diff --git a/sys/kern/vfs_bio.c b/sys/kern/vfs_bio.c
--- a/sys/kern/vfs_bio.c
+++ b/sys/kern/vfs_bio.c
@@ -1168,7 +1168,12 @@
 	}
 
 	if (nswbuf == 0) {
-		nswbuf = min(nbuf / 4, 256);
+		/*
+		 * Pager buffers are allocated for short periods, so scale the
+		 * number of reserved buffers based on the number of CPUs rather
+		 * than amount of memory.
+		 */
+		nswbuf = min(nbuf / 4, 32 * mp_ncpus);
 		if (nswbuf < NSWBUF_MIN)
 			nswbuf = NSWBUF_MIN;
 	}