diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-log-check b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-log-check
index 72ece1919..eb0b84ac4 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-log-check
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-log-check
@@ -268,6 +268,13 @@ for log_file in $(cat /tmp/log_check_files); do
     tail -n $RECENT_LOG_LINES $log_file > /tmp/log_check
     check_for_errors
 done
+# Look for OOM specific errors in /var/log/messages which can lead to odd behavior / test failures
+if [[ -f /var/log/messages ]]; then
+    status "Checking log file /var/log/messages"
+    if cat /var/log/messages | grep -iE 'out of memory|oom-kill'; then
+        RESULT=1
+    fi
+fi
 
 # Cleanup temp files
 rm -f /tmp/log_check_files