diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/10258-Lyndon-Li b/changelogs/unreleased/10258-Lyndon-Li
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d73f8f4c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/10258-Lyndon-Li
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Cap the unzip of metadata download to avoid OOM kill
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest.go b/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest.go
index f0956b1cb..209b6c37c 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 // not found
 var ErrNotFound = errors.New("file not found")
 var ErrDownloadRequestDownloadURLTimeout = errors.New("download request download url timeout, check velero server logs for errors. backup storage location may not be available")
+var unzipLimit int64 = 1024 * 1024 * 1024 // 1GB limit
 
 func Stream(
 	ctx context.Context,
@@ -202,17 +203,35 @@ func download(
 		return errors.Errorf("request failed: %v", string(body))
 	}
 
-	reader := resp.Body
+	var r io.Reader = resp.Body
+	var gzipReader *gzip.Reader
 	if kind != veleroV1api.DownloadTargetKindBackupContents {
 		// need to decompress logs
-		gzipReader, err := gzip.NewReader(resp.Body)
+		var err error
+		gzipReader, err = gzip.NewReader(resp.Body)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		defer gzipReader.Close()
-		reader = gzipReader
+
+		r = io.LimitReader(gzipReader, unzipLimit)
 	}
 
-	_, err = io.Copy(w, reader)
-	return err
+	_, err = io.Copy(w, r)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if gzipReader != nil {
+		var buf [1]byte
+		n, err := gzipReader.Read(buf[:])
+		if n > 0 || err == nil {
+			return errors.Errorf("decompressed data exceeds the limit")
+		}
+		if err != io.EOF {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest_test.go b/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest_test.go
index 995e83dc6..36a02413a 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/util/downloadrequest/downloadrequest_test.go
@@ -463,6 +463,7 @@ func TestDownload(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedContent       string
 		expectedError         bool
 		errorType             error
+		expectedErrMsg        string
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "successful download with gzip for logs",
@@ -474,6 +475,16 @@ func TestDownload(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedContent: testContent,
 			expectedError:   false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "error decompressed data exceeds the limit",
+			serverHandler: func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+				w.Write(compressedContent.Bytes())
+			},
+			target:         velerov1api.DownloadTargetKindBackupLog,
+			expectedError:  true,
+			expectedErrMsg: "decompressed data exceeds the limit",
+		},
 		{
 			name: "successful download without gzip for backup contents",
 			serverHandler: func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
@@ -506,6 +517,12 @@ func TestDownload(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			originalLimit := unzipLimit
+			if tc.expectedErrMsg == "decompressed data exceeds the limit" {
+				unzipLimit = 10
+			}
+			defer func() { unzipLimit = originalLimit }()
+
 			server := httptest.NewServer(tc.serverHandler)
 			defer server.Close()
 
@@ -525,6 +542,9 @@ func TestDownload(t *testing.T) {
 				if tc.errorType != nil {
 					assert.Equal(t, tc.errorType, err)
 				}
+				if tc.expectedErrMsg != "" {
+					assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), tc.expectedErrMsg)
+				}
 			} else {
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 				assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedContent, buf.String())