diff --git a/python/ray/worker.py b/python/ray/worker.py
index d66ed20b9..cc231f7fa 100644
--- a/python/ray/worker.py
+++ b/python/ray/worker.py
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ def init(
             logger.debug("Automatically increasing RLIMIT_NOFILE to max "
                          "value of {}".format(hard))
             try:
-                resource.setrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE, (hard, hard))
+                resource.setrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE, (soft, hard))
             except ValueError:
                 logger.debug("Failed to raise limit.")
         soft, _ = resource.getrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_NOFILE)