diff --git a/oak-segment-remote/pom.xml b/oak-segment-remote/pom.xml
index ea6135eb43..dd12eefa65 100644
--- a/oak-segment-remote/pom.xml
+++ b/oak-segment-remote/pom.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@
 
 	<build>
       <plugins>
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+          <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+          <configuration>
+            <argLine>-Xmx768m</argLine>
+          </configuration>
+        </plugin>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.felix</groupId>
           <artifactId>maven-bundle-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentDiskCache.java b/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentDiskCache.java
index 3cc42875f1..731884339a 100644
--- a/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentDiskCache.java
+++ b/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentDiskCache.java
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
+import static org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.segment.remote.RemoteUtilities.OFF_HEAP;
+
 public class PersistentDiskCache extends AbstractPersistentCache {
     private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PersistentDiskCache.class);
     public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_CACHE_SIZE_MB = 512;
@@ -100,7 +102,12 @@ public class PersistentDiskCache extends AbstractPersistentCache {
                 try (FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(segmentFile); FileChannel channel = fis.getChannel()) {
                     int length = (int) channel.size();
 
-                    Buffer buffer = Buffer.allocateDirect(length);
+                    Buffer buffer;
+                    if (OFF_HEAP) {
+                        buffer = Buffer.allocateDirect(length);
+                    } else {
+                        buffer = Buffer.allocate(length);
+                    }
                     if (buffer.readFully(channel, 0) < length) {
                         throw new EOFException();
                     }
diff --git a/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentRedisCache.java b/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentRedisCache.java
index ee2f7687cf..659b21e48f 100644
--- a/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentRedisCache.java
+++ b/oak-segment-remote/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/remote/persistentcache/PersistentRedisCache.java
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
+import static org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.segment.remote.RemoteUtilities.OFF_HEAP;
+
 public class PersistentRedisCache extends AbstractPersistentCache {
     private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PersistentRedisCache.class);
     public static final int DEFAULT_REDIS_CACHE_EXPIRE_SECONDS = 3600 * 24 * 2;
@@ -133,8 +135,12 @@ public class PersistentRedisCache extends AbstractPersistentCache {
                 long elapsed = stopwatch.elapsed(TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS);
                 redisCacheIOMonitor.afterSegmentRead(null, msb, lsb, bytes.length, elapsed);
 
-                Buffer buffer = Buffer.allocateDirect(bytes.length);
-
+                Buffer buffer;
+                if (OFF_HEAP) {
+                    buffer = Buffer.allocateDirect(bytes.length);
+                } else {
+                    buffer = Buffer.allocate(bytes.length);
+                }
                 buffer.put(bytes);
                 buffer.flip();
                 return buffer;