worth knowing if you are running on a memory-constrained machine.
+The JVM is started once per process, with a heap that defaults to 14 GB; set the
+`AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP` environment variable (e.g. `AUTOPYARA_JVM_HEAP=4g`) before
+constructing `AutoPYara()` to lower it on a memory-constrained machine — see
+[`interface.py`](https://github.com/Botacin-s-Lab/AutoPYaraPyPI/blob/main/autopyara/interface.py).
 
 ## How the jar gets into the Python package