diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index 6d7d707f56..3460cd7eef 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public class    DatabaseDescriptor
     private static RequestSchedulerOptions requestSchedulerOptions;
 
     public static final UUID INITIAL_VERSION = new UUID(4096, 0); // has type nibble set to 1, everything else to zero.
-    private static UUID defsVersion = INITIAL_VERSION;
+    private static volatile UUID defsVersion = INITIAL_VERSION;
 
     /**
      * Inspect the classpath to find storage configuration file