diff --git a/awx/main/management/commands/cleanup_activitystream.py b/awx/main/management/commands/cleanup_activitystream.py
index 68c489c06d..52d359e52d 100644
--- a/awx/main/management/commands/cleanup_activitystream.py
+++ b/awx/main/management/commands/cleanup_activitystream.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ class Command(NoArgsCommand):
 
     def cleanup_activitystream(self):
         n_deleted_items = 0
-        for asobj in ActivityStream.objects.all():
+        pks_to_delete = set()
+        for asobj in ActivityStream.objects.iterator():
             asobj_disp = '"%s" id: %s' % (unicode(asobj), asobj.id)
             if asobj.timestamp >= self.cutoff:
                 if self.dry_run:
@@ -47,9 +48,16 @@ class Command(NoArgsCommand):
             else:
                 if self.dry_run:
                     self.logger.info("would delete %s" % asobj_disp)
-                if not self.dry_run:
-                    asobj.delete()
-                    n_deleted_items += 1
+                else:
+                    pks_to_delete.add(asobj.pk)
+            # Cleanup objects in batches instead of deleting each one individually.
+            if len(pks_to_delete) >= 500:
+                ActivityStream.objects.filter(pk__in=pks_to_delete).delete()
+                n_deleted_items += len(pks_to_delete)
+                pks_to_delete.clear()
+        if len(pks_to_delete):
+            ActivityStream.objects.filter(pk__in=pks_to_delete).delete()
+            n_deleted_items += len(pks_to_delete)
         print("Removed %s items" % str(n_deleted_items))
 
     def handle_noargs(self, **options):
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/commands/commands_monolithic.py b/awx/main/tests/commands/commands_monolithic.py
index b26ee67d0e..8988bdae30 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/commands/commands_monolithic.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/commands/commands_monolithic.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ if not hasattr(unittest, 'skipIf'):
     import unittest2 as unittest
 
 __all__ = ['DumpDataTest', 'CleanupDeletedTest', 'CleanupJobsTest',
-           'InventoryImportTest']
+           'CleanupActivityStreamTest', 'InventoryImportTest']
 
 TEST_PLAYBOOK = '''- hosts: test-group
   gather_facts: False
@@ -444,6 +444,72 @@ class CleanupJobsTest(BaseCommandMixin, BaseLiveServerTest):
         self.assertFalse(ad_hoc_commands_after)
 
 
+class CleanupActivityStreamTest(BaseCommandMixin, BaseTest):
+    '''
+    Test cases for cleanup_activitystream management command.
+    '''
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.start_redis()
+        super(CleanupActivityStreamTest, self).setUp()
+        self.create_test_inventories()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        super(CleanupActivityStreamTest, self).tearDown()
+        self.stop_redis()
+
+    def test_cleanup(self):
+        # Should already have entries due to test case setup. With no
+        # parameters, "days" defaults to 30, which won't cleanup anything.
+        count_before = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertTrue(count_before)
+        result, stdout, stderr = self.run_command('cleanup_activitystream')
+        self.assertEqual(result, None)
+        count_after = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertEqual(count_before, count_after)
+
+        # With days=1, nothing should be changed.
+        result, stdout, stderr = self.run_command('cleanup_activitystream', days=1)
+        self.assertEqual(result, None)
+        count_after = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertEqual(count_before, count_after)
+
+        # With days=0 and dry_run=True, nothing should be changed.
+        result, stdout, stderr = self.run_command('cleanup_activitystream', days=0, dry_run=True)
+        self.assertEqual(result, None)
+        count_after = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertEqual(count_before, count_after)
+
+        # With days=0, everything should be cleaned up.
+        result, stdout, stderr = self.run_command('cleanup_activitystream', days=0)
+        self.assertEqual(result, None)
+        count_after = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertNotEqual(count_before, count_after)
+        self.assertFalse(count_after)
+
+        # Modify hosts to create 1000 activity stream entries.
+        t = time.time()
+        for x in xrange(0, 1000 / Host.objects.count()):
+            for host in Host.objects.all():
+                host.name = u'%s-update-%d' % (host.name, x)
+                host.save()
+        create_elapsed = time.time() - t
+
+        # Time how long it takes to cleanup activity stream, should be no more
+        # than 1/4 the time taken to create the entries.
+        count_before = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertTrue(count_before)
+        t = time.time()
+        result, stdout, stderr = self.run_command('cleanup_activitystream', days=0)
+        cleanup_elapsed = time.time() - t
+        self.assertEqual(result, None)
+        count_after = ActivityStream.objects.count()
+        self.assertNotEqual(count_before, count_after)
+        self.assertFalse(count_after)
+        self.assertTrue(cleanup_elapsed < (create_elapsed / 4),
+                        'create took %0.3fs, cleanup took %0.3fs, expected < %0.3fs' % (create_elapsed, cleanup_elapsed, create_elapsed / 4))
+
+
 class InventoryImportTest(BaseCommandMixin, BaseLiveServerTest):
     '''
     Test cases for inventory_import management command.