diff --git a/datafusion/tests/test_context.py b/datafusion/tests/test_context.py
index 55849edf0..671c4c209 100644
--- a/datafusion/tests/test_context.py
+++ b/datafusion/tests/test_context.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ def test_create_context_with_all_valid_args():
         repartition_windows=False,
         parquet_pruning=False,
         config_options=None,
+        memory_pool_size=1073741824,
+        spill_path="."
     )
 
     # verify that at least some of the arguments worked
diff --git a/examples/dataframe-parquet.py b/examples/dataframe-parquet.py
index 31a8aa645..48b4ad45c 100644
--- a/examples/dataframe-parquet.py
+++ b/examples/dataframe-parquet.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 from datafusion import SessionContext
 from datafusion import functions as f
 
-ctx = SessionContext()
+ctx = SessionContext(memory_pool_size=1073741824, spill_path="/tmp")
 df = ctx.read_parquet(
     "/mnt/bigdata/nyctaxi/yellow/2021/yellow_tripdata_2021-01.parquet"
 ).aggregate([f.col("passenger_count")], [f.count_star()])
diff --git a/examples/sql-parquet.py b/examples/sql-parquet.py
index 7b2db6f2b..5f9a12edf 100644
--- a/examples/sql-parquet.py
+++ b/examples/sql-parquet.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 from datafusion import SessionContext
 
-ctx = SessionContext()
+ctx = SessionContext(memory_pool_size=1073741824, spill_path="/tmp")
 ctx.register_parquet(
     "taxi", "/mnt/bigdata/nyctaxi/yellow/2021/yellow_tripdata_2021-01.parquet"
 )
diff --git a/examples/sql-to-pandas.py b/examples/sql-to-pandas.py
index 3569e6d8c..cfa96b2b2 100644
--- a/examples/sql-to-pandas.py
+++ b/examples/sql-to-pandas.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 
 # Create a DataFusion context
-ctx = SessionContext()
+ctx = SessionContext(memory_pool_size=1073741824, spill_path="/tmp")
 
 # Register table with context
 ctx.register_parquet("taxi", "yellow_tripdata_2021-01.parquet")
diff --git a/src/context.rs b/src/context.rs
index 3990a4c37..34c091841 100644
--- a/src/context.rs
+++ b/src/context.rs
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ use datafusion::arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
 use datafusion::datasource::datasource::TableProvider;
 use datafusion::datasource::MemTable;
 use datafusion::execution::context::{SessionConfig, SessionContext};
+use datafusion::execution::disk_manager::DiskManagerConfig;
+use datafusion::execution::memory_pool::GreedyMemoryPool;
+use datafusion::execution::runtime_env::RuntimeEnv;
 use datafusion::prelude::{
     AvroReadOptions, CsvReadOptions, DataFrame, NdJsonReadOptions, ParquetReadOptions,
 };
@@ -66,7 +69,9 @@ impl PySessionContext {
         repartition_windows = "true",
         parquet_pruning = "true",
         target_partitions = "None",
-        config_options = "None"
+        config_options = "None",
+        memory_pool_size = "None",
+        spill_path = "None"
     )]
     #[new]
     fn new(
@@ -80,6 +85,8 @@ impl PySessionContext {
         parquet_pruning: bool,
         target_partitions: Option<usize>,
         config_options: Option<HashMap<String, String>>,
+        memory_pool_size: Option<usize>,
+        spill_path: Option<&str>,
     ) -> PyResult<Self> {
         let mut cfg = SessionConfig::new()
             .with_information_schema(information_schema)
@@ -103,9 +110,20 @@ impl PySessionContext {
             Some(x) => cfg.with_target_partitions(x),
         };
 
-        Ok(PySessionContext {
-            ctx: SessionContext::with_config(cfg_full),
-        })
+        let mut runtime_config = datafusion::execution::runtime_env::RuntimeConfig::new();
+
+        if let Some(size) = memory_pool_size {
+            runtime_config = runtime_config.with_memory_pool(Arc::new(GreedyMemoryPool::new(size)));
+        }
+        if let Some(path) = spill_path {
+            runtime_config = runtime_config
+                .with_disk_manager(DiskManagerConfig::new_specified(vec![path.into()]));
+        }
+
+        let runtime = Arc::new(RuntimeEnv::new(runtime_config)?);
+        let ctx = SessionContext::with_config_rt(cfg_full, runtime);
+
+        Ok(PySessionContext { ctx })
     }
 
     /// Register a an object store with the given name