diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index 33d9e12cf4ab87b7a9bbe5baefeea0009e88e4b6..7f3a6aaa681f23a413aa4574bfc10d5dcdf30d5f 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@
     config.action_controller.perform_caching = false
   end
 
-  # Show a warning when a large data set is loaded into memory
-  config.active_record.warn_on_records_fetched_greater_than = 1000
-
   # Raise an error on page load if there are pending migrations
   config.active_record.migration_error = :page_load
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/record_count_monitor.rb b/config/initializers/record_count_monitor.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..19e345fff4dea98ab6ed044fdbe4738bb52fbb8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/record_count_monitor.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+Gitlab::Database::RecordCountMonitor.subscribe if Rails.env.development?
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor.rb b/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1fefccb1ccfe7125e215afdb1dfe9be8b3be665c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Gitlab
+  module Database
+    class RecordCountMonitor
+      THRESHOLD = 1_000
+
+      def self.subscribe
+        return if @subscribed
+
+        ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe('sql.active_record') do |event|
+          next unless event[:row_count]
+          next if event[:row_count] <= THRESHOLD
+
+          warn_large_result_set(event)
+        end
+
+        @subscribed = true
+      end
+
+      def self.warn_large_result_set(event)
+        message = "Query fetched #{event[:row_count]} rows (threshold: #{THRESHOLD})"
+        message += "\nSQL: #{event[:sql]}" if event[:sql]
+
+        Gitlab::AppLogger.warn(message)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b69e14f52d6b448dc22d7f180554eea40d8019bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/database/record_count_monitor_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe Gitlab::Database::RecordCountMonitor, feature_category: :database do
+  describe '.subscribe' do
+    it 'subscribes to sql.active_record notifications' do
+      expect(ActiveSupport::Notifications).to receive(:subscribe).with('sql.active_record')
+
+      described_class.subscribe
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '.warn_large_result_set' do
+    before do
+      allow(Gitlab::AppLogger).to receive(:warn)
+    end
+
+    it 'logs warning with row count' do
+      described_class.warn_large_result_set({ row_count: 5000 })
+
+      expect(Gitlab::AppLogger).to have_received(:warn).with(/Query fetched 5000 rows/)
+    end
+
+    it 'includes SQL when present' do
+      described_class.warn_large_result_set({ row_count: 5000, sql: 'SELECT * FROM users' })
+
+      expect(Gitlab::AppLogger).to have_received(:warn).with(/SELECT \* FROM users/)
+    end
+
+    it 'does not include SQL when not present' do
+      described_class.warn_large_result_set({ row_count: 5000 })
+
+      expect(Gitlab::AppLogger).to have_received(:warn).with("Query fetched 5000 rows (threshold: 1000)")
+    end
+  end
+end