diff --git a/arangod/RestServer/ConsoleThread.cpp b/arangod/RestServer/ConsoleThread.cpp
index 0cd678d0c6..b5ed584c84 100644
--- a/arangod/RestServer/ConsoleThread.cpp
+++ b/arangod/RestServer/ConsoleThread.cpp
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ void ConsoleThread::inner () {
 
     while (! _userAborted) {
       if (nrCommands >= gcInterval) {
-        TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, 1.0);
+        TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, 0.5);
         nrCommands = 0;
       }
 
diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
index fffd505bfd..d5edf68736 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
@@ -1440,7 +1440,7 @@ void ApplicationV8::shutdownV8Instance (const string& name, size_t i) {
     localContext->Enter();
     v8::Context::Scope contextScope(localContext);
 
-    TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, 5.0);
+    TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, 30.0);
 
     TRI_GET_GLOBALS();
     if (v8g != nullptr) {
diff --git a/lib/V8/v8-utils.cpp b/lib/V8/v8-utils.cpp
index 5a98635bf7..504c8a1627 100644
--- a/lib/V8/v8-utils.cpp
+++ b/lib/V8/v8-utils.cpp
@@ -3954,9 +3954,8 @@ void TRI_CreateErrorObject (v8::Isolate *isolate,
 
     TRI_V8_RETURN(TRI_V8_STRING_UTF16( (const uint16_t*) result.getBuffer(), result.length()));
   }
-  else {
-    TRI_V8_RETURN(v8::String::NewFromUtf8(isolate, ""));
-  }
+    
+  TRI_V8_RETURN(v8::String::NewFromUtf8(isolate, ""));
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -3982,6 +3981,16 @@ v8::Handle<v8::Array> static TRI_V8PathList (v8::Isolate* isolate, string const&
   return scope.Escape<v8::Array>(result);
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief execute a single garbage collection run
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+bool TRI_SingleRunGarbageCollectionV8 (v8::Isolate* isolate,
+                                       int idleTimeInMs) {
+  isolate->LowMemoryNotification();
+  return isolate->IdleNotification(idleTimeInMs);
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief run the V8 garbage collection for at most a specifiable amount of 
 /// time
@@ -3994,6 +4003,9 @@ void TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8 (v8::Isolate* isolate,
   if (availableTime >= 5.0) {
     idleTimeInMs = 10000;
   }
+  if (availableTime >= 10.0) {
+    idleTimeInMs = 100000;
+  }
     
   double const until = TRI_microtime() + availableTime;
 
@@ -4007,10 +4019,8 @@ void TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8 (v8::Isolate* isolate,
 
   int gcTries = 0;
 
-  isolate->LowMemoryNotification();
   while (++gcTries <= gcAttempts) {
-    if (isolate->IdleNotification(idleTimeInMs)) {
-      // we're done
+    if (TRI_SingleRunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, idleTimeInMs)) {
       return;
     }
   }
@@ -4019,14 +4029,10 @@ void TRI_RunGarbageCollectionV8 (v8::Isolate* isolate,
   while (TRI_microtime() < until) {
     if (++i % 1000 == 0) {
       // garbage collection only every x iterations, otherwise we'll use too much CPU
-      isolate->LowMemoryNotification();
-      // todo 1000 was the old V8-default, is this really good?
-      while (++gcTries <= gcAttempts) {
-        if (isolate->IdleNotification(idleTimeInMs)) {
-          // we're done
-          return;
-        }
-      }
+      if (++gcTries > gcAttempts ||
+          TRI_SingleRunGarbageCollectionV8(isolate, idleTimeInMs)) {
+        return;  
+      } 
     }
 
     usleep(100);
diff --git a/lib/V8/v8-utils.h b/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
index 8b79463665..d1f686a216 100644
--- a/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
+++ b/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
@@ -215,6 +215,12 @@ void TRI_CreateErrorObject (v8::Isolate* isolate,
 void TRI_normalize_V8_Obj (const v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value>& args,
                            v8::Handle<v8::Value> obj);
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief executes a single garbage collection run
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+   
+bool TRI_SingleRunGarbageCollectionV8 (v8::Isolate*, double);
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief run the V8 garbage collection for at most a specifiable amount of 
 /// time