diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index e47694548..dcf33aca8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 0.16 release
 
+	* support torrents with more than 262000 pieces
 	* make tracker back-off configurable
 	* don't restart the swarm after downloading metadata from magnet links
 	* lower the default tracker retry intervals
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/config.hpp b/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
index 20966a9c6..8d0901d87 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
@@ -399,6 +399,12 @@ inline int snprintf(char* buf, int len, char const* fmt, ...)
 #endif
 #endif
 
+// if set to true, piece picker will use less RAM
+// but only support up to ~260000 pieces in a torrent
+#ifndef TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
+#define TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER 0
+#endif
+
 #ifndef TORRENT_USE_I2P
 #define TORRENT_USE_I2P 1
 #endif
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/piece_picker.hpp b/include/libtorrent/piece_picker.hpp
index 828bc1ed8..34911014a 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/piece_picker.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/piece_picker.hpp
@@ -387,11 +387,15 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 			// the number of peers that has this piece
 			// (availability)
-			unsigned peer_count : 9;
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
+			boost::uint32_t peer_count : 9;
+#else
+			boost::uint32_t peer_count : 16;
+#endif
 			// is 1 if the piece is marked as being downloaded
-			unsigned downloading : 1;
+			boost::uint32_t downloading : 1;
 			// set when downloading, but no free blocks to request left
-			unsigned full : 1;
+			boost::uint32_t full : 1;
 			// is 0 if the piece is filtered (not to be downloaded)
 			// 1 is normal priority (default)
 			// 2 is higher priority than pieces at the same availability level
@@ -399,20 +403,32 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			// 4 is higher priority than partial pieces
 			// 5 and 6 same priority as availability 1 (ignores availability)
 			// 7 is maximum priority (ignores availability)
-			unsigned piece_priority : 3;
+			boost::uint32_t piece_priority : 3;
 			// index in to the piece_info vector
-			unsigned index : 18;
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
+			boost::uint32_t index : 18;
+#else
+			boost::uint32_t index;
+#endif
 
 			enum
 			{
 				// index is set to this to indicate that we have the
 				// piece. There is no entry for the piece in the
 				// buckets if this is the case.
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
 				we_have_index = 0x3ffff,
+#else
+				we_have_index = 0xffffffff,
+#endif
 				// the priority value that means the piece is filtered
 				filter_priority = 0,
 				// the max number the peer count can hold
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
 				max_peer_count = 0x1ff
+#else
+				max_peer_count = 0xffff
+#endif
 			};
 			
 			bool have() const { return index == we_have_index; }
@@ -469,7 +485,11 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 	private:
 
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
 		BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(sizeof(piece_pos) == sizeof(char) * 4);
+#else
+		BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(sizeof(piece_pos) == sizeof(char) * 8);
+#endif
 
 		void update_pieces() const;
 
diff --git a/src/piece_picker.cpp b/src/piece_picker.cpp
index d8a83995d..512f65a2c 100644
--- a/src/piece_picker.cpp
+++ b/src/piece_picker.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,11 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 	void piece_picker::check_invariant(const torrent* t) const
 	{
+#if TORRENT_COMPACT_PICKER
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(sizeof(piece_pos) == 4);
+#else
+		TORRENT_ASSERT(sizeof(piece_pos) == 8);
+#endif
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_num_have >= 0);
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_num_have_filtered >= 0);
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_num_filtered >= 0);