diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 0e4ade3084..d4cc15f81a 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 2.0.17
+ * Disallow decommission when node is in drained state (CASSANDRA-8741)
  * Backport CASSANDRA-8013 to 2.0 (CASSANDRA-10144)
  * Make getFullyExpiredSSTables less expensive (CASSANDRA-9882)
  * Add tool to find why expired sstables are not getting dropped (CASSANDRA-10015)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index 745fe4c922..5ac49802d3 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -2963,6 +2963,8 @@ public class StorageService extends NotificationBroadcasterSupport implements IE
             throw new UnsupportedOperationException("local node is not a member of the token ring yet");
         if (tokenMetadata.cloneAfterAllLeft().sortedTokens().size() < 2)
             throw new UnsupportedOperationException("no other normal nodes in the ring; decommission would be pointless");
+        if (operationMode != Mode.NORMAL)
+            throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Node in " + operationMode + " state; wait for status to become normal or restart");
 
         PendingRangeCalculatorService.instance.blockUntilFinished();
         for (String keyspaceName : Schema.instance.getNonSystemKeyspaces())
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeCmd.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeCmd.java
index b006d694c6..80710131be 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeCmd.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeCmd.java
@@ -1366,7 +1366,8 @@ public class NodeCmd
                         System.err.println("Decommission will decommission the node you are connected to and does not take arguments!");
                         System.exit(1);
                     }
-                    probe.decommission();
+                    try { probe.decommission(); }
+                    catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) { err("Unsupported operation: " + e.getMessage()); }
                     break;
 
                 case DRAIN :
@@ -1678,6 +1679,12 @@ public class NodeCmd
         System.exit(1);
     }
 
+    private static void err(String useStr)
+    {
+        System.err.println(useStr);
+        System.exit(1);
+    }
+
     private static void err(Exception e, String errStr)
     {
         System.err.println(errStr);