diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/TokenMetadata.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/TokenMetadata.java
index 164d80fde6..771ce2f727 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/TokenMetadata.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/TokenMetadata.java
@@ -287,4 +287,9 @@ public class TokenMetadata
     {
         return getEndPoint(getSuccessor(getToken(endPoint)));
     }
+
+    public void clearPendingRanges()
+    {
+        pendingRanges.clear();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index bc23170682..d4beeb8c9a 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -1046,4 +1046,9 @@ public final class StorageService implements IEndPointStateChangeSubscriber, Sto
     {
         return replicationStrategy_;
     }
+
+    public void cancelPendingRanges()
+    {
+        tokenMetadata_.clearPendingRanges();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceMBean.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceMBean.java
index f4a991319e..3cb2001f50 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceMBean.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageServiceMBean.java
@@ -131,6 +131,13 @@ public interface StorageServiceMBean
      */
     public void loadBalance() throws IOException, InterruptedException;
 
+    /**
+     * cancel writes to nodes that are set to be changing ranges.
+     * Only do this if the reason for the range changes no longer exists
+     * (e.g., a bootstrapping node was killed or crashed.)
+     */
+    public void cancelPendingRanges();
+
     /** set the logging level at runtime */
     public void setLog4jLevel(String classQualifier, String level);
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
index 96d80bf8df..347e2c16c2 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
@@ -393,6 +393,11 @@ public class NodeProbe
         ssProxy.move(newToken);
     }
 
+    public void cancelPendingRanges()
+    {
+        ssProxy.cancelPendingRanges();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Print out the size of the queues in the thread pools
      *
@@ -488,7 +493,7 @@ public class NodeProbe
         HelpFormatter hf = new HelpFormatter();
         String header = String.format(
                 "%nAvailable commands: ring, info, cleanup, compact, cfstats, snapshot [name], clearsnapshot, " +
-                "tpstats, flush, decommission, move, loadbalance, " +
+                "tpstats, flush, decommission, move, loadbalance, cancelpending, " +
                 " getcompactionthreshold, setcompactionthreshold [minthreshold] ([maxthreshold])");
         String usage = String.format("java %s -host <arg> <command>%n", NodeProbe.class.getName());
         hf.printHelp(usage, "", options, header);
@@ -563,6 +568,10 @@ public class NodeProbe
             }
             probe.move(arguments[1]);
         }
+        else if (cmdName.equals("cancelpending"))
+        {
+            probe.cancelPendingRanges();
+        }
         else if (cmdName.equals("snapshot"))
         {
             String snapshotName = "";