diff --git a/narwhal.local.conf b/narwhal.local.conf
index 9fe4e691b..235176eab 100644
--- a/narwhal.local.conf
+++ b/narwhal.local.conf
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
 if [ -z "$NARWHAL_ENGINE" ] && [ -d "$NARWHAL_HOME/packages/narwhal-jsc" ]; then
 	export NARWHAL_ENGINE=jsc
 fi
+
+if [ "$NARWHAL_ENGINE" == jsc ] && [ `ulimit -n` -lt 512 ]; then
+    # JSC and Narwhal together have some trouble closing files, leading to the Cappuccino
+    # build process crashing with a "popen error (pipe): Too many open files" error.
+    ulimit -n 512
+fi