diff --git a/substrate/core/cli/src/informant.rs b/substrate/core/cli/src/informant.rs
index 9047eb43cb..b78e9b0646 100644
--- a/substrate/core/cli/src/informant.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/cli/src/informant.rs
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ pub fn start<C>(service: &Service<C>, exit: ::exit_future::Exit, handle: TaskExe
 				TransferRateFormat(bandwidth_upload),
 			);
 
+			let backend = (*client).backend();
+			let used_state_cache_size = match backend.used_state_cache_size(){
+				Some(size) => size,
+				None => 0,
+			};
+
 			// get cpu usage and memory usage of this process
 			let (cpu_usage, memory) = if sys.refresh_process(self_pid) {
 				let proc = sys.get_process(self_pid).expect("Above refresh_process succeeds, this should be Some(), qed");
@@ -99,6 +105,7 @@ pub fn start<C>(service: &Service<C>, exit: ::exit_future::Exit, handle: TaskExe
 				"finalized_hash" => ?info.chain.finalized_hash,
 				"bandwidth_download" => bandwidth_download,
 				"bandwidth_upload" => bandwidth_upload,
+				"used_state_cache_size" => used_state_cache_size,
 			);
 		} else {
 			warn!("Error getting best block information");
diff --git a/substrate/core/cli/src/lib.rs b/substrate/core/cli/src/lib.rs
index 31a2427669..296e8e3c3f 100644
--- a/substrate/core/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -404,6 +404,7 @@ where
 	config.database_path =
 		db_path(&base_path, config.chain_spec.id()).to_string_lossy().into();
 	config.database_cache_size = cli.database_cache_size;
+	config.state_cache_size = cli.state_cache_size;
 	config.pruning = match cli.pruning {
 		Some(ref s) if s == "archive" => PruningMode::ArchiveAll,
 		None => PruningMode::default(),
diff --git a/substrate/core/cli/src/params.rs b/substrate/core/cli/src/params.rs
index 16279af15e..42d98bf7ed 100644
--- a/substrate/core/cli/src/params.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/cli/src/params.rs
@@ -313,6 +313,10 @@ pub struct RunCmd {
 	#[structopt(long = "db-cache", value_name = "MiB")]
 	pub database_cache_size: Option<u32>,
 
+	/// Specify the state cache size
+	#[structopt(long = "state-cache-size", value_name = "Bytes", default_value = "67108864")]
+	pub state_cache_size: usize,
+
 	/// Listen to all RPC interfaces (default is local)
 	#[structopt(long = "rpc-external")]
 	pub rpc_external: bool,
diff --git a/substrate/core/client/db/src/lib.rs b/substrate/core/client/db/src/lib.rs
index 483a4c0d8d..e730c0888d 100644
--- a/substrate/core/client/db/src/lib.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/client/db/src/lib.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ use client::in_mem::Backend as InMemoryBackend;
 
 const CANONICALIZATION_DELAY: u64 = 4096;
 const MIN_BLOCKS_TO_KEEP_CHANGES_TRIES_FOR: u64 = 32768;
-const STATE_CACHE_SIZE_BYTES: usize = 16 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 /// DB-backed patricia trie state, transaction type is an overlay of changes to commit.
 pub type DbState = state_machine::TrieBackend<Arc<state_machine::Storage<Blake2Hasher>>, Blake2Hasher>;
@@ -74,6 +73,8 @@ pub type DbState = state_machine::TrieBackend<Arc<state_machine::Storage<Blake2H
 pub struct DatabaseSettings {
 	/// Cache size in bytes. If `None` default is used.
 	pub cache_size: Option<usize>,
+	/// State cache size.
+	pub state_cache_size: usize,
 	/// Path to the database.
 	pub path: PathBuf,
 	/// Pruning mode.
@@ -543,7 +544,7 @@ impl<Block: BlockT<Hash=H256>> Backend<Block> {
 	pub fn new(config: DatabaseSettings, canonicalization_delay: u64) -> Result<Self, client::error::Error> {
 		let db = open_database(&config, columns::META, "full")?;
 
-		Backend::from_kvdb(db as Arc<_>, config.pruning, canonicalization_delay)
+		Backend::from_kvdb(db as Arc<_>, config.pruning, canonicalization_delay, config.state_cache_size)
 	}
 
 	#[cfg(any(test, feature = "test-helpers"))]
@@ -556,10 +557,11 @@ impl<Block: BlockT<Hash=H256>> Backend<Block> {
 			db as Arc<_>,
 			PruningMode::keep_blocks(keep_blocks),
 			canonicalization_delay,
+			16777216,
 		).expect("failed to create test-db")
 	}
 
-	fn from_kvdb(db: Arc<KeyValueDB>, pruning: PruningMode, canonicalization_delay: u64) -> Result<Self, client::error::Error> {
+	fn from_kvdb(db: Arc<KeyValueDB>, pruning: PruningMode, canonicalization_delay: u64, state_cache_size: usize) -> Result<Self, client::error::Error> {
 		let is_archive_pruning = pruning.is_archive();
 		let blockchain = BlockchainDb::new(db.clone())?;
 		let meta = blockchain.meta.clone();
@@ -582,7 +584,7 @@ impl<Block: BlockT<Hash=H256>> Backend<Block> {
 			changes_trie_config: Mutex::new(None),
 			blockchain,
 			canonicalization_delay,
-			shared_cache: new_shared_cache(STATE_CACHE_SIZE_BYTES),
+			shared_cache: new_shared_cache(state_cache_size),
 		})
 	}
 
@@ -1161,6 +1163,11 @@ impl<Block> client::backend::Backend<Block, Blake2Hasher> for Backend<Block> whe
 		&self.blockchain
 	}
 
+	fn used_state_cache_size(&self) -> Option<usize> {
+		let used = (*&self.shared_cache).lock().used_storage_cache_size();
+		Some(used)
+	}
+
 	fn state_at(&self, block: BlockId<Block>) -> Result<Self::State, client::error::Error> {
 		use client::blockchain::HeaderBackend as BcHeaderBackend;
 
@@ -1319,7 +1326,7 @@ mod tests {
 			db.storage.db.clone()
 		};
 
-		let backend = Backend::<Block>::from_kvdb(backing, PruningMode::keep_blocks(1), 0).unwrap();
+		let backend = Backend::<Block>::from_kvdb(backing, PruningMode::keep_blocks(1), 0, 16777216).unwrap();
 		assert_eq!(backend.blockchain().info().unwrap().best_number, 9);
 		for i in 0..10 {
 			assert!(backend.blockchain().hash(i).unwrap().is_some())
diff --git a/substrate/core/client/db/src/storage_cache.rs b/substrate/core/client/db/src/storage_cache.rs
index 6cfdbdd09b..439a749c85 100644
--- a/substrate/core/client/db/src/storage_cache.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/client/db/src/storage_cache.rs
@@ -39,17 +39,40 @@ pub struct Cache<B: Block, H: Hasher> {
 	/// Information on the modifications in recently committed blocks; specifically which keys
 	/// changed in which block. Ordered by block number.
 	modifications: VecDeque<BlockChanges<B::Header>>,
+	/// Maximum cache size available, in Bytes.
+	shared_cache_size: usize,
+	/// Used storage size, in Bytes.
+	storage_used_size: usize,
+}
+
+impl<B: Block, H: Hasher> Cache<B, H> {
+	/// Returns the used memory size of the storage cache in bytes.
+	pub fn used_storage_cache_size(&self) -> usize {
+		self.storage_used_size
+	}
 }
 
 pub type SharedCache<B, H> = Arc<Mutex<Cache<B, H>>>;
 
 /// Create new shared cache instance with given max memory usage.
 pub fn new_shared_cache<B: Block, H: Hasher>(shared_cache_size: usize) -> SharedCache<B, H> {
-	let cache_items = shared_cache_size / 100; // Guestimate, potentially inaccurate
+	// we need to supply a max capacity to `LruCache`, but since
+	// we don't have any idea how large the size of each item
+	// that is stored will be we can't calculate the max amount
+	// of items properly from `shared_cache_size`.
+	//
+	// what we do instead is to supply `shared_cache_size` as the
+	// max upper bound capacity (this would only be reached if each
+	// item would be one byte).
+	// each time we store to the storage cache we verify the memory
+	// constraint and pop the lru item if space needs to be freed.
+
 	Arc::new(Mutex::new(Cache {
-		storage: LruCache::new(cache_items),
-		hashes: LruCache::new(cache_items),
+		storage: LruCache::new(shared_cache_size),
+		hashes: LruCache::new(shared_cache_size),
 		modifications: VecDeque::new(),
+		shared_cache_size: shared_cache_size,
+		storage_used_size: 0,
 	}))
 }
 
@@ -109,6 +132,33 @@ impl<H: Hasher, S: StateBackend<H>, B: Block> CachingState<H, S, B> {
 		}
 	}
 
+	fn storage_insert(cache: &mut Cache<B, H>, k: StorageValue, v: Option<StorageValue>) {
+		if let Some(v_) = &v {
+			while cache.storage_used_size + v_.len() > cache.shared_cache_size {
+				// pop until space constraint satisfied
+				match cache.storage.remove_lru() {
+					Some((_, Some(popped_v))) =>
+						cache.storage_used_size = cache.storage_used_size - popped_v.len(),
+					Some((_, None)) => continue,
+					None => break,
+				};
+			}
+			cache.storage_used_size = cache.storage_used_size + v_.len();
+		}
+		cache.storage.insert(k, v);
+	}
+
+	fn storage_remove(
+		storage: &mut LruCache<StorageKey, Option<StorageValue>>,
+		k: &StorageKey,
+		storage_used_size: &mut usize,
+	) {
+		let v = storage.remove(k);
+		if let Some(Some(v_)) = v {
+			*storage_used_size = *storage_used_size - v_.len();
+		}
+	}
+
 	/// Propagate local cache into the shared cache and synchronize
 	/// the shared cache with the best block state.
 	/// This function updates the shared cache by removing entries
@@ -139,7 +189,7 @@ impl<H: Hasher, S: StateBackend<H>, B: Block> CachingState<H, S, B> {
 					m.is_canon = true;
 					for a in &m.storage {
 						trace!("Reverting enacted key {:?}", a);
-						cache.storage.remove(a);
+						CachingState::<H, S, B>::storage_remove(&mut cache.storage, a, &mut cache.storage_used_size);
 					}
 					false
 				} else {
@@ -155,7 +205,7 @@ impl<H: Hasher, S: StateBackend<H>, B: Block> CachingState<H, S, B> {
 					m.is_canon = false;
 					for a in &m.storage {
 						trace!("Retracted key {:?}", a);
-						cache.storage.remove(a);
+						CachingState::<H, S, B>::storage_remove(&mut cache.storage, a, &mut cache.storage_used_size);
 					}
 					false
 				} else {
@@ -178,7 +228,7 @@ impl<H: Hasher, S: StateBackend<H>, B: Block> CachingState<H, S, B> {
 			if is_best {
 				trace!("Committing {} local, {} hashes, {} modified entries", local_cache.storage.len(), local_cache.hashes.len(), changes.len());
 				for (k, v) in local_cache.storage.drain() {
-					cache.storage.insert(k, v);
+					CachingState::<H, S, B>::storage_insert(cache, k, v);
 				}
 				for (k, v) in local_cache.hashes.drain() {
 					cache.hashes.insert(k, v);
@@ -198,7 +248,7 @@ impl<H: Hasher, S: StateBackend<H>, B: Block> CachingState<H, S, B> {
 				modifications.insert(k.clone());
 				if is_best {
 					cache.hashes.remove(&k);
-					cache.storage.insert(k, v);
+					CachingState::<H, S, B>::storage_insert(cache, k, v);
 				}
 			}
 			// Save modified storage. These are ordered by the block number.
@@ -418,4 +468,38 @@ mod tests {
 		let s = CachingState::new(InMemory::<Blake2Hasher>::default(), shared.clone(), Some(h3a.clone()));
 		assert!(s.storage(&key).unwrap().is_none());
 	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn should_track_used_size_correctly() {
+		let root_parent = H256::random();
+		let shared = new_shared_cache::<Block, Blake2Hasher>(5);
+		let h0 = H256::random();
+
+		let mut s = CachingState::new(InMemory::<Blake2Hasher>::default(), shared.clone(), Some(root_parent.clone()));
+
+		let key = H256::random()[..].to_vec();
+		s.sync_cache(&[], &[], vec![(key.clone(), Some(vec![1, 2, 3]))], Some(h0.clone()), Some(0), || true);
+		assert_eq!(shared.lock().used_storage_cache_size(), 3 /* bytes */);
+
+		let key = H256::random()[..].to_vec();
+		s.sync_cache(&[], &[], vec![(key.clone(), Some(vec![1, 2]))], Some(h0.clone()), Some(0), || true);
+		assert_eq!(shared.lock().used_storage_cache_size(), 5 /* bytes */);
+	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn should_remove_lru_items_based_on_tracking_used_size() {
+		let root_parent = H256::random();
+		let shared = new_shared_cache::<Block, Blake2Hasher>(5);
+		let h0 = H256::random();
+
+		let mut s = CachingState::new(InMemory::<Blake2Hasher>::default(), shared.clone(), Some(root_parent.clone()));
+
+		let key = H256::random()[..].to_vec();
+		s.sync_cache(&[], &[], vec![(key.clone(), Some(vec![1, 2, 3, 4]))], Some(h0.clone()), Some(0), || true);
+		assert_eq!(shared.lock().used_storage_cache_size(), 4 /* bytes */);
+
+		let key = H256::random()[..].to_vec();
+		s.sync_cache(&[], &[], vec![(key.clone(), Some(vec![1, 2]))], Some(h0.clone()), Some(0), || true);
+		assert_eq!(shared.lock().used_storage_cache_size(), 2 /* bytes */);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/substrate/core/client/src/backend.rs b/substrate/core/client/src/backend.rs
index 8a6ffe4384..09faab1a12 100644
--- a/substrate/core/client/src/backend.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/client/src/backend.rs
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ pub trait Backend<Block, H>: AuxStore + Send + Sync where
 	fn finalize_block(&self, block: BlockId<Block>, justification: Option<Justification>) -> error::Result<()>;
 	/// Returns reference to blockchain backend.
 	fn blockchain(&self) -> &Self::Blockchain;
+	/// Returns the used state cache, if existent.
+	fn used_state_cache_size(&self) -> Option<usize>;
 	/// Returns reference to changes trie storage.
 	fn changes_trie_storage(&self) -> Option<&Self::ChangesTrieStorage>;
 	/// Returns true if state for given block is available.
diff --git a/substrate/core/client/src/in_mem.rs b/substrate/core/client/src/in_mem.rs
index 5d436b0c89..f6b69287a4 100644
--- a/substrate/core/client/src/in_mem.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/client/src/in_mem.rs
@@ -651,6 +651,10 @@ where
 		&self.blockchain
 	}
 
+	fn used_state_cache_size(&self) -> Option<usize> {
+		None
+	}
+
 	fn changes_trie_storage(&self) -> Option<&Self::ChangesTrieStorage> {
 		Some(&self.changes_trie_storage)
 	}
diff --git a/substrate/core/client/src/light/backend.rs b/substrate/core/client/src/light/backend.rs
index b0e0aa3687..f22ee8a762 100644
--- a/substrate/core/client/src/light/backend.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/client/src/light/backend.rs
@@ -183,6 +183,10 @@ impl<S, F, Block, H> ClientBackend<Block, H> for Backend<S, F, H> where
 		&self.blockchain
 	}
 
+	fn used_state_cache_size(&self) -> Option<usize> {
+		None
+	}
+
 	fn changes_trie_storage(&self) -> Option<&Self::ChangesTrieStorage> {
 		None
 	}
diff --git a/substrate/core/service/src/components.rs b/substrate/core/service/src/components.rs
index f451bff562..e9fb7c9b19 100644
--- a/substrate/core/service/src/components.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/service/src/components.rs
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ impl<Factory: ServiceFactory> Components for FullComponents<Factory> {
 	{
 		let db_settings = client_db::DatabaseSettings {
 			cache_size: config.database_cache_size.map(|u| u as usize),
+			state_cache_size: config.state_cache_size,
 			path: config.database_path.as_str().into(),
 			pruning: config.pruning.clone(),
 		};
@@ -532,6 +533,7 @@ impl<Factory: ServiceFactory> Components for LightComponents<Factory> {
 	{
 		let db_settings = client_db::DatabaseSettings {
 			cache_size: None,
+			state_cache_size: config.state_cache_size,
 			path: config.database_path.as_str().into(),
 			pruning: config.pruning.clone(),
 		};
diff --git a/substrate/core/service/src/config.rs b/substrate/core/service/src/config.rs
index 6f0f5032e1..20134c788d 100644
--- a/substrate/core/service/src/config.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/service/src/config.rs
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ pub struct Configuration<C, G: Serialize + DeserializeOwned + BuildStorage> {
 	pub database_path: String,
 	/// Cache Size for internal database in MiB
 	pub database_cache_size: Option<u32>,
+	/// Size of internal state cache in Bytes
+	pub state_cache_size: usize,
 	/// Pruning settings.
 	pub pruning: PruningMode,
 	/// Additional key seeds.
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ impl<C: Default, G: Serialize + DeserializeOwned + BuildStorage> Configuration<C
 			keystore_path: Default::default(),
 			database_path: Default::default(),
 			database_cache_size: Default::default(),
+			state_cache_size: Default::default(),
 			keys: Default::default(),
 			custom: Default::default(),
 			pruning: PruningMode::default(),
diff --git a/substrate/core/service/test/src/lib.rs b/substrate/core/service/test/src/lib.rs
index 29be6cec21..95cd0173b4 100644
--- a/substrate/core/service/test/src/lib.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/service/test/src/lib.rs
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ fn node_config<F: ServiceFactory> (
 		keystore_path: root.join("key").to_str().unwrap().into(),
 		database_path: root.join("db").to_str().unwrap().into(),
 		database_cache_size: None,
+		state_cache_size: 16777216,
 		pruning: Default::default(),
 		keys: keys,
 		chain_spec: (*spec).clone(),