diff --git a/tempest/api/orchestration/stacks/test_limits.py b/tempest/api/orchestration/stacks/test_limits.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aa595817b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/api/orchestration/stacks/test_limits.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+import logging
+
+from tempest.api.orchestration import base
+from tempest.common.utils.data_utils import rand_name
+from tempest import exceptions
+from tempest.test import attr
+
+
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class TestServerStackLimits(base.BaseOrchestrationTest):
+    _interface = 'json'
+
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpClass(cls):
+        super(TestServerStackLimits, cls).setUpClass()
+        cls.client = cls.orchestration_client
+        cls.stack_name = rand_name('heat')
+
+    @attr(type='gate')
+    def test_exceed_max_template_size_fails(self):
+        fill = 'A' * self.orchestration_cfg.max_template_size
+        template = '''
+HeatTemplateFormatVersion: '2012-12-12'
+Description: '%s'
+Outputs:
+  Foo: bar''' % fill
+        ex = self.assertRaises(exceptions.BadRequest, self.create_stack,
+                               self.stack_name, template)
+        self.assertIn('Template exceeds maximum allowed size', str(ex))
diff --git a/tempest/config.py b/tempest/config.py
index 1b312f0438..71705fb3b3 100644
--- a/tempest/config.py
+++ b/tempest/config.py
@@ -446,6 +446,9 @@ OrchestrationGroup = [
     cfg.StrOpt('keypair_name',
                default=None,
                help="Name of existing keypair to launch servers with."),
+    cfg.IntOpt('max_template_size',
+               default=10240,
+               help="Value must match heat configuration of the same name."),
 ]