diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index a78786fb3f..eb3485e8a1 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -3546,15 +3546,24 @@ public class StorageService extends NotificationBroadcasterSupport implements IE
 
         long totalRowCountEstimate = cfs.estimatedKeysForRange(range);
 
-        // splitCount should be much smaller than number of key samples, to avoid huge sampling error
-        int minSamplesPerSplit = 4;
-        int maxSplitCount = keys.size() / minSamplesPerSplit + 1;
-        int splitCount = Math.max(1, Math.min(maxSplitCount, (int)(totalRowCountEstimate / keysPerSplit)));
+        int splitCount = calculateSplitCount(keysPerSplit, totalRowCountEstimate, keys.size());
 
         List<Token> tokens = keysToTokens(range, keys);
         return getSplits(tokens, splitCount, cfs);
     }
 
+    static int calculateSplitCount(int keysPerSplit, long totalRowCountEstimate, int numberOfKeys)
+    {
+        // splitCount should be much smaller than number of key samples, to avoid huge sampling error
+        int minSamplesPerSplit = 4;
+        int maxSplitCount = numberOfKeys / minSamplesPerSplit + 1;
+        int splitCount = Math.max(1,
+                                  Math.min(
+                                  maxSplitCount,
+                                  (int) (totalRowCountEstimate / keysPerSplit)));
+        return splitCount;
+    }
+
     private List<Pair<Range<Token>, Long>> getSplits(List<Token> tokens, int splitCount, ColumnFamilyStore cfs)
     {
         double step = (double) (tokens.size() - 1) / splitCount;
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceTest.java
index 725f105db8..7a403c01bf 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceTest.java
@@ -316,4 +316,25 @@ public class StorageServiceTest extends TestBaseImpl
             assertEquals("Cannot specify tokens without keyspace.", ex.getMessage());
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void calculateSplitCountHappyPath()
+    {
+        int result = StorageService.calculateSplitCount(2, 4, 40);
+        assertEquals(2, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void calculateSplitCountForMin()
+    {
+        int result = StorageService.calculateSplitCount(2, 100, 40);
+        assertEquals(11, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void calculateSplitCountForMaxWithOverflow()
+    {
+        int result = StorageService.calculateSplitCount(1, Long.MAX_VALUE, 4);
+        assertEquals(1, result);
+    }
 }