diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index c4b6a863e..3a92912db 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   $package_ensure  = 'present',
   $logfile         = '/var/log/memcached.log',
   $max_memory      = false,
+  $item_size       = false,
   $lock_memory     = false,
   $listen_ip       = '0.0.0.0',
   $tcp_port        = 11211,
diff --git a/templates/memcached.conf.erb b/templates/memcached.conf.erb
index 03344d5da..f6097fa4f 100644
--- a/templates/memcached.conf.erb
+++ b/templates/memcached.conf.erb
@@ -45,3 +45,9 @@ logfile <%= logfile -%>
 
 # Number of threads to use to process incoming requests.
 -t <%= processorcount %>
+
+<% if @item_size -%>
+# Override  the  default size of each slab page
+-I <%= item_size %>
+<% end -%>
+
diff --git a/templates/memcached_sysconfig.erb b/templates/memcached_sysconfig.erb
index 3c980309b..84d285ffc 100644
--- a/templates/memcached_sysconfig.erb
+++ b/templates/memcached_sysconfig.erb
@@ -17,5 +17,8 @@ end
 if @udp_port
   result << '-U ' + udp_port
 end
+if @item_size
+  result << '-I ' + item_size
+end
 result << '-t ' + processorcount
 -%><%= result.join(' ') -%>"