diff --git a/compose.override.yaml b/compose.override.yaml
index b736e482d84..44ac2dc5e9e 100644
--- a/compose.override.yaml
+++ b/compose.override.yaml
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ services:
         -Dsolr.max.booleanClauses=30000
         -Dsolr.environment=dev
       - LOCAL_DEV=true
+      # Local dev's index is tiny compared to prod; shrink the default 512m heap.
+      - SOLR_HEAP=128m
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8983/solr/openlibrary/admin/ping"]
       interval: 30s
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index 0bf8ad99184..36ae23bafab 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ services:
     image: "${OLIMAGE:-oldev:latest}"
     environment:
       - OL_CONFIG=${OL_CONFIG:-/openlibrary/conf/openlibrary.yml}
-      - GUNICORN_OPTS=${GUNICORN_OPTS:- --reload --workers 4 --timeout 180}
+      - GUNICORN_OPTS=${GUNICORN_OPTS:- --reload --workers 1 --timeout 180}
       - OL_COVERSTORE_PUBLIC_URL=${OL_COVERSTORE_PUBLIC_URL:-}
     command: docker/ol-web-start.sh
     ports: