diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b37892e..bfdb475f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1288,7 +1288,9 @@ The values of all three are passed directly to the JVM and support format/units
 
     -e MEMORY=2G
 
-> NOTE: the settings above only set the Java **heap** limits. Memory resource requests and limits on the overall container should also account for non-heap memory usage. An extra 25% is [a general best practice](https://dzone.com/articles/best-practices-java-memory-arguments-for-container).
+> To let the JVM calculate the heap size from the container declared memory limit, unset `MEMORY` with an empty value, such as `-e MEMORY=""`. 
+
+> The settings above only set the Java **heap** limits. Memory resource requests and limits on the overall container should also account for non-heap memory usage. An extra 25% is [a general best practice](https://dzone.com/articles/best-practices-java-memory-arguments-for-container).
 
 ### JVM Options
 
diff --git a/scripts/start-finalExec b/scripts/start-finalExec
index 60e78d40..1112f104 100755
--- a/scripts/start-finalExec
+++ b/scripts/start-finalExec
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ if [[ ${GUI} = false || ${GUI} = FALSE ]]; then
   EXTRA_ARGS+=" nogui"
 fi
 
-# put these prior JVM_OPTS at the end to give any memory settings there higher precedence
-log "Setting initial memory to ${INIT_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}} and max to ${MAX_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}}"
+: "${INIT_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}}"
+: "${MAX_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}}"
 
 expandedDOpts=
 if [ -n "$JVM_DD_OPTS" ]; then
@@ -157,7 +157,15 @@ if isTrue "${DEBUG_MEMORY}"; then
   free -m
 fi
 
-JVM_OPTS="-Xms${INIT_MEMORY} -Xmx${MAX_MEMORY} ${JVM_OPTS}"
+if [[ ${INIT_MEMORY} || ${MAX_MEMORY} ]]; then
+  log "Setting initial memory to ${INIT_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}} and max to ${MAX_MEMORY:=${MEMORY}}"
+  if [[ ${INIT_MEMORY} ]]; then
+    JVM_OPTS="-Xms${INIT_MEMORY} ${JVM_OPTS}"
+  fi
+  if [[ ${MAX_MEMORY} ]]; then
+    JVM_OPTS="-Xmx${MAX_MEMORY} ${JVM_OPTS}"
+  fi
+fi
 
 function copyFilesForCurseForge() {
   # copy player modification files unconditionally since their
@@ -197,11 +205,11 @@ elif [[ ${TYPE} == "CURSEFORGE" ]]; then
   cat > "${FTB_DIR}/settings-local.sh" <<EOF
 export MIN_RAM="${INIT_MEMORY}"
 export MAX_RAM="${MAX_MEMORY}"
-export JAVA_PARAMETERS="${JVM_XX_OPTS} -Xms${INIT_MEMORY} ${JVM_OPTS} $expandedDOpts"
+export JAVA_PARAMETERS="${JVM_XX_OPTS} ${JVM_OPTS} $expandedDOpts"
 EOF
 
   # patch CurseForge cfg file, if present
-  if [ -f "${FTB_DIR}/settings.cfg" ]; then
+  if [ -f "${FTB_DIR}/settings.cfg" ] && [[ ${MAX_MEMORY} ]]; then
     sed -i "s/MAX_RAM=[^;]*/MAX_RAM=${MAX_MEMORY}/" "${FTB_DIR}/settings.cfg"
   fi
 
@@ -210,7 +218,7 @@ EOF
 
   finalArgs="${FTB_SERVER_START}"
 
-  if isTrue ${SETUP_ONLY:=false}; then
+  if isTrue "${SETUP_ONLY:=false}"; then
     echo "SETUP_ONLY: ${finalArgs}"
     exit
   fi
@@ -248,11 +256,11 @@ else
     exit
   fi
 
-  if isTrue ${DEBUG_EXEC}; then
+  if isTrue "${DEBUG_EXEC}"; then
     set -x
   fi
 
-  if isTrue ${EXEC_DIRECTLY:-false}; then
+  if isTrue "${EXEC_DIRECTLY:-false}"; then
     exec java "${finalArgs[@]}"
   else
     exec mc-server-runner ${bootstrapArgs} "${mcServerRunnerArgs[@]}" java "${finalArgs[@]}"