The present invention relates to a patient interface assembly (10) and a force limiter (40). The force limiter (40) is adapted to limit a force between a patient interface (20) and a patient's face (14) when the patient interface (20) is applied to the patient (14). For this purpose, the force limiter (40) comprises a spring-like element (47, 48, 49, 49′, 49″, 49″, 1, 70) with a substantially degressive spring characteristic. The present invention further 5 relates to a patient interface, an attachment assembly and a clip for use in a patient interface assembly and comprising said force limiter.