diff --git a/atlas-eval/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/atlas-eval/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index e0bbf789f..3ee809eca 100644
--- a/atlas-eval/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/atlas-eval/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ atlas.eval {
       max-input-datapoints = 2147483647
       // Maximum number of datapoints resulting from a group by. Defaults to Integer.MaxValue
       max-intermediate-datapoints = 2147483647
+
+      // Maximum step size allowed for streaming. Large step sizes require a large amount of time
+      // to accumulate data and could complicate deployments if not data loss is desirable. Limit
+      // to avoid usage.
+      max-step = 60s
     }
 
     // Broad tag keys that should be ignored for the purposes of dropping expensive queries
diff --git a/atlas-eval/src/main/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/ExprInterpreter.scala b/atlas-eval/src/main/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/ExprInterpreter.scala
index 50d533408..802a84ae7 100644
--- a/atlas-eval/src/main/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/ExprInterpreter.scala
+++ b/atlas-eval/src/main/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/ExprInterpreter.scala
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import com.netflix.atlas.eval.stream.Evaluator.DataSources
 import com.netflix.atlas.eval.util.HostRewriter
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
+import java.time.Duration
 import scala.util.Success
 
 private[stream] class ExprInterpreter(config: Config) {
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ private[stream] class ExprInterpreter(config: Config) {
 
   private val hostRewriter = new HostRewriter(config.getConfig("atlas.eval.host-rewrite"))
 
+  private val maxStep = config.getDuration("atlas.eval.stream.limits.max-step")
+
   // Use simple legends for expressions
   private val simpleLegendsEnabled: Boolean =
     config.getBoolean("atlas.eval.graph.simple-legends-enabled")
@@ -57,6 +60,12 @@ private[stream] class ExprInterpreter(config: Config) {
   def eval(uri: Uri): GraphConfig = {
     val graphCfg = grapher.toGraphConfig(uri)
 
+    // Check step size is within bounds
+    if (graphCfg.stepSize > maxStep.toMillis) {
+      val step = Duration.ofMillis(graphCfg.stepSize)
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(s"max allowed step size exceeded ($step > $maxStep)")
+    }
+
     // Check that data expressions are supported. The streaming path doesn't support
     // time shifts, filters, and integral. The filters and integral are excluded because
     // they can be confusing as the time window for evaluation is not bounded.
diff --git a/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/EvaluatorSuite.scala b/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/EvaluatorSuite.scala
index 817a84d0e..55677091c 100644
--- a/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/EvaluatorSuite.scala
+++ b/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/EvaluatorSuite.scala
@@ -363,6 +363,14 @@ class EvaluatorSuite extends FunSuite {
     testError(ds1, msg)
   }
 
+  test("create processor, reject large step size") {
+    val expr = "name,foo,:eq,:sum"
+    val uri = s"http://test/api/v1/graph?q=$expr&step=5m"
+    val msg = s"IllegalArgumentException: max allowed step size exceeded (PT5M > PT1M)"
+    val ds1 = Evaluator.DataSources.of(ds("one", uri))
+    testError(ds1, msg)
+  }
+
   test("processor handles multiple steps") {
     val evaluator = new Evaluator(config, registry, system)
 
diff --git a/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/TestContext.scala b/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/TestContext.scala
index 5132dbc91..d3e50e58f 100644
--- a/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/TestContext.scala
+++ b/atlas-eval/src/test/scala/com/netflix/atlas/eval/stream/TestContext.scala
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ object TestContext {
       |  limits {
       |    max-input-datapoints = 50000
       |    max-intermediate-datapoints = 10000000
+      |    max-step = 60s
       |  }
       |
       |  expression-limit = 50000