diff --git a/msprime/cli.py b/msprime/cli.py
index 68c18ca07..0dd7e2ba7 100644
--- a/msprime/cli.py
+++ b/msprime/cli.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def add_header_argument(parser):
 
 def add_max_memory_argument(parser):
     parser.add_argument(
-        "--max-memory", "-M", default="100M",
+        "--max-memory", "-M", default="1G",
         help=(
             "Maximum memory to use. If the simulation exceeds this limit "
             "exit with error status. Supports K,M and G suffixes"))
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 8e09633d4..dcc9c8a2c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ def _get_pkgconfig_list(self, option):
             print("pkg-config error (not installed?):", e)
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
             print("pkg-config failed:", e)
-        print("Returning pkg-config list", ret)
         return ret
 
     def _attempt_pkgconfig(self):