diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 7fb6de93c5..badb45e3a7 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
    are thrown while handling native protocol messages (CASSANDRA-7470)
  * Fix row size miscalculation in LazilyCompactedRow (CASSANDRA-7543)
  * Fix race in background compaction check (CASSANDRA-7745)
+ * Don't clear out range tombstones during compaction (CASSANDRA-7808)
 
 
 1.2.18
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LazilyCompactedRow.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LazilyCompactedRow.java
index d9f753c106..4360b0b337 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LazilyCompactedRow.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LazilyCompactedRow.java
@@ -167,8 +167,9 @@ public class LazilyCompactedRow extends AbstractCompactedRow implements Iterable
 
     public boolean isEmpty()
     {
+        // need to clone emptyColumnFamily to avoid resetting the deletion time. See CASSANDRA-7808.
         boolean cfIrrelevant = shouldPurge
-                             ? ColumnFamilyStore.removeDeletedCF(emptyColumnFamily, controller.gcBefore) == null
+                             ? ColumnFamilyStore.removeDeletedCF(emptyColumnFamily.cloneMeShallow(), controller.gcBefore) == null
                              : !emptyColumnFamily.isMarkedForDelete(); // tombstones are relevant
         return cfIrrelevant && columnStats.columnCount == 0;
     }
@@ -285,11 +286,12 @@ public class LazilyCompactedRow extends AbstractCompactedRow implements Iterable
                 ColumnFamily purged = PrecompactedRow.removeDeletedAndOldShards(key, shouldPurge, controller, container);
                 if (purged == null || !purged.iterator().hasNext())
                 {
-                    container.clear();
+                    // don't call clear() because that resets the deletion time. See CASSANDRA-7808.
+                    container = emptyColumnFamily.cloneMeShallow();
                     return null;
                 }
                 IColumn reduced = purged.iterator().next();
-                container.clear();
+                container = emptyColumnFamily.cloneMeShallow();
 
                 // PrecompactedRow.removeDeletedAndOldShards have only checked the top-level CF deletion times,
                 // not the range tombstone. For that we use the columnIndexer tombstone tracker.
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/RangeTombstoneTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/RangeTombstoneTest.java
index c2f8b83ad4..59be938bac 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/RangeTombstoneTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/RangeTombstoneTest.java
@@ -18,17 +18,22 @@
 */
 package org.apache.cassandra.db;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.*;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import org.apache.cassandra.SchemaLoader;
+import org.apache.cassandra.Util;
+import org.apache.cassandra.config.DatabaseDescriptor;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.compaction.CompactionManager;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.filter.*;
 import org.apache.cassandra.utils.ByteBufferUtil;
 
 import static org.apache.cassandra.Util.dk;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 
 public class RangeTombstoneTest extends SchemaLoader
 {
@@ -96,6 +101,61 @@ public class RangeTombstoneTest extends SchemaLoader
             assert !isLive(cf, cf.getColumn(b(i))) : "Column " + i + " shouldn't be live";
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void test7808_1() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException
+    {
+        DatabaseDescriptor.setInMemoryCompactionLimit(0);
+        Table table = Table.open(KSNAME);
+        ColumnFamilyStore cfs = table.getColumnFamilyStore(CFNAME);
+        cfs.metadata.gcGraceSeconds(2);
+
+        String key = "7808_1";
+        RowMutation rm;
+        rm = new RowMutation(KSNAME, ByteBufferUtil.bytes(key));
+        for (int i = 0; i < 40; i += 2)
+            add(rm, i, 0);
+        rm.apply();
+        cfs.forceBlockingFlush();
+        rm = new RowMutation(KSNAME, ByteBufferUtil.bytes(key));
+        ColumnFamily cf = rm.addOrGet(CFNAME);
+        cf.delete(new DeletionInfo(1, 1));
+        rm.apply();
+        cfs.forceBlockingFlush();
+        Thread.sleep(5);
+        cfs.forceMajorCompaction();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void test7808_2() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException, IOException
+    {
+        DatabaseDescriptor.setInMemoryCompactionLimit(0);
+        Table table = Table.open(KSNAME);
+        ColumnFamilyStore cfs = table.getColumnFamilyStore(CFNAME);
+        cfs.metadata.gcGraceSeconds(2);
+
+        String key = "7808_2";
+        RowMutation rm;
+        rm = new RowMutation(KSNAME, ByteBufferUtil.bytes(key));
+        for (int i = 10; i < 20; i++)
+            add(rm, i, 0);
+        rm.apply();
+        cfs.forceBlockingFlush();
+
+        rm = new RowMutation(KSNAME, ByteBufferUtil.bytes(key));
+        ColumnFamily cf = rm.addOrGet(CFNAME);
+        cf.delete(new DeletionInfo(0,0));
+        rm.apply();
+
+        rm = new RowMutation(KSNAME, ByteBufferUtil.bytes(key));
+        add(rm, 5, 1);
+        rm.apply();
+
+        cfs.forceBlockingFlush();
+        Thread.sleep(5);
+        cfs.forceMajorCompaction();
+        assertEquals(1, Util.getColumnFamily(table, Util.dk(key), CFNAME).getColumnCount());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void overlappingRangeTest() throws Exception
     {