diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/issue-17430.toml b/changelog/unreleased/issue-17430.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9f61bb9412
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/issue-17430.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+type = "c"
+message = "Check vm.max_map_count in preflight"
+
+issues = ["17430"]
+pulls = ["17436"]
diff --git a/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bindings/PreflightChecksBindings.java b/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bindings/PreflightChecksBindings.java
index 134491345a..419fb2a7cc 100644
--- a/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bindings/PreflightChecksBindings.java
+++ b/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bindings/PreflightChecksBindings.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.graylog.datanode.bindings;
 import com.google.inject.AbstractModule;
 import com.google.inject.multibindings.MapBinder;
 import org.graylog.datanode.bootstrap.preflight.DatanodeDirectoriesLockfileCheck;
+import org.graylog.datanode.bootstrap.preflight.OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck;
 import org.graylog.datanode.bootstrap.preflight.OpensearchBinPreflightCheck;
 import org.graylog.datanode.bootstrap.preflight.OpensearchConfigSync;
 import org.graylog2.bootstrap.preflight.PreflightCheck;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ public class PreflightChecksBindings extends AbstractModule {
         addPreflightCheck(OpensearchConfigSync.class);
         addPreflightCheck(OpensearchBinPreflightCheck.class);
         addPreflightCheck(DatanodeDirectoriesLockfileCheck.class);
+        addPreflightCheck(OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck.class);
     }
 
 
diff --git a/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bootstrap/preflight/OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck.java b/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bootstrap/preflight/OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..78cb170921
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data-node/src/main/java/org/graylog/datanode/bootstrap/preflight/OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Graylog, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the Server Side Public License, version 1,
+ * as published by MongoDB, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * Server Side Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the Server Side Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see
+ * <http://www.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license>.
+ */
+package org.graylog.datanode.bootstrap.preflight;
+
+import org.graylog2.bootstrap.preflight.PreflightCheck;
+import org.graylog2.bootstrap.preflight.PreflightCheckException;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+
+/**
+ * Check required system parameters
+ */
+public class OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck implements PreflightCheck {
+    private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(OpenSearchPreconditionsCheck.class);
+    private static final long MAX_MAP_COUNT_MIN = 262144L;
+
+    @Override
+    public void runCheck() throws PreflightCheckException {
+        ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder().redirectErrorStream(true);
+        builder.command("/sbin/sysctl", "-n", "vm.max_map_count");
+        try {
+            final Process process = builder.start();
+            final BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(
+                    new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream(), Charset.defaultCharset()));
+            String line = reader.readLine();
+            reader.close();
+            int exitVal = process.waitFor();
+            if (exitVal != 0) {
+                System.out.println("Sysctl failed with error return " + exitVal);
+                return;
+            }
+            if (line != null) {
+                long count = Long.valueOf(line);
+                if (count < MAX_MAP_COUNT_MIN) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException("vm.max_map_count = " + count + " but should be at least " + MAX_MAP_COUNT_MIN);
+                }
+            }
+        } catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
+            LOG.warn("Failed to run sysctl check: {}", e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+}