diff --git a/src/freedombone-image b/src/freedombone-image
index 3dbfcac4..6c2ae139 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image
+++ b/src/freedombone-image
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ PROJECT_NAME='freedombone'
 export TEXTDOMAIN=${PROJECT_NAME}-image
 export TEXTDOMAINDIR="/usr/share/locale"
 
+# recommended RAM for virtual machines
+VM_MEMORY='1G'
+
 VARIANT='full'
 
 # fixed username and password when the --generic option is used
@@ -325,9 +328,9 @@ else
 "
     else
         if [[ $IMAGE_TYPE != "qemu-x86_64"* && $IMAGE_TYPE != "qemu-amd64"* ]]; then
-            echo "qemu-system-i386 $(ls ${PROJECT_NAME}*.qcow2)"
+            echo "qemu-system-i386 -m ${VM_MEMORY} $(ls ${PROJECT_NAME}*.qcow2)"
         else
-            echo "qemu-system-x86_64 $(ls ${PROJECT_NAME}*.qcow2)"
+            echo "qemu-system-x86_64 -m ${VM_MEMORY} $(ls ${PROJECT_NAME}*.qcow2)"
         fi
         echo $"
     Username: $USERNAME