diff --git a/tsdb/chunks/chunk_write_queue.go b/tsdb/chunks/chunk_write_queue.go
index 628880b4c4..b635da5bc8 100644
--- a/tsdb/chunks/chunk_write_queue.go
+++ b/tsdb/chunks/chunk_write_queue.go
@@ -16,12 +16,21 @@ package chunks
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/tsdb/chunkenc"
 )
 
+const (
+	// Minimum recorded peak since since the last shrinking of chunkWriteQueue.chunkrefMap to shrink it again.
+	chunkRefMapShrinkThreshold = 1000
+
+	// Minimum interval between shrinking of chunkWriteQueue.chunkRefMap.
+	chunkRefMapMinShrinkInterval = 10 * time.Minute
+)
+
 type chunkWriteJob struct {
 	cutFile   bool
 	seriesRef HeadSeriesRef
@@ -38,21 +47,28 @@ type chunkWriteJob struct {
 type chunkWriteQueue struct {
 	jobs chan chunkWriteJob
 
-	chunkRefMapMtx sync.RWMutex
-	chunkRefMap    map[ChunkDiskMapperRef]chunkenc.Chunk
+	chunkRefMapMtx        sync.RWMutex
+	chunkRefMap           map[ChunkDiskMapperRef]chunkenc.Chunk
+	chunkRefMapPeakSize   int       // Largest size that chunkRefMap has grown to since the last time we shrank it.
+	chunkRefMapLastShrink time.Time // When the chunkRefMap has been shrunk the last time.
 
-	isRunningMtx sync.Mutex // Protects the isRunning property.
-	isRunning    bool       // Used to prevent that new jobs get added to the queue when the chan is already closed.
+	// isRunningMtx serves two purposes:
+	// 1. It protects isRunning field.
+	// 2. It serializes adding of jobs to the chunkRefMap in addJob() method. If jobs channel is full then addJob() will block
+	// while holding this mutex, which guarantees that chunkRefMap won't ever grow beyond the queue size + 1.
+	isRunningMtx sync.Mutex
+	isRunning    bool // Used to prevent that new jobs get added to the queue when the chan is already closed.
 
 	workerWg sync.WaitGroup
 
 	writeChunk writeChunkF
 
-	// Keeping three separate counters instead of only a single CounterVec to improve the performance of the critical
+	// Keeping separate counters instead of only a single CounterVec to improve the performance of the critical
 	// addJob() method which otherwise would need to perform a WithLabelValues call on the CounterVec.
 	adds      prometheus.Counter
 	gets      prometheus.Counter
 	completed prometheus.Counter
+	shrink    prometheus.Counter
 }
 
 // writeChunkF is a function which writes chunks, it is dynamic to allow mocking in tests.
@@ -68,13 +84,15 @@ func newChunkWriteQueue(reg prometheus.Registerer, size int, writeChunk writeChu
 	)
 
 	q := &chunkWriteQueue{
-		jobs:        make(chan chunkWriteJob, size),
-		chunkRefMap: make(map[ChunkDiskMapperRef]chunkenc.Chunk, size),
-		writeChunk:  writeChunk,
+		jobs:                  make(chan chunkWriteJob, size),
+		chunkRefMap:           make(map[ChunkDiskMapperRef]chunkenc.Chunk),
+		chunkRefMapLastShrink: time.Now(),
+		writeChunk:            writeChunk,
 
 		adds:      counters.WithLabelValues("add"),
 		gets:      counters.WithLabelValues("get"),
 		completed: counters.WithLabelValues("complete"),
+		shrink:    counters.WithLabelValues("shrink"),
 	}
 
 	if reg != nil {
@@ -112,6 +130,42 @@ func (c *chunkWriteQueue) processJob(job chunkWriteJob) {
 	delete(c.chunkRefMap, job.ref)
 
 	c.completed.Inc()
+
+	c.shrinkChunkRefMap()
+}
+
+// shrinkChunkRefMap checks whether the conditions to shrink the chunkRefMap are met,
+// if so chunkRefMap is reinitialized. The chunkRefMapMtx must be held when calling this method.
+//
+// We do this because Go runtime doesn't release internal memory used by map after map has been emptied.
+// To achieve that we create new map instead and throw the old one away.
+func (c *chunkWriteQueue) shrinkChunkRefMap() {
+	if len(c.chunkRefMap) > 0 {
+		// Can't shrink it while there is data in it.
+		return
+	}
+
+	if c.chunkRefMapPeakSize < chunkRefMapShrinkThreshold {
+		// Not shrinking it because it has not grown to the minimum threshold yet.
+		return
+	}
+
+	now := time.Now()
+
+	if now.Sub(c.chunkRefMapLastShrink) < chunkRefMapMinShrinkInterval {
+		// Not shrinking it because the minimum duration between shrink-events has not passed yet.
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Re-initialize the chunk ref map to half of the peak size that it has grown to since the last re-init event.
+	// We are trying to hit the sweet spot in the trade-off between initializing it to a very small size
+	// potentially resulting in many allocations to re-grow it, and initializing it to a large size potentially
+	// resulting in unused allocated memory.
+	c.chunkRefMap = make(map[ChunkDiskMapperRef]chunkenc.Chunk, c.chunkRefMapPeakSize/2)
+
+	c.chunkRefMapPeakSize = 0
+	c.chunkRefMapLastShrink = now
+	c.shrink.Inc()
 }
 
 func (c *chunkWriteQueue) addJob(job chunkWriteJob) (err error) {
@@ -125,11 +179,16 @@ func (c *chunkWriteQueue) addJob(job chunkWriteJob) (err error) {
 	defer c.isRunningMtx.Unlock()
 
 	if !c.isRunning {
-		return errors.New("queue is not started")
+		return errors.New("queue is not running")
 	}
 
 	c.chunkRefMapMtx.Lock()
 	c.chunkRefMap[job.ref] = job.chk
+
+	// Keep track of the peak usage of c.chunkRefMap.
+	if len(c.chunkRefMap) > c.chunkRefMapPeakSize {
+		c.chunkRefMapPeakSize = len(c.chunkRefMap)
+	}
 	c.chunkRefMapMtx.Unlock()
 
 	c.jobs <- job