diff --git a/tcg/tcg.c b/tcg/tcg.c
index 551caf1c53..6eeebe0624 100644
--- a/tcg/tcg.c
+++ b/tcg/tcg.c
@@ -866,6 +866,7 @@ void tcg_func_start(TCGContext *s)
     /* No temps have been previously allocated for size or locality.  */
     memset(s->free_temps, 0, sizeof(s->free_temps));
 
+    s->nb_ops = 0;
     s->nb_labels = 0;
     s->current_frame_offset = s->frame_start;
 
@@ -1956,6 +1957,7 @@ void tcg_op_remove(TCGContext *s, TCGOp *op)
 {
     QTAILQ_REMOVE(&s->ops, op, link);
     QTAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&s->free_ops, op, link);
+    s->nb_ops--;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_PROFILER
     atomic_set(&s->prof.del_op_count, s->prof.del_op_count + 1);
@@ -1975,6 +1977,7 @@ static TCGOp *tcg_op_alloc(TCGOpcode opc)
     }
     memset(op, 0, offsetof(TCGOp, link));
     op->opc = opc;
+    s->nb_ops++;
 
     return op;
 }
diff --git a/tcg/tcg.h b/tcg/tcg.h
index 75fbad128b..88378be310 100644
--- a/tcg/tcg.h
+++ b/tcg/tcg.h
@@ -655,6 +655,7 @@ struct TCGContext {
     int nb_globals;
     int nb_temps;
     int nb_indirects;
+    int nb_ops;
 
     /* goto_tb support */
     tcg_insn_unit *code_buf;
@@ -844,7 +845,12 @@ static inline TCGOp *tcg_last_op(void)
 /* Test for whether to terminate the TB for using too many opcodes.  */
 static inline bool tcg_op_buf_full(void)
 {
-    return false;
+    /* This is not a hard limit, it merely stops translation when
+     * we have produced "enough" opcodes.  We want to limit TB size
+     * such that a RISC host can reasonably use a 16-bit signed
+     * branch within the TB.
+     */
+    return tcg_ctx->nb_ops >= 8000;
 }
 
 /* pool based memory allocation */