diff --git a/etcdmain/etcd.go b/etcdmain/etcd.go
index 3998f2ffa..a86a62a9b 100644
--- a/etcdmain/etcd.go
+++ b/etcdmain/etcd.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/cors"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/fileutil"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/osutil"
+	runtimeutil "github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/runtime"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/proxy"
@@ -49,6 +50,18 @@ var plog = capnslog.NewPackageLogger("github.com/coreos/etcd", "etcdmain")
 const (
 	// the owner can make/remove files inside the directory
 	privateDirMode = 0700
+
+	// internal fd usage includes disk usage and transport usage.
+	// To read/write snapshot, snap pkg needs 1. In normal case, wal pkg needs
+	// at most 2 to read/lock/write WALs. One case that it needs to 2 is to
+	// read all logs after some snapshot index, which locates at the end of
+	// the second last and the head of the last. For purging, it needs to read
+	// directory, so it needs 1. For fd monitor, it needs 1.
+	// For transport, rafthttp builds two long-polling connections and at most
+	// four temporary connections with each member. There are at most 9 members
+	// in a cluster, so it should reserve 96.
+	// For the safety, we set the total reserved number to 150.
+	reservedInternalFDNum = 150
 )
 
 var (
@@ -188,6 +201,12 @@ func startEtcd(cfg *config) (<-chan struct{}, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		if fdLimit, err := runtimeutil.FDLimit(); err == nil {
+			if fdLimit <= reservedInternalFDNum {
+				plog.Fatalf("file descriptor limit[%d] of etcd process is too low, and should be set higher than %d to ensure internal usage", fdLimit, reservedInternalFDNum)
+			}
+			l = &transport.LimitedConnListener{Listener: l, RuntimeFDLimit: fdLimit - reservedInternalFDNum}
+		}
 
 		urlStr := u.String()
 		plog.Info("listening for client requests on ", urlStr)
diff --git a/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener.go b/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0cbe88e22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright 2015 CoreOS, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package transport
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"net"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/etcd/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/coreos/pkg/capnslog"
+	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/runtime"
+)
+
+var plog = capnslog.NewPackageLogger("github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg", "transport")
+
+type LimitedConnListener struct {
+	net.Listener
+	RuntimeFDLimit uint64
+}
+
+func (l *LimitedConnListener) Accept() (net.Conn, error) {
+	conn, err := l.Listener.Accept()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	n, err := runtime.FDUsage()
+	// Check whether fd number in use exceeds the set limit.
+	if err == nil && n >= l.RuntimeFDLimit {
+		conn.Close()
+		plog.Errorf("accept error: closing connection, exceed file descriptor usage limitation (fd limit=%d)", l.RuntimeFDLimit)
+		return nil, &acceptError{error: errors.New("exceed file descriptor usage limitation"), temporary: true}
+	}
+	return conn, nil
+}
+
+type acceptError struct {
+	error
+	temporary bool
+}
+
+func (e *acceptError) Timeout() bool { return false }
+
+func (e *acceptError) Temporary() bool { return e.temporary }
diff --git a/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener_test.go b/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd3fb05ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/transport/limited_conn_listener_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+// Copyright 2015 CoreOS, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package transport
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/runtime"
+)
+
+func TestLimitedConnListenerAccept(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := runtime.FDUsage(); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skip test due to unsupported runtime.FDUsage")
+	}
+
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", ":0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	fdNum, err := runtime.FDUsage()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	srv := &httptest.Server{
+		Listener: &LimitedConnListener{
+			Listener:       ln,
+			RuntimeFDLimit: fdNum + 100,
+		},
+		Config: &http.Server{},
+	}
+	srv.Start()
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	resp, err := http.Get(srv.URL)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Get error = %v, want nil", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLimitedConnListenerLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := runtime.FDUsage(); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skip test due to unsupported runtime.FDUsage")
+	}
+
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", ":0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	srv := &httptest.Server{
+		Listener: &LimitedConnListener{
+			Listener:       ln,
+			RuntimeFDLimit: 0,
+		},
+		Config: &http.Server{},
+	}
+	srv.Start()
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	_, err = http.Get(srv.URL)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected nil Get error")
+	}
+}