diff --git a/doc/manpages/object-server.conf.5 b/doc/manpages/object-server.conf.5
index 74a13761bb..5c052d8108 100644
--- a/doc/manpages/object-server.conf.5
+++ b/doc/manpages/object-server.conf.5
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ Interval in seconds between logging replication statistics. The default is 300.
 Max duration of a partition rsync. The default is 900 seconds.
 .IP \fBrsync_io_timeout\fR
 Passed to rsync for I/O OP timeout. The default is 30 seconds.
+.IP \fBrsync_bwlimit\fR
+Passed to rsync for bandwith limit in kB/s.  The default is 0 (unlimited)
 .IP \fBhttp_timeout\fR
 Max duration of an HTTP request. The default is 60 seconds.
 .IP \fBlockup_timeout\fR
diff --git a/etc/object-server.conf-sample b/etc/object-server.conf-sample
index 940b354300..294331f85b 100644
--- a/etc/object-server.conf-sample
+++ b/etc/object-server.conf-sample
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ use = egg:swift#recon
 # stats_interval = 300
 # max duration of a partition rsync
 # rsync_timeout = 900
+# bandwith limit for rsync in kB/s. 0 means unlimited
+# rsync_bwlimit = 0
 # passed to rsync for io op timeout
 # rsync_io_timeout = 30
 # max duration of an http request
diff --git a/swift/obj/replicator.py b/swift/obj/replicator.py
index 92b7591a44..21d59d0822 100644
--- a/swift/obj/replicator.py
+++ b/swift/obj/replicator.py
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ class ObjectReplicator(Daemon):
         self.run_pause = int(conf.get('run_pause', 30))
         self.rsync_timeout = int(conf.get('rsync_timeout', 900))
         self.rsync_io_timeout = conf.get('rsync_io_timeout', '30')
+        self.rsync_bwlimit = conf.get('rsync_bwlimit', '0')
         self.http_timeout = int(conf.get('http_timeout', 60))
         self.lockup_timeout = int(conf.get('lockup_timeout', 1800))
         self.recon_cache_path = conf.get('recon_cache_path',
@@ -145,6 +146,7 @@ class ObjectReplicator(Daemon):
             '--ignore-existing',
             '--timeout=%s' % self.rsync_io_timeout,
             '--contimeout=%s' % self.rsync_io_timeout,
+            '--bwlimit=%s' % self.rsync_bwlimit,
         ]
         node_ip = rsync_ip(node['replication_ip'])
         if self.vm_test_mode: