diff --git a/nats/aio/client.py b/nats/aio/client.py
index c5d7c5e5..7dbc1105 100644
--- a/nats/aio/client.py
+++ b/nats/aio/client.py
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
 DEFAULT_FLUSH_TIMEOUT = 10  # in seconds
 DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 2  # in seconds
 DEFAULT_DRAIN_TIMEOUT = 30  # in seconds
+DEFAULT_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE = 4 * 1024 * 1024
 MAX_CONTROL_LINE_SIZE = 1024
 
 NATS_HDR_LINE = bytearray(b'NATS/1.0')
@@ -315,6 +316,7 @@ async def connect(
         inbox_prefix: Union[str, bytes] = DEFAULT_INBOX_PREFIX,
         pending_size: int = DEFAULT_PENDING_SIZE,
         flush_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
+        max_message_size: int = DEFAULT_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE
     ) -> None:
         """
         Establishes a connection to NATS.
@@ -445,6 +447,7 @@ async def subscribe_handler(msg):
         self.options["token"] = token
         self.options["connect_timeout"] = connect_timeout
         self.options["drain_timeout"] = drain_timeout
+        self.options["max_message_size"] = max_message_size
 
         if tls:
             self.options['tls'] = tls
@@ -1309,13 +1312,15 @@ async def _select_next_server(self) -> None:
                         s.uri,
                         ssl_context=self.ssl_context,
                         buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE,
-                        connect_timeout=self.options['connect_timeout']
+                        connect_timeout=self.options['connect_timeout'],
+                        max_msg_size=self.options['max_message_size']
                     )
                 else:
                     await self._transport.connect(
                         s.uri,
                         buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE,
-                        connect_timeout=self.options['connect_timeout']
+                        connect_timeout=self.options['connect_timeout'],
+                        max_msg_size=self.options['max_message_size']
                     )
                 self._current_server = s
                 break
diff --git a/nats/aio/transport.py b/nats/aio/transport.py
index f32558ba..c0f88f4b 100644
--- a/nats/aio/transport.py
+++ b/nats/aio/transport.py
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ class Transport(abc.ABC):
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     async def connect(
-        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int
+        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int,
+        max_message_size: int
     ):
         """
         Connects to a server using the implemented transport. The uri passed is of type ParseResult that can be
@@ -28,11 +29,8 @@ async def connect(
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     async def connect_tls(
-        self,
-        uri: Union[str, ParseResult],
-        ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
-        buffer_size: int,
-        connect_timeout: int,
+        self, uri: Union[str, ParseResult], ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
+        buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int, max_message_size: int
     ):
         """
         connect_tls is similar to connect except it tries to connect to a secure endpoint, using the provided ssl
@@ -116,7 +114,8 @@ def __init__(self):
         self._io_writer: Optional[asyncio.StreamWriter] = None
 
     async def connect(
-        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int
+        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int,
+        max_message_size: int
     ):
         r, w = await asyncio.wait_for(
             asyncio.open_connection(
@@ -136,11 +135,8 @@ async def connect(
         self._bare_io_writer = self._io_writer = w
 
     async def connect_tls(
-        self,
-        uri: Union[str, ParseResult],
-        ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
-        buffer_size: int,
-        connect_timeout: int,
+        self, uri: Union[str, ParseResult], ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
+        buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int, max_message_size: int
     ) -> None:
         assert self._io_writer, f'{type(self).__name__}.connect must be called first'
 
@@ -203,20 +199,18 @@ def __init__(self):
         self._using_tls: Optional[bool] = None
 
     async def connect(
-        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int
+        self, uri: ParseResult, buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int,
+        max_msg_size: int
     ):
         # for websocket library, the uri must contain the scheme already
         self._ws = await self._client.ws_connect(
-            uri.geturl(), timeout=connect_timeout
+            uri.geturl(), timeout=connect_timeout, max_msg_size=max_msg_size
         )
         self._using_tls = False
 
     async def connect_tls(
-        self,
-        uri: Union[str, ParseResult],
-        ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
-        buffer_size: int,
-        connect_timeout: int,
+        self, uri: Union[str, ParseResult], ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext,
+        buffer_size: int, connect_timeout: int, max_msg_size: int
     ):
         if self._ws and not self._ws.closed:
             if self._using_tls:
@@ -226,7 +220,8 @@ async def connect_tls(
         self._ws = await self._client.ws_connect(
             uri if isinstance(uri, str) else uri.geturl(),
             ssl=ssl_context,
-            timeout=connect_timeout
+            timeout=connect_timeout,
+            max_msg_size=max_msg_size
         )
         self._using_tls = True