diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
index f100fd2e54..a69dc11753 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
@@ -1764,6 +1764,13 @@ static int nodeStateInitialize(bool privileged,
 
     udev_monitor_enable_receiving(priv->udev_monitor);
 
+    /* mimic udevd's behaviour and override the systems rmem_max limit in case
+     * there's a significant number of device 'add' events
+     */
+    if (geteuid() == 0)
+        udev_monitor_set_receive_buffer_size(priv->udev_monitor,
+                                             128 * 1024 * 1024);
+
     /* We register the monitor with the event callback so we are
      * notified by udev of device changes before we enumerate existing
      * devices because libvirt will simply recreate the device if we