diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_compile_state.hh b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_compile_state.hh
index 547aa7da634..0118ffd3d33 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_compile_state.hh
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_compile_state.hh
@@ -162,6 +162,11 @@ class CompileState {
    *   compiled. */
   bool should_compile_shader_compile_unit(DNode node);
 
+  /* Computes the number of shader operation outputs that will be added for this node in the
+   * current shader compile unit. This is essentially the number of outputs that will be added for
+   * the node in ShaderOperation::populate_results_for_node. */
+  int compute_shader_node_operation_outputs_count(DNode node);
+
  private:
   /* Compute the node domain of the given shader node. This is analogous to the
    * Operation::compute_domain method, except it is computed from the node itself as opposed to a
diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_utilities.hh b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_utilities.hh
index e2b890c29cf..9525e7a7d33 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_utilities.hh
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/COM_utilities.hh
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ void compute_dispatch_threads_at_least(GPUShader *shader,
 /* Returns true if a node preview needs to be computed for the give node. */
 bool is_node_preview_needed(const DNode &node);
 
+/* Returns the node output that will be used to generate previews. */
+DOutputSocket find_preview_output_socket(const DNode &node);
+
 /* Computes a lower resolution version of the given result and sets it as a preview for the given
  * node after applying the appropriate color management specified in the given context. */
 void compute_preview_from_result(Context &context, const DNode &node, Result &input_result);
diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/compile_state.cc b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/compile_state.cc
index b7f0da57479..f1f42ebc25d 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/compile_state.cc
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/compile_state.cc
@@ -105,6 +105,32 @@ bool CompileState::should_compile_shader_compile_unit(DNode node)
   return false;
 }
 
+int CompileState::compute_shader_node_operation_outputs_count(DNode node)
+{
+  const DOutputSocket preview_output = find_preview_output_socket(node);
+
+  int outputs_count = 0;
+  for (const bNodeSocket *output : node->output_sockets()) {
+    const DOutputSocket doutput{node.context(), output};
+
+    /* If the output is used as the node preview, then an operation output will exist for it. */
+    const bool is_preview_output = doutput == preview_output;
+
+    /* If any of the nodes linked to the output are not part of the shader compile unit but are
+     * part of the execution schedule, then an operation output will exist for it. */
+    const bool is_operation_output = is_output_linked_to_node_conditioned(
+        doutput, [&](DNode node) {
+          return schedule_.contains(node) && !shader_compile_unit_.contains(node);
+        });
+
+    if (is_operation_output || is_preview_output) {
+      outputs_count += 1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return outputs_count;
+}
+
 Domain CompileState::compute_shader_node_domain(DNode node)
 {
   /* Default to an identity domain in case no domain input was found, most likely because all
diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/evaluator.cc b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/evaluator.cc
index 2f2801de873..fdc966ad287 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/evaluator.cc
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/evaluator.cc
@@ -142,6 +142,45 @@ void Evaluator::map_node_operation_inputs_to_their_results(DNode node,
 void Evaluator::compile_and_evaluate_shader_compile_unit(CompileState &compile_state)
 {
   ShaderCompileUnit &compile_unit = compile_state.get_shader_compile_unit();
+
+  /* GPUs have hardware limitations on the number of output images shaders can have, so we might
+   * have to split the compile unit into smaller units to workaround this limitation. In practice,
+   * splitting will almost always never happen due to the scheduling strategy we use, so the base
+   * case remains fast. */
+  int number_of_outputs = 0;
+  for (int i : compile_unit.index_range()) {
+    const DNode node = compile_unit[i];
+    number_of_outputs += compile_state.compute_shader_node_operation_outputs_count(node);
+
+    /* The GPU module currently only supports up to 8 output images in shaders, but once this
+     * limitation is lifted, we can replace that with GPU_max_images(). */
+    if (number_of_outputs <= 8) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    /* The number of outputs surpassed the limit, so we split the compile unit into two equal parts
+     * and recursively call this method on each of them. It might seem unexpected that we split in
+     * half as opposed to split at the node that surpassed the limit, but that is because the act
+     * of splitting might actually introduce new outputs, since links that were previously internal
+     * to the compile unit might now be external. So we can't precisely split and guarantee correct
+     * units, and we just rely or recursive splitting until units are small enough. Further, half
+     * splitting helps balancing the shaders, where we don't want to have one gigantic shader and
+     * a tiny one. */
+    const int split_index = compile_unit.size() / 2;
+    const ShaderCompileUnit start_compile_unit(compile_unit.as_span().take_front(split_index));
+    const ShaderCompileUnit end_compile_unit(compile_unit.as_span().drop_front(split_index));
+
+    compile_state.get_shader_compile_unit() = start_compile_unit;
+    this->compile_and_evaluate_shader_compile_unit(compile_state);
+
+    compile_state.get_shader_compile_unit() = end_compile_unit;
+    this->compile_and_evaluate_shader_compile_unit(compile_state);
+
+    /* No need to continue, the above recursive calls will eventually exist the loop and do the
+     * actual compilation. */
+    return;
+  }
+
   const Schedule &schedule = compile_state.get_schedule();
   ShaderOperation *operation = new ShaderOperation(context_, compile_unit, schedule);
 
diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/shader_operation.cc b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/shader_operation.cc
index 9e90413de12..a59b3f11796 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/shader_operation.cc
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/shader_operation.cc
@@ -270,21 +270,6 @@ void ShaderOperation::declare_operation_input(DInputSocket input_socket,
   inputs_to_linked_outputs_map_.add_new(input_identifier, output_socket);
 }
 
-static DOutputSocket find_preview_output_socket(const DNode &node)
-{
-  if (!is_node_preview_needed(node)) {
-    return DOutputSocket();
-  }
-
-  for (const bNodeSocket *output : node->output_sockets()) {
-    if (output->is_logically_linked()) {
-      return DOutputSocket(node.context(), output);
-    }
-  }
-
-  return DOutputSocket();
-}
-
 void ShaderOperation::populate_results_for_node(DNode node, GPUMaterial *material)
 {
   const DOutputSocket preview_output = find_preview_output_socket(node);
diff --git a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/utilities.cc b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/utilities.cc
index 5d5840210e2..7bb20035664 100644
--- a/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/utilities.cc
+++ b/source/blender/compositor/realtime_compositor/intern/utilities.cc
@@ -163,6 +163,21 @@ bool is_node_preview_needed(const DNode &node)
   return true;
 }
 
+DOutputSocket find_preview_output_socket(const DNode &node)
+{
+  if (!is_node_preview_needed(node)) {
+    return DOutputSocket();
+  }
+
+  for (const bNodeSocket *output : node->output_sockets()) {
+    if (output->is_logically_linked()) {
+      return DOutputSocket(node.context(), output);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return DOutputSocket();
+}
+
 /* Given the size of a result, compute a lower resolution size for a preview. The greater dimension
  * will be assigned an arbitrarily chosen size of 128, while the other dimension will get the size
  * that maintains the same aspect ratio. */