diff --git a/PluralKit.Bot/Commands/Member.cs b/PluralKit.Bot/Commands/Member.cs
index 6b2c2bf9..9e236892 100644
--- a/PluralKit.Bot/Commands/Member.cs
+++ b/PluralKit.Bot/Commands/Member.cs
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ namespace PluralKit.Bot
             await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Success} Member \"{memberName}\" (`{member.Hid}`) registered! Check out the getting started page for how to get a member up and running: https://pluralkit.me/start#members");
             if (memberName.Contains(" "))
                 await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Note} Note that this member's name contains spaces. You will need to surround it with \"double quotes\" when using commands referring to it, or just use the member's 5-character ID (which is `{member.Hid}`).");
-            if (memberCount >= Limits.MaxMemberCount)
-                await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Warn} You have reached the per-system member limit ({Limits.MaxMemberCount}). You will be unable to create additional members until existing members are deleted.");
-            else if (memberCount >= Limits.MaxMembersWarnThreshold)
-                await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Warn} You are approaching the per-system member limit ({memberCount} / {Limits.MaxMemberCount} members). Please review your member list for unused or duplicate members.");
+            if (memberCount >= memberLimit)
+                await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Warn} You have reached the per-system member limit ({memberLimit}). You will be unable to create additional members until existing members are deleted.");
+            else if (memberCount >= Limits.MaxMembersWarnThreshold(memberLimit))
+                await ctx.Reply($"{Emojis.Warn} You are approaching the per-system member limit ({memberCount} / {memberLimit} members). Please review your member list for unused or duplicate members.");
         }
         
         public async Task MemberRandom(Context ctx)
diff --git a/PluralKit.Core/Services/DataFileService.cs b/PluralKit.Core/Services/DataFileService.cs
index a2422be0..c694a156 100644
--- a/PluralKit.Core/Services/DataFileService.cs
+++ b/PluralKit.Core/Services/DataFileService.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,9 @@ namespace PluralKit.Core
                 system = result.System = await _repo.CreateSystem(conn, data.Name);
                 await _repo.AddAccount(conn, system.Id, accountId);
             }
-            
+
+            var memberLimit = system.MemberLimitOverride ?? Limits.MaxMemberCount;
+
             // Apply system info
             var patch = new SystemPatch {Name = data.Name};
             if (data.Description != null) patch.Description = data.Description;
@@ -135,10 +137,10 @@ namespace PluralKit.Core
                 // If creating the unmatched members would put us over the member limit, abort before creating any members
                 var memberCountBefore = await _repo.GetSystemMemberCount(conn, system.Id);
                 var membersToAdd = data.Members.Count(m => imp.IsNewMember(m.Id, m.Name));
-                if (memberCountBefore + membersToAdd > Limits.MaxMemberCount)
+                if (memberCountBefore + membersToAdd > memberLimit)
                 {
                     result.Success = false;
-                    result.Message = $"Import would exceed the maximum number of members ({Limits.MaxMemberCount}).";
+                    result.Message = $"Import would exceed the maximum number of members ({memberLimit}).";
                     return result;
                 }
                 
@@ -204,7 +206,8 @@ namespace PluralKit.Core
         [JsonIgnore] public bool Valid =>
             TimeZoneValid &&
             Members != null &&
-            Members.Count <= Limits.MaxMemberCount &&
+            // no need to check this here, it is checked later as part of the import
+            // Members.Count <= Limits.MaxMemberCount &&
             Members.All(m => m.Valid) &&
             Switches != null &&
             Switches.Count < 10000 &&
@@ -361,4 +364,4 @@ namespace PluralKit.Core
 
         [JsonIgnore] public bool Valid => true;
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/PluralKit.Core/Utils/Limits.cs b/PluralKit.Core/Utils/Limits.cs
index 1d2246ef..00f09075 100644
--- a/PluralKit.Core/Utils/Limits.cs
+++ b/PluralKit.Core/Utils/Limits.cs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ namespace PluralKit.Core {
         public static readonly int MaxSystemNameLength = 100;
         public static readonly int MaxSystemTagLength = MaxProxyNameLength - 1;
         public static readonly int MaxMemberCount = 1000;
-        public static readonly int MaxMembersWarnThreshold = MaxMemberCount - 50;
+        public static int MaxMembersWarnThreshold (int memberLimit) => memberLimit - 50;
         public static readonly int MaxGroupCount = 250;
         public static readonly int MaxDescriptionLength = 1000;
         public static readonly int MaxMemberNameLength = 100; // Fair bit larger than MaxProxyNameLength for bookkeeping