diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
index 6f09a43885..5a1e47da37 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ public final class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
 
     public void forceFlushBinary()
     {
-        if (memtable_.isClean())
+        if (binaryMemtable_.get().isClean())
             return;
 
         submitFlush(binaryMemtable_.get());