diff --git a/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/main.cpp b/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/main.cpp
index b4d2f7d9e..9343764e3 100644
--- a/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/main.cpp
@@ -1152,6 +1152,9 @@ void initializeMesh() {
   msgstore_load_public();
   uiManager->endPublicHistoryLoad();
 
+  Serial.printf("[ui] free heap: %u B  free PSRAM: %u B\n",
+                esp_get_free_heap_size(), esp_get_free_internal_heap_size());
+
   Serial.println("[mesh] Sending self-advert...");
   the_mesh.sendSelfAdvert(1200);
   Serial.println("[mesh] Advert queued (1200ms delay)");
diff --git a/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/uiManager.cpp b/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/uiManager.cpp
index 20d4225f3..ae801b0e4 100644
--- a/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/uiManager.cpp
+++ b/examples/simple_secure_chat_ui/uiManager.cpp
@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ void UIManager::addPrivateChatBubble(const char *time_str, const char *msg, bool
         LV_FLEX_ALIGN_START,
         LV_FLEX_ALIGN_START
     );
+  if (!row) { Serial.println("[ui] OOM: addPrivateChatBubble row alloc failed"); return; }
 
   // 2. Bubble column: message text + timestamp below
   lv_obj_t* aligner = LvObj(row)
diff --git a/lib/lvgl/lv_conf.h b/lib/lvgl/lv_conf.h
index 40af9b9f5..b5e9f82ac 100644
--- a/lib/lvgl/lv_conf.h
+++ b/lib/lvgl/lv_conf.h
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@
  *=========================*/
 
 /*1: use custom malloc/free, 0: use the built-in `lv_mem_alloc()` and `lv_mem_free()`*/
-#define LV_MEM_CUSTOM 0
+/* ESP32-S3 has 8 MB OPI PSRAM. Switching to LV_MEM_CUSTOM=1 lets LVGL use the
+   system heap (which includes PSRAM on this board) instead of a fixed 48 KB
+   static pool. This prevents OOM crashes when loading many chat bubbles. */
+#define LV_MEM_CUSTOM 1
 #if LV_MEM_CUSTOM == 0
     /*Size of the memory available for `lv_mem_alloc()` in bytes (>= 2kB)*/
     #define LV_MEM_SIZE (48U * 1024U)          /*[bytes]*/