diff --git a/test/plugin.jelly b/test/plugin.jelly
index c3262386..f50e1fa5 100644
--- a/test/plugin.jelly
+++ b/test/plugin.jelly
@@ -93,7 +93,11 @@
         <j:if test="${context.getVariable('maven.test.compile.compilerargs') != null}">
             <compilerarg line="${maven.test.compile.compilerargs}" />
         </j:if>
-           
+
+        <j:if test="${context.getVariable('maven.test.compile.memoryMaximumSize') != null}">
+          <setProperty name="memoryMaximumSize" value="${maven.test.compile.memoryMaximumSize}" />
+        </j:if>
+                   
         <j:if test="${context.getVariable('maven.test.compile.encoding') != null}">
           <setProperty name="encoding" value="${maven.test.compile.encoding}" />
         </j:if>
diff --git a/test/plugin.properties b/test/plugin.properties
index de175a06..1462d501 100644
--- a/test/plugin.properties
+++ b/test/plugin.properties
@@ -46,3 +46,4 @@ maven.test.compile.fork = ${maven.compile.fork}
 maven.test.compile.source = ${maven.compile.source}
 maven.test.compile.target = ${maven.compile.target}
 maven.test.compile.verbose = ${maven.compile.verbose}
+maven.test.compile.memoryMaximumSize = ${maven.compile.memoryMaximumSize}
diff --git a/test/project.xml b/test/project.xml
index 5a710dc8..c315ec55 100644
--- a/test/project.xml
+++ b/test/project.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
   <pomVersion>3</pomVersion>
   <id>maven-test-plugin</id>
   <name>Maven Test Plugin</name>
-  <currentVersion>1.8.2</currentVersion>
+  <currentVersion>1.8.3-SNAPSHOT</currentVersion>
   <description>Run JUnit tests.</description>
   <shortDescription>Run JUnit tests</shortDescription>
   <versions>
diff --git a/test/xdocs/changes.xml b/test/xdocs/changes.xml
index 3d3ff2a3..0b80b71a 100644
--- a/test/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/test/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
     <author email="dion@multitask.com.au">dIon Gillard</author> 
   </properties>  
   <body> 
+    <release version="1.8.3-SNAPSHOT" date="in SVN">
+      <action dev="jjensen" type="add" issue="MPTEST-76">
+        Add maven.test.compile.memoryMaximumSize property to enable solving compile OutOfMemory errors with large test sets.
+      </action>
+    </release>
     <release version="1.8.2" date="2007-05-23"> 
       <action dev="ltheussl" type="fix"> 
         <description>Memory leak and performance degradation in test plugin 1.8.</description>  
diff --git a/test/xdocs/properties.xml b/test/xdocs/properties.xml
index 86684696..83673faf 100644
--- a/test/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/test/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -167,6 +167,22 @@ maven.junit.jvmargs=-Xmx160m -verbose]]></source>
             Defaults to ${maven.compile.fork}.
           </td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td>maven.test.compile.memoryMaximumSize</td>
+          <td>Yes</td>
+          <td>
+            <p>
+              Sets the maximum memory size value passed to the VM when fork is set to true.
+              Has no effect if fork is false.
+              Defaults to ${maven.compile.memoryMaximumSize}.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+              Corresponds to the <code>memoryMaximumSize</code> attribute for the ant 
+              <a href="http://ant.apache.org/manual/CoreTasks/javac.html">javac</a>
+              task.
+            </p>
+          </td>
+        </tr>
         <tr>
           <td>maven.test.compile.source</td>
           <td>Yes</td>
