--- a/make/common/shared/Platform.gmk	Tue Oct 06 06:59:10 2009 -0700
+++ b/make/common/shared/Platform.gmk	Sun Oct 18 09:58:07 2009 -0700
@@ -465,14 +465,7 @@ endif
 #    build machines and adjustments will be made to prevent excessing
 #    system swapping during the build.
 #    If we don't know, assume 512. Subtract 128 from MB for VM MAX.
-#    Don't set VM max over 1024-128=896, except on OpenBSD where
-#    736 is the max.
-ifeq ($(OS_VENDOR), OpenBSD)
-  ABS_MAX_MEMORY := "736"
-else
-  ABS_MAX_MEMORY := "896"
-endif
-
+#    Don't set VM max over 1024-128=896.
 ifndef MAX_VM_MEMORY
   ifneq ($(MB_OF_MEMORY),)
     LOW_MEMORY_MACHINE := $(shell \
@@ -485,7 +478,7 @@ ifndef MAX_VM_MEMORY
       if [ $(MB_OF_MEMORY) -le 1024 ] ; then \
         expr $(MB_OF_MEMORY) '-' 128 ; \
       else \
-        echo $(ABS_MAX_MEMORY); \
+        echo "896"; \
       fi)
     MIN_VM_MEMORY := $(shell \
       if [ $(MAX_VM_MEMORY) -le 128 ] ; then \
@@ -503,6 +496,18 @@ ifndef MAX_VM_MEMORY
   export MIN_VM_MEMORY
   export LOW_MEMORY_MACHINE
   export MAX_VM_MEMORY
+endif
+
+# for OpenBSD/i386 limit to 736 max
+ifeq ($(OS_VENDOR), OpenBSD)
+  ifeq ($(ARCH_DATA_MODEL), 32)
+    MAX_VM_MEMORY := $(shell \
+      if [ $(MAX_VM_MEMORY) -gt 736 ] ; then \
+        echo "736"; \
+      else \
+        echo "$(MAX_VM_MEMORY)" ; \
+      fi)
+  endif
 endif
 
 REQUIRED_ZIP_VER = 2.2