diff --git a/ext/standard/array.c b/ext/standard/array.c
index 1815f0c30e7..58b5349bab8 100644
--- a/ext/standard/array.c
+++ b/ext/standard/array.c
@@ -2465,6 +2465,10 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(array_pad)
 
 	/* Populate the pads array */
 	num_pads = pad_size_abs - input_size;
+	if(num_pads > 1048576) {
+		php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "You may only pad up to 1048576 elements at a time");
+		RETURN_FALSE;
+	}
 	pads = (zval ***)emalloc(num_pads * sizeof(zval **));
 	for (i = 0; i < num_pads; i++) {
 		pads[i] = pad_value;