diff --git a/Makefile.INCLUDE b/Makefile.INCLUDE
index db73a729b..c4ca4e8d6 100644
--- a/Makefile.INCLUDE
+++ b/Makefile.INCLUDE
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ GOENV		= TMPDIR=$(TMPDIR) GOROOT=$(GOROOT) GOPATH=$(GOPATH)
 GO		= $(GOENV) $(GOCC)
 GOFMT		= $(GOROOT)/bin/gofmt
 
-LEVELDB_VERSION := 1.9.0
+LEVELDB_VERSION := 1.12.0
 PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_VERSION := 2.5.0
 SNAPPY_VERSION := 1.1.0
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb.go b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
index 7de237e17..31848d68e 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ var (
 
 	// These flag values are back of the envelope, though they seem sensible.
 	// Please re-evaluate based on your own needs.
-	curationRemarksCacheSize         = flag.Int("curationRemarksCacheSize", 50*1024*1024, "The size for the curation remarks cache (bytes).")
-	fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSize = flag.Int("fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the fingerprint to label pair index (bytes).")
-	highWatermarkCacheSize           = flag.Int("highWatermarksByFingerprintSizeBytes", 50*1024*1024, "The size for the metric high watermarks (bytes).")
-	labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the label name to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
-	labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the label pair to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
-	metricMembershipIndexCacheSize   = flag.Int("metricMembershipCacheSizeBytes", 50*1024*1024, "The size for the metric membership index (bytes).")
-	samplesByFingerprintCacheSize    = flag.Int("samplesByFingerprintCacheSizeBytes", 500*1024*1024, "The size for the samples database (bytes).")
+	curationRemarksCacheSize         = flag.Int("curationRemarksCacheSize", 5*1024*1024, "The size for the curation remarks cache (bytes).")
+	fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSize = flag.Int("fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size for the fingerprint to label pair index (bytes).")
+	highWatermarkCacheSize           = flag.Int("highWatermarksByFingerprintSizeBytes", 5*1024*1024, "The size for the metric high watermarks (bytes).")
+	labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size for the label name to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
+	labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size for the label pair to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
+	metricMembershipIndexCacheSize   = flag.Int("metricMembershipCacheSizeBytes", 5*1024*1024, "The size for the metric membership index (bytes).")
+	samplesByFingerprintCacheSize    = flag.Int("samplesByFingerprintCacheSizeBytes", 50*1024*1024, "The size for the samples database (bytes).")
 )
 
 type leveldbOpener func()
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
index d68bca53f..919aeedf8 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ import (
 var (
 	leveldbFlushOnMutate     = flag.Bool("leveldbFlushOnMutate", false, "Whether LevelDB should flush every operation to disk upon mutation before returning (bool).")
 	leveldbUseSnappy         = flag.Bool("leveldbUseSnappy", true, "Whether LevelDB attempts to use Snappy for compressing elements (bool).")
-	leveldbUseParanoidChecks = flag.Bool("leveldbUseParanoidChecks", true, "Whether LevelDB uses expensive checks (bool).")
+	leveldbUseParanoidChecks = flag.Bool("leveldbUseParanoidChecks", false, "Whether LevelDB uses expensive checks (bool).")
+	maximumOpenFiles         = flag.Int("leveldb.maximumOpenFiles", 128, "The maximum number of files each LevelDB may maintain.")
 )
 
 // LevelDBPersistence is a disk-backed sorted key-value store.
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ func (i levigoIterator) GetError() (err error) {
 	return i.iterator.GetError()
 }
 
-func NewLevelDBPersistence(storageRoot string, cacheCapacity, bitsPerBloomFilterEncoded int) (p *LevelDBPersistence, err error) {
+func NewLevelDBPersistence(storageRoot string, cacheCapacity, bitsPerBloomFilterEncoded int) (*LevelDBPersistence, error) {
 	options := levigo.NewOptions()
 	options.SetCreateIfMissing(true)
 	options.SetParanoidChecks(*leveldbUseParanoidChecks)
@@ -184,18 +185,19 @@ func NewLevelDBPersistence(storageRoot string, cacheCapacity, bitsPerBloomFilter
 	filterPolicy := levigo.NewBloomFilter(bitsPerBloomFilterEncoded)
 	options.SetFilterPolicy(filterPolicy)
 
+	options.SetMaxOpenFiles(*maximumOpenFiles)
+
 	storage, err := levigo.Open(storageRoot, options)
 	if err != nil {
-		return
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	var (
-		readOptions  = levigo.NewReadOptions()
-		writeOptions = levigo.NewWriteOptions()
-	)
+	readOptions := levigo.NewReadOptions()
 
+	writeOptions := levigo.NewWriteOptions()
 	writeOptions.SetSync(*leveldbFlushOnMutate)
-	p = &LevelDBPersistence{
+
+	return &LevelDBPersistence{
 		path: storageRoot,
 
 		cache:        cache,
@@ -206,9 +208,7 @@ func NewLevelDBPersistence(storageRoot string, cacheCapacity, bitsPerBloomFilter
 		writeOptions: writeOptions,
 
 		storage: storage,
-	}
-
-	return
+	}, nil
 }
 
 func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Close() {