--- a/src/include/reconcile.i
+++ b/src/include/reconcile.i
@@ -197,6 +197,21 @@ __rec_page_time_stats(WT_SESSION_IMPL *session, WT_RECONCILE *r)
 static inline bool
 __wt_rec_need_split(WT_RECONCILE *r, size_t len)
 {
+    /*
+     * In the case of a row-store leaf page, trigger a split if a threshold number of saved updates
+     * is reached. This allows pages to split for update/restore and history store eviction when
+     * there is no visible data causing the disk image to grow.
+     *
+     * In the case of small pages or large keys, we might try to split when a page has no updates or
+     * entries, which isn't possible. To consider update/restore or history store information,
+     * require either page entries or updates that will be attached to the image. The limit is one
+     * of either, but it doesn't make sense to create pages or images with few entries or updates,
+     * even where page sizes are small (especially as updates that will eventually become overflow
+     * items can throw off our calculations). Bound the combination at something reasonable.
+     */
+    if (r->page->type == WT_PAGE_ROW_LEAF && r->entries + r->supd_next > 10)
+        len += r->supd_memsize / 10;
+
     /* Check for the disk image crossing a boundary. */
     return (WT_CHECK_CROSSING_BND(r, len));
 }