diff --git a/core/iwasm/common/wasm_runtime_common.c b/core/iwasm/common/wasm_runtime_common.c
index daaf25f56..d33c02727 100644
--- a/core/iwasm/common/wasm_runtime_common.c
+++ b/core/iwasm/common/wasm_runtime_common.c
@@ -757,7 +757,10 @@ wasm_runtime_full_init_internal(RuntimeInitArgs *init_args)
 #endif
 
 #if WASM_ENABLE_GC != 0
-    gc_heap_size_default = init_args->gc_heap_size;
+    uint32 gc_heap_size = init_args->gc_heap_size;
+    if (gc_heap_size > 0) {
+        gc_heap_size_default = gc_heap_size;
+    }
 #endif
 
 #if WASM_ENABLE_JIT != 0
diff --git a/core/shared/mem-alloc/mem_alloc.cmake b/core/shared/mem-alloc/mem_alloc.cmake
index 5f47cce13..76d1706dc 100644
--- a/core/shared/mem-alloc/mem_alloc.cmake
+++ b/core/shared/mem-alloc/mem_alloc.cmake
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ if (WAMR_BUILD_GC_CORRUPTION_CHECK EQUAL 0)
     add_definitions (-DBH_ENABLE_GC_CORRUPTION_CHECK=0)
 endif ()
 
+if (DEFINED WAMR_BUILD_GC_HEAP_SIZE_DEFAULT)
+    add_definitions ("-DGC_HEAP_SIZE_DEFAULT=${WAMR_BUILD_GC_HEAP_SIZE_DEFAULT}")
+endif ()
+
 file (GLOB_RECURSE source_all
       ${MEM_ALLOC_DIR}/ems/*.c
       ${MEM_ALLOC_DIR}/tlsf/*.c
diff --git a/doc/build_wamr.md b/doc/build_wamr.md
index cde884457..b8cfcc989 100644
--- a/doc/build_wamr.md
+++ b/doc/build_wamr.md
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ cmake -DWAMR_BUILD_PLATFORM=linux -DWAMR_BUILD_TARGET=ARM
 ### **Enable Garbage Collection**
 - **WAMR_BUILD_GC**=1/0, default to disable if not set
 
+### **Set the Garbage Collection heap size**
+- **WAMR_BUILD_GC_HEAP_SIZE_DEFAULT**=n, default to 128 kB (131072) if not set
+
 ### **Configure Debug**
 
 - **WAMR_BUILD_CUSTOM_NAME_SECTION**=1/0, load the function name from custom name section, default to disable if not set