diff --git a/.changeset/dirty-teeth-invent.md b/.changeset/dirty-teeth-invent.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1ee11bf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/dirty-teeth-invent.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@openfn/runtime': minor
+---
+
+Use async serialization on state objects at the end of each step.
+
+This may result in slightly different handling of state objects at the end of each step. It should add stability by making sure that huge state objects throw a graceful OOMKill, rather than blowing up the wrapping worker.
diff --git a/packages/runtime/package.json b/packages/runtime/package.json
index 3bcad74bc..1e87fa818 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/package.json
+++ b/packages/runtime/package.json
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@openfn/logger": "workspace:*",
     "fast-safe-stringify": "^2.1.1",
+    "json-stream-stringify": "^3.1.6",
     "semver": "^7.7.2",
     "source-map": "^0.7.6"
   }
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/execute/step.ts b/packages/runtime/src/execute/step.ts
index 1e72168ea..74cde31b7 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/execute/step.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/execute/step.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { Job, State, StepId } from '@openfn/lexicon';
 import type { Logger } from '@openfn/logger';
 
 import executeExpression, { ExecutionErrorWrapper } from './expression';
-import clone from '../util/clone';
+import clone, { asyncClone } from '../util/clone';
 import assembleState from '../util/assemble-state';
 import type {
   CompiledStep,
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ const calculateNext = (job: CompiledStep, result: any, logger: Logger) => {
 
 // TODO this is suboptimal and may be slow on large objects
 // (especially as the result get stringified again downstream)
-const prepareFinalState = (
+const prepareFinalState = async (
   state: any,
   logger: Logger,
   statePropsToRemove?: string[]
@@ -104,7 +104,23 @@ const prepareFinalState = (
         `Cleaning up state. Removing keys: ${removedProps.join(', ')}`
       );
 
-    return clone(state);
+    // Technically this should restrict all state objects
+    // to be the dataclip size limit
+    // But that's likely to be a breaking change
+    // So for now, just set a very high dataclip size limit here
+    // In practice, any state objects this large are likely to trigger
+    // an OOM kill, so the runtime behaviour is a bit academic
+    const stateLimit_mb = 1000;
+    try {
+      return asyncClone(state, stateLimit_mb);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.log('****');
+      // If the clone failed, we're in trouble
+      logger.error(
+        `Error: State object exceeds size limit of ${stateLimit_mb}. An empty state object will be returned from this step.`
+      );
+      return {};
+    }
   }
   return state;
 };
@@ -190,7 +206,11 @@ const executeStep = async (
         const duration = logger.timer(timerId);
         logger.error(`${jobName} aborted with error (${duration})`);
 
-        state = prepareFinalState(state, logger, ctx.opts.statePropsToRemove);
+        state = await prepareFinalState(
+          state,
+          logger,
+          ctx.opts.statePropsToRemove
+        );
         // Whatever the final state was, save that as the initial state to the next thing
         result = state;
 
@@ -219,7 +239,11 @@ const executeStep = async (
     if (!didError) {
       const humanDuration = logger.timer(timerId);
       logger.success(`${jobName} completed in ${humanDuration}`);
-      result = prepareFinalState(result, logger, ctx.opts.statePropsToRemove);
+      result = await prepareFinalState(
+        result,
+        logger,
+        ctx.opts.statePropsToRemove
+      );
 
       // Take a memory snapshot
       // IMPORTANT: this runs _after_ the state object has been serialized
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/util/clone.ts b/packages/runtime/src/util/clone.ts
index 0920f7106..82fce28d9 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/util/clone.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/util/clone.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,71 @@
 import type { State } from '@openfn/lexicon';
 import stringify from 'fast-safe-stringify';
 
+import { JsonStreamStringify } from 'json-stream-stringify';
+
 // TODO I'm in the market for the best solution here - immer? deep-clone?
 // What should we do if functions are in the state?
 export default (state: State) => JSON.parse(stringify(state));
+
+const replacer = (_key: string, value: any) => {
+  // Ignore non serializable keys
+  if (
+    value === undefined ||
+    typeof value === 'function' ||
+    value.constructor?.name === 'Promise'
+  ) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  return value;
+};
+
+export const asyncClone = async (
+  state: State,
+  limit_mb = 1000
+): Promise<State> => {
+  const limit_bytes = limit_mb * 1024 * 1024;
+  let size_bytes = 0;
+  let jsonString = '';
+
+  // one big worry with this approach is that jsonstreamstringify
+  // does not behave the same as stringify
+  // ie, how it handles functions
+  const stream = new JsonStreamStringify(state, replacer, undefined, true);
+
+  try {
+    for await (const chunk of stream) {
+      // Each chunk is a string token from the JSON output
+      const chunkSize = Buffer.byteLength(chunk, 'utf8');
+      size_bytes += chunkSize;
+
+      if (size_bytes > limit_bytes) {
+        stream.destroy();
+        throw new Error(
+          `State size exceeds limit: ${(size_bytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(
+            2
+          )}MB > ${limit_mb}MB`
+        );
+      }
+
+      jsonString += chunk;
+    }
+
+    // Re-parse the stringified JSON back into an object
+    // Use a reviver to convert circular reference markers to '[Circular]'
+    return JSON.parse(jsonString, (_key, value) => {
+      if (
+        value &&
+        typeof value === 'object' &&
+        value.$ref &&
+        Object.keys(value).length === 1
+      ) {
+        return '[Circular]';
+      }
+      return value;
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    stream.destroy();
+    throw error;
+  }
+};
diff --git a/packages/runtime/test/execute/plan.test.ts b/packages/runtime/test/execute/plan.test.ts
index 4666e29c0..c267cbba5 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/test/execute/plan.test.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/test/execute/plan.test.ts
@@ -1071,7 +1071,6 @@ test('steps can write circular references to state without blowing up downstream
   ]);
 
   const result: any = await executePlan(plan, {}, {}, mockLogger);
-
   t.notThrows(() => JSON.stringify(result));
   t.deepEqual(result, {
     data: {
diff --git a/packages/runtime/test/util/clone.test.ts b/packages/runtime/test/util/clone.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4c86b6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/runtime/test/util/clone.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import test from 'ava';
+import { asyncClone } from '../../src/util/clone';
+
+test('asyncClone: should clone a simple object', async (t) => {
+  const obj = {
+    a: 1,
+    b: 'hello',
+    c: true,
+    d: { nested: 'value' },
+  };
+  const result = await asyncClone(obj);
+  t.deepEqual(result, obj);
+  t.not(result, obj); // ensure it's a new object
+  t.not(result.d, obj.d); // ensure nested objects are cloned
+});
+
+test('asyncClone: should remove undefined values', async (t) => {
+  const obj = {
+    a: 1,
+    b: undefined,
+    c: 'hello',
+  };
+  const result = await asyncClone(obj);
+  t.deepEqual(result, { a: 1, c: 'hello' });
+  t.false('b' in result);
+});
+
+test('asyncClone: should remove functions', async (t) => {
+  const obj = {
+    a: 1,
+    b: () => 'test',
+    c: 'hello',
+  };
+  const result = await asyncClone(obj);
+  t.deepEqual(result, { a: 1, c: 'hello' });
+  t.false('b' in result);
+});
+
+test('asyncClone: should handle arrays', async (t) => {
+  const obj = {
+    items: [1, 2, 3, { nested: 'value' }],
+  };
+  const result = await asyncClone(obj);
+  t.deepEqual(result, obj);
+  t.not(result, obj);
+  t.not(result.items, obj.items);
+});
+
+test('asyncClone: should handle circular references', async (t) => {
+  const inner: any = { value: 42 };
+  const obj: any = {
+    a: 1,
+    inner: inner,
+  };
+  inner.parent = obj; // create circular reference
+
+  const result = await asyncClone(obj);
+  t.is(result.a, 1);
+  t.is(result.inner.value, 42);
+  // Circular reference should be handled without throwing
+  t.truthy(result.inner.parent);
+  t.is(result.inner.parent, '[Circular]');
+});
+
+test('asyncClone: should throw error when size exceeds limit', async (t) => {
+  // Create an object slightly larger than 0.1MB (~0.2MB)
+  const largeArray = new Array(1000).fill('x'.repeat(200));
+  const obj = { items: largeArray };
+
+  const error = await t.throwsAsync(
+    async () => await asyncClone(obj, 0.1), // 0.1MB limit
+    { instanceOf: Error }
+  );
+  t.regex(error.message, /State size exceeds limit/);
+});
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 34a8e6953..7066d0636 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -695,6 +695,9 @@ importers:
       fast-safe-stringify:
         specifier: ^2.1.1
         version: 2.1.1
+      json-stream-stringify:
+        specifier: ^3.1.6
+        version: 3.1.6
       semver:
         specifier: ^7.7.2
         version: 7.7.2