diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategy.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategy.java
index fea499553a..2e43352bae 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategy.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategy.java
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@ public class DateTieredCompactionStrategy extends AbstractCompactionStrategy
 
     protected DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions options;
     protected volatile int estimatedRemainingTasks;
-    @VisibleForTesting
-    long lastExpiredCheck;
+    private long lastExpiredCheck;
 
     public DateTieredCompactionStrategy(ColumnFamilyStore cfs, Map<String, String> options)
     {
@@ -87,8 +86,8 @@ public class DateTieredCompactionStrategy extends AbstractCompactionStrategy
         Set<SSTableReader> uncompacting = cfs.getUncompactingSSTables();
 
         Set<SSTableReader> expired = Collections.emptySet();
-        // we only check for expired sstables every 10 minutes due to it being an expensive operation
-        if (System.currentTimeMillis() - lastExpiredCheck > TimeUnit.MINUTES.toMillis(10))
+        // we only check for expired sstables every 10 minutes (by default) due to it being an expensive operation
+        if (System.currentTimeMillis() - lastExpiredCheck > options.expiredSSTableCheckFrequency)
         {
             // Find fully expired SSTables. Those will be included no matter what.
             expired = CompactionController.getFullyExpiredSSTables(cfs, uncompacting, cfs.getOverlappingSSTables(uncompacting), gcBefore);
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.java
index f54c020a9a..0cbf90ef9c 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.java
@@ -27,12 +27,15 @@ public final class DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions
     protected static final TimeUnit DEFAULT_TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION = TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS;
     protected static final double DEFAULT_MAX_SSTABLE_AGE_DAYS = 365;
     protected static final long DEFAULT_BASE_TIME_SECONDS = 60;
+    protected static final int DEFAULT_EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS = 60 * 10;
     protected static final String TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION_KEY = "timestamp_resolution";
     protected static final String MAX_SSTABLE_AGE_KEY = "max_sstable_age_days";
     protected static final String BASE_TIME_KEY = "base_time_seconds";
+    protected static final String EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY = "expired_sstable_check_frequency_seconds";
 
     protected final long maxSSTableAge;
     protected final long baseTime;
+    protected final long expiredSSTableCheckFrequency;
 
     public DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions(Map<String, String> options)
     {
@@ -43,12 +46,15 @@ public final class DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions
         maxSSTableAge = Math.round(fractionalDays * timestampResolution.convert(1, TimeUnit.DAYS));
         optionValue = options.get(BASE_TIME_KEY);
         baseTime = timestampResolution.convert(optionValue == null ? DEFAULT_BASE_TIME_SECONDS : Long.parseLong(optionValue), TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        optionValue = options.get(EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY);
+        expiredSSTableCheckFrequency = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(optionValue == null ? DEFAULT_EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS : Long.parseLong(optionValue), TimeUnit.SECONDS);
     }
 
     public DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions()
     {
         maxSSTableAge = Math.round(DEFAULT_MAX_SSTABLE_AGE_DAYS * DEFAULT_TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION.convert(1, TimeUnit.DAYS));
         baseTime = DEFAULT_TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION.convert(DEFAULT_BASE_TIME_SECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        expiredSSTableCheckFrequency = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(DEFAULT_EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
     }
 
     public static Map<String, String> validateOptions(Map<String, String> options, Map<String, String> uncheckedOptions) throws  ConfigurationException
@@ -92,9 +98,24 @@ public final class DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions
             throw new ConfigurationException(String.format("%s is not a parsable int (base10) for %s", optionValue, BASE_TIME_KEY), e);
         }
 
+        optionValue = options.get(EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY);
+        try
+        {
+            long expiredCheckFrequency = optionValue == null ? DEFAULT_EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS : Long.parseLong(optionValue);
+            if (expiredCheckFrequency < 0)
+            {
+                throw new ConfigurationException(String.format("%s must not be negative, but was %d", EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY, expiredCheckFrequency));
+            }
+        }
+        catch (NumberFormatException e)
+        {
+            throw new ConfigurationException(String.format("%s is not a parsable int (base10) for %s", optionValue, EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY), e);
+        }
+
         uncheckedOptions.remove(MAX_SSTABLE_AGE_KEY);
         uncheckedOptions.remove(BASE_TIME_KEY);
         uncheckedOptions.remove(TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION_KEY);
+        uncheckedOptions.remove(EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY);
 
         return uncheckedOptions;
     }
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyTest.java
index 0084a164c0..6d9bfc2706 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/DateTieredCompactionStrategyTest.java
@@ -305,10 +305,10 @@ public class DateTieredCompactionStrategyTest extends SchemaLoader
         options.put(DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.BASE_TIME_KEY, "30");
         options.put(DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.TIMESTAMP_RESOLUTION_KEY, "MILLISECONDS");
         options.put(DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.MAX_SSTABLE_AGE_KEY, Double.toString((1d / (24 * 60 * 60))));
+        options.put(DateTieredCompactionStrategyOptions.EXPIRED_SSTABLE_CHECK_FREQUENCY_SECONDS_KEY, "0");
         DateTieredCompactionStrategy dtcs = new DateTieredCompactionStrategy(cfs, options);
         dtcs.startup();
         assertNull(dtcs.getNextBackgroundTask((int) (System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000)));
-        dtcs.lastExpiredCheck = 0;
         Thread.sleep(2000);
         AbstractCompactionTask t = dtcs.getNextBackgroundTask((int) (System.currentTimeMillis()/1000));
         assertNotNull(t);