diff --git a/kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator/templates/_operator-dep.tpl b/kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator/templates/_operator-dep.tpl
index 5a09d8c5005..e045cb38845 100644
--- a/kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator/templates/_operator-dep.tpl
+++ b/kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator/templates/_operator-dep.tpl
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ spec:
         - name: "MOCK_WLS"
           value: "true"
         {{- end }}
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            cpu: "100m"
+            memory: "512Mi"
         volumeMounts:
         - name: "weblogic-operator-cm-volume"
           mountPath: "/operator/config"
diff --git a/kubernetes/src/test/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/create/CreateOperatorGeneratedFilesTestBase.java b/kubernetes/src/test/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/create/CreateOperatorGeneratedFilesTestBase.java
index d2def70c882..94315dfa265 100644
--- a/kubernetes/src/test/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/create/CreateOperatorGeneratedFilesTestBase.java
+++ b/kubernetes/src/test/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/create/CreateOperatorGeneratedFilesTestBase.java
@@ -44,11 +44,13 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
+import io.kubernetes.client.custom.Quantity;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.ExtensionsV1beta1Deployment;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1ClusterRole;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1ClusterRoleBinding;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1ConfigMap;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1Namespace;
+import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1ResourceRequirements;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1Role;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1RoleBinding;
 import io.kubernetes.client.models.V1Secret;
@@ -210,6 +212,11 @@ protected ExtensionsV1beta1Deployment getExpectedWeblogicOperatorDeployment() {
                                             newEnvVar()
                                                 .name("JAVA_LOGGING_LEVEL")
                                                 .value(getInputs().getJavaLoggingLevel()))
+                                        .resources(
+                                            new V1ResourceRequirements()
+                                                .putRequestsItem("cpu", Quantity.fromString("100m"))
+                                                .putRequestsItem(
+                                                    "memory", Quantity.fromString("512Mi")))
                                         .addVolumeMountsItem(
                                             newVolumeMount()
                                                 .name("weblogic-operator-cm-volume")
diff --git a/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/ClientPool.java b/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/ClientPool.java
index 9e1ce788c93..2ee29ca4f68 100644
--- a/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/ClientPool.java
+++ b/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/ClientPool.java
@@ -85,6 +85,13 @@ private ApiClient getApiClient() {
     return client;
   }
 
+  @Override
+  protected ApiClient onRecycle(ApiClient instance) {
+    // Work around async processing creating, but not cleaning-up network interceptors
+    instance.getHttpClient().networkInterceptors().clear();
+    return super.onRecycle(instance);
+  }
+
   private static class DefaultClientFactory implements ClientFactory {
     private final AtomicBoolean first = new AtomicBoolean(true);
 
diff --git a/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/Pool.java b/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/Pool.java
index 6962a31c7dc..e653143649c 100644
--- a/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/Pool.java
+++ b/operator/src/main/java/oracle/kubernetes/operator/helpers/Pool.java
@@ -46,12 +46,16 @@ protected Queue<T> getQueue() {
    * @param instance Pool object to recycle
    */
   public final void recycle(T instance) {
-    getQueue().offer(instance);
+    getQueue().offer(onRecycle(instance));
     if (LOGGER.isFinerEnabled()) {
       LOGGER.finer("Recycling instance to pool, instances now in pool: " + getQueue().size());
     }
   }
 
+  protected T onRecycle(T instance) {
+    return instance;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Creates a new instance of object. This method is used when someone wants to {@link #take()
    * take} an object from an empty pool. Also note that multiple threads may call this method
diff --git a/src/scripts/operator.sh b/src/scripts/operator.sh
index 0e5a6197e61..04e54b5546e 100755
--- a/src/scripts/operator.sh
+++ b/src/scripts/operator.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ cp /operator/logstash.conf /logs/logstash.conf
 # assumption is that we have mounted a volume on /logs which is also visible to
 # the logstash container/pod.
 
+# Container memory optimizaton flags
+HEAP="-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+UseCGroupMemoryLimitForHeap -XX:MaxRAMFraction=1 -XshowSettings:vm"
+
 # Start operator
-java $MOCKING_WLS $DEBUG $LOGGING -jar /operator/weblogic-kubernetes-operator.jar &
+java $HEAP $MOCKING_WLS $DEBUG $LOGGING -jar /operator/weblogic-kubernetes-operator.jar &
 PID=$!
 wait $PID