diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/CompactionHistoryTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/CompactionHistoryTest.java
index ae98284a6f..b9ee543a43 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/CompactionHistoryTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/CompactionHistoryTest.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public class CompactionHistoryTest extends CQLTester
     @Test
     public void testCompactionProperties() throws Throwable
     {
-        createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (id text, value text, PRIMARY KEY ((id)))");
+        createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (id text, value text, PRIMARY KEY ((id))) WITH compaction = {'class': 'SizeTieredCompactionStrategy'}");
         ColumnFamilyStore cfs = Keyspace.open(keyspace()).getColumnFamilyStore(currentTable());
         cfs.disableAutoCompaction();
         // write SSTables for the specific key