diff --git a/modules/nf-core/picard/collectmultiplemetrics/main.nf b/modules/nf-core/picard/collectmultiplemetrics/main.nf
index 73cdaf3a..43cb91cf 100644
--- a/modules/nf-core/picard/collectmultiplemetrics/main.nf
+++ b/modules/nf-core/picard/collectmultiplemetrics/main.nf
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ process PICARD_COLLECTMULTIPLEMETRICS {
     if (!task.memory) {
         log.info '[Picard CollectMultipleMetrics] Available memory not known - defaulting to 3GB. Specify process memory requirements to change this.'
     } else {
-        avail_mem = task.memory.giga
+        avail_mem = (task.memory.giga*0.8).intValue()
     }
     """
     picard \\
diff --git a/modules/nf-core/picard/markduplicates/main.nf b/modules/nf-core/picard/markduplicates/main.nf
index 14800392..e1e31765 100644
--- a/modules/nf-core/picard/markduplicates/main.nf
+++ b/modules/nf-core/picard/markduplicates/main.nf
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ process PICARD_MARKDUPLICATES {
     if (!task.memory) {
         log.info '[Picard MarkDuplicates] Available memory not known - defaulting to 3GB. Specify process memory requirements to change this.'
     } else {
-        avail_mem = task.memory.giga
+        avail_mem = (task.memory.giga*0.8).intValue()
     }
     """
     picard \\
diff --git a/modules/nf-core/picard/mergesamfiles/main.nf b/modules/nf-core/picard/mergesamfiles/main.nf
index 6afda3b3..63ed0cd5 100644
--- a/modules/nf-core/picard/mergesamfiles/main.nf
+++ b/modules/nf-core/picard/mergesamfiles/main.nf
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ process PICARD_MERGESAMFILES {
     if (!task.memory) {
         log.info '[Picard MergeSamFiles] Available memory not known - defaulting to 3GB. Specify process memory requirements to change this.'
     } else {
-        avail_mem = task.memory.giga
+        avail_mem = (task.memory.giga*0.8).intValue()
     }
     if (bam_files.size() > 1) {
         """