diff --git a/buildscripts/kokoro/unix.sh b/buildscripts/kokoro/unix.sh
index a0c256ac3d..8588a85349 100755
--- a/buildscripts/kokoro/unix.sh
+++ b/buildscripts/kokoro/unix.sh
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ GRADLE_FLAGS+=" -PfailOnWarnings=true"
 GRADLE_FLAGS+=" -PerrorProne=true"
 GRADLE_FLAGS+=" -PskipAndroid=true"
 GRADLE_FLAGS+=" -Dorg.gradle.parallel=true"
-export GRADLE_OPTS="-Xmx512m"
+export GRADLE_OPTS="-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx1g'"
 
 # Make protobuf discoverable by :grpc-compiler
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/protobuf/lib