diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 61bcf603aa..1ad77b1b35 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
  * fix saved key cache not loading at startup (CASSANDRA-5166)
  * fix ConcurrentModificationException in getBootstrapSource (CASSANDRA-5170)
  * fix sstable maxtimestamp for row deletes and pre-1.1.1 sstables (CASSANDRA-5153)
+ * fix start key/end token validation for wide row iteration (CASSANDRA-5168)
 
 
 1.1.9
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/ThriftValidation.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/ThriftValidation.java
index bc64018e21..4f40938e73 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/ThriftValidation.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/ThriftValidation.java
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ public class ThriftValidation
         {
             // start_token/end_token can wrap, but key/token should not
             RowPosition stop = p.getTokenFactory().fromString(range.end_token).maxKeyBound(p);
-            if (RowPosition.forKey(range.start_key, p).compareTo(stop) > 0)
+            if (RowPosition.forKey(range.start_key, p).compareTo(stop) > 0 && !stop.isMinimum())
                 throw new InvalidRequestException("Start key's token sorts after end token");
         }