diff --git a/docs/library/esp32.rst b/docs/library/esp32.rst
index efdd6c1be2..856d9aef8d 100644
--- a/docs/library/esp32.rst
+++ b/docs/library/esp32.rst
@@ -51,13 +51,20 @@ Functions
     buffers and other data. This data is useful to get a sense of how much memory
     is available to ESP-IDF and the networking stack in particular. It may shed
     some light on situations where ESP-IDF operations fail due to allocation failures.
-    The information returned is *not* useful to troubleshoot Python allocation failures,
-    use `micropython.mem_info()` instead.
 
     The capabilities parameter corresponds to ESP-IDF's ``MALLOC_CAP_XXX`` values but the
     two most useful ones are predefined as `esp32.HEAP_DATA` for data heap regions and
     `esp32.HEAP_EXEC` for executable regions as used by the native code emitter.
 
+    Free IDF heap memory in the `esp32.HEAP_DATA` region is available to be
+    automatically added to the MicroPython heap to prevent a MicroPython
+    allocation from failing. However, the information returned here is otherwise
+    *not* useful to troubleshoot Python allocation failures, use
+    `micropython.mem_info()` instead. The "max new split" value in
+    `micropython.mem_info()` output corresponds to the largest free block of
+    ESP-IDF heap that could be automatically added on demand to the MicroPython
+    heap.
+
     The return value is a list of 4-tuples, where each 4-tuple corresponds to one heap
     and contains: the total bytes, the free bytes, the largest free block, and
     the minimum free seen over time.
diff --git a/ports/esp32/gccollect.c b/ports/esp32/gccollect.c
index 6fa287de28..e16e8028ad 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/gccollect.c
+++ b/ports/esp32/gccollect.c
@@ -80,3 +80,13 @@ void gc_collect(void) {
 }
 
 #endif
+
+#if MICROPY_GC_SPLIT_HEAP_AUTO
+
+// The largest new region that is available to become Python heap is the largest
+// free block in the ESP-IDF system heap.
+size_t gc_get_max_new_split(void) {
+    return heap_caps_get_largest_free_block(MALLOC_CAP_DEFAULT);
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/ports/esp32/main.c b/ports/esp32/main.c
index 3a172e6f8d..a6346b027a 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/main.c
+++ b/ports/esp32/main.c
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@
 #define MP_TASK_STACK_LIMIT_MARGIN (1024)
 #endif
 
+// Initial Python heap size. This starts small but adds new heap areas on
+// demand due to settings MICROPY_GC_SPLIT_HEAP & MICROPY_GC_SPLIT_HEAP_AUTO
+#define MP_TASK_HEAP_SIZE (64 * 1024)
+
 int vprintf_null(const char *format, va_list ap) {
     // do nothing: this is used as a log target during raw repl mode
     return 0;
@@ -100,19 +104,13 @@ void mp_task(void *pvParameter) {
         ESP_LOGE("esp_init", "can't create event loop: 0x%x\n", err);
     }
 
-    // Allocate the uPy heap using malloc and get the largest available region,
-    // limiting to 1/2 total available memory to leave memory for the OS.
-    // When SPIRAM is enabled, this will allocate from SPIRAM.
-    uint32_t caps = MALLOC_CAP_8BIT;
-    size_t heap_total = heap_caps_get_total_size(caps);
-    size_t mp_task_heap_size = MIN(heap_caps_get_largest_free_block(caps), heap_total / 2);
-    void *mp_task_heap = heap_caps_malloc(mp_task_heap_size, caps);
+    void *mp_task_heap = MP_PLAT_ALLOC_HEAP(MP_TASK_HEAP_SIZE);
 
 soft_reset:
     // initialise the stack pointer for the main thread
     mp_stack_set_top((void *)sp);
     mp_stack_set_limit(MP_TASK_STACK_SIZE - MP_TASK_STACK_LIMIT_MARGIN);
-    gc_init(mp_task_heap, mp_task_heap + mp_task_heap_size);
+    gc_init(mp_task_heap, mp_task_heap + MP_TASK_HEAP_SIZE);
     mp_init();
     mp_obj_list_append(mp_sys_path, MP_OBJ_NEW_QSTR(MP_QSTR__slash_lib));
     readline_init0();
diff --git a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
index aa13eaf2fe..55035b5f86 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
+++ b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@
 #define MICROPY_PY_THREAD_GIL               (1)
 #define MICROPY_PY_THREAD_GIL_VM_DIVISOR    (32)
 
+#define MICROPY_GC_SPLIT_HEAP               (1)
+#define MICROPY_GC_SPLIT_HEAP_AUTO          (1)
+
 // extended modules
 #ifndef MICROPY_ESPNOW
 #define MICROPY_ESPNOW                      (1)