diff --git a/python/ray/worker.py b/python/ray/worker.py
index 06bf9d66d..0395e61d7 100644
--- a/python/ray/worker.py
+++ b/python/ray/worker.py
@@ -622,6 +622,29 @@ def init(
             arguments is passed in.
     """
 
+    # Try to increase the file descriptor limit, which is too low by
+    # default for Ray: https://github.com/ray-project/ray/issues/11239
+    try:
+        import resource
+        soft, hard = resource.getrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE)
+        if soft < hard:
+            logger.debug("Automatically increasing RLIMIT_NOFILE to max "
+                         "value of {}".format(hard))
+            try:
+                resource.setrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE, (hard, hard))
+            except ValueError:
+                logger.debug("Failed to raise limit.")
+        soft, _ = resource.getrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE)
+        if soft < 4096:
+            logger.warning(
+                "File descriptor limit {} is too low for production "
+                "servers and may result in connection errors. "
+                "At least 8192 is recommended. --- "
+                "Fix with 'ulimit -n 8192'".format(soft))
+    except ImportError:
+        logger.debug("Could not import resource module (on Windows)")
+        pass
+
     if "RAY_ADDRESS" in os.environ:
         if address is None or address == "auto":
             address = os.environ["RAY_ADDRESS"]