diff --git a/nova/flags.py b/nova/flags.py
index 9123e9ac..d1817dc3 100644
--- a/nova/flags.py
+++ b/nova/flags.py
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ DEFINE_string('osapi_host', '$my_ip', 'ip of api server')
 DEFINE_string('osapi_scheme', 'http', 'prefix for openstack')
 DEFINE_integer('osapi_port', 8774, 'OpenStack API port')
 DEFINE_string('osapi_path', '/v1.0/', 'suffix for openstack')
+DEFINE_integer('osapi_max_limit', 1000,
+               'max number of items returned in a collection response')
 
 DEFINE_string('default_project', 'openstack', 'default project for openstack')
 DEFINE_string('default_image', 'ami-11111',