CI "OutOfMemoryError: unable to create new native thread" (JVM)

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

Despite the OutOfMemoryError name, this is rarely about Java heap. The JVM could not create an OS thread - either the runner hit a thread/process limit (ulimit -u/pids.max) or there was no memory left for the new thread’s native stack.

What this error means

A JVM build or test (Gradle, Maven, a Java app) fails with java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: unable to create new native thread. Raising -Xmx does not help, because the exhausted resource is OS threads or native memory, not the managed heap.

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: unable to create new native thread
    at java.base/java.lang.Thread.start0(Native Method)

Common causes

The process/thread limit was reached

The JVM (and its tooling) spawns many threads. Hitting ulimit -u or the cgroup pids.max means the OS refuses to create another thread, surfacing as this OutOfMemoryError.

No native memory left for thread stacks

Each thread reserves a native stack outside the heap. A very large -Xmx plus many threads can leave too little address space/RAM for new stacks, so thread creation fails.

How to fix it

Inspect thread limits and counts

ulimit -u                       # max user processes/threads
cat /sys/fs/cgroup/pids.max     # container pid/thread ceiling
ps -eLf | wc -l                 # threads currently running

Raise the limit or reduce thread/heap pressure

1. Raise ulimit -u (or the container pids limit) for the step if the work needs many threads.
2. Lower build/test thread counts (Gradle --max-workers, test fork counts).
3. If -Xmx is very large, reduce it so more address space/RAM is left for native thread stacks.

How to prevent it

• Set a generous process/thread limit on runners for JVM workloads.
• Bound build and test parallelism to the runner’s capacity.
• Balance -Xmx against the runner’s total memory so native stacks have room.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation