diff --git a/silk/models.py b/silk/models.py
index 075c5e9a..59626dcd 100644
--- a/silk/models.py
+++ b/silk/models.py
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ def garbage_collect(cls, force=False):
 
         # Make sure we can delete everything if needed by settings
         if target_count <= 0:
-            cls.objects.all().delete()
+            # delete all requests using raw_delete to avoid memory issues
+            Request.objects.all()._raw_delete(Request.objects.db)
             return
 
         try: