diff --git a/lib/volumen/admin_routes.rb b/lib/volumen/admin_routes.rb
index f849da5..5d1708e 100644
--- a/lib/volumen/admin_routes.rb
+++ b/lib/volumen/admin_routes.rb
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ module Volumen
         upload = params["file"]
         halt(400, json("error" => "no_file")) unless upload.is_a?(Hash) && upload[:tempfile]
 
+        if upload[:tempfile].size > Server::MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES
+          halt(413, json("error" => "file_too_large", "max_bytes" => Server::MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES))
+        end
+
         json("url" => store.store_upload(upload[:filename], upload[:tempfile]))
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/volumen/server.rb b/lib/volumen/server.rb
index 48db326..8d252dd 100644
--- a/lib/volumen/server.rb
+++ b/lib/volumen/server.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ module Volumen
   class Server < Sinatra::Base
     MAX_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS = 10
     LOGIN_WINDOW = 60 # seconds
+    MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024 # 10 MB
     SLUG_REGEX = /\A[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9._-]*[a-z0-9])?\z/
 
     register ApiRoutes
diff --git a/test/admin_test.rb b/test/admin_test.rb
index 7f1531a..9fe2c2e 100644
--- a/test/admin_test.rb
+++ b/test/admin_test.rb
@@ -124,6 +124,19 @@ class AdminTest < Minitest::Test
     assert_equal 403, last_response.status
   end
 
+  def test_upload_rejects_file_too_large
+    login
+    get "/admin/posts/new"
+    token = csrf(last_response.body)
+    big_path = File.join(@dir, "big.png")
+    File.binwrite(big_path, "X" * (Volumen::Server::MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES + 1))
+    post "/admin/uploads",
+         "_csrf" => token,
+         "file" => Rack::Test::UploadedFile.new(big_path, "image/png")
+    assert_equal 413, last_response.status
+    assert_equal "file_too_large", JSON.parse(last_response.body)["error"]
+  end
+
   def test_image_upload_and_serving
     login
     get "/admin/posts/new"