diff --git a/pageserver/src/utilization.rs b/pageserver/src/utilization.rs
index a0223f3bce0b..093a9447773b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/utilization.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/utilization.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ pub(crate) fn regenerate(
     };
 
     // Express a static value for how many shards we may schedule on one node
-    const MAX_SHARDS: u32 = 20000;
+    const MAX_SHARDS: u32 = 5000;
 
     let mut doc = PageserverUtilization {
         disk_usage_bytes: used,