diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index b8d2ff661a..28dd6b40dd 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
  * Improve JBOD disk utilization (CASSANDRA-7386)
  * Log failed host when preparing incremental repair (CASSANDRA-8228)
 Merged from 2.0:
+ * Throw correct exception when trying to bind a keyspace or table
+   name (CASSANDRA-6952)
  * Make HHOM.compact synchronized (CASSANDRA-8416)
  * cancel latency-sampling task when CF is dropped (CASSANDRA-8401)
  * don't block SocketThread for MessagingService (CASSANDRA-8188)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/Cql.g b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/Cql.g
index 06ba81c2f3..034813cba6 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/Cql.g
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/Cql.g
@@ -859,6 +859,7 @@ cfOrKsName[CFName name, boolean isKs]
     : t=IDENT              { if (isKs) $name.setKeyspace($t.text, false); else $name.setColumnFamily($t.text, false); }
     | t=QUOTED_NAME        { if (isKs) $name.setKeyspace($t.text, true); else $name.setColumnFamily($t.text, true); }
     | k=unreserved_keyword { if (isKs) $name.setKeyspace(k, false); else $name.setColumnFamily(k, false); }
+    | QMARK {addRecognitionError("Bind variables cannot be used for keyspace or table names");}
     ;
 
 constant returns [Constants.Literal constant]
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/CQLTester.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/CQLTester.java
index dd2289647a..22261533dc 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/CQLTester.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/CQLTester.java
@@ -384,13 +384,17 @@ public abstract class CQLTester
         {
             if (errorMessage != null)
             {
-                Assert.assertTrue("Expected error message to contain '" + errorMessage + "', but got '" + e.getMessage() + "'",
-                        e.getMessage().contains(errorMessage));
+                assertMessageContains(errorMessage, e);
             }
         }
     }
 
     protected void assertInvalidSyntax(String query, Object... values) throws Throwable
+    {
+        assertInvalidSyntaxMessage(null, query, values);
+    }
+
+    protected void assertInvalidSyntaxMessage(String errorMessage, String query, Object... values) throws Throwable
     {
         try
         {
@@ -402,10 +406,25 @@ public abstract class CQLTester
         }
         catch (SyntaxException e)
         {
-            // This is what we expect
+            if (errorMessage != null)
+            {
+                assertMessageContains(errorMessage, e);
+            }
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Asserts that the message of the specified exception contains the specified text.
+     *
+     * @param text the text that the exception message must contains
+     * @param e the exception to check
+     */
+    private static void assertMessageContains(String text, Exception e)
+    {
+        Assert.assertTrue("Expected error message to contain '" + text + "', but got '" + e.getMessage() + "'",
+                e.getMessage().contains(text));
+    }
+
     private static String replaceValues(String query, Object[] values)
     {
         StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/UseStatementTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/UseStatementTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77ac8a76ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/UseStatementTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.cassandra.cql3;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UseStatementTest extends CQLTester
+{
+    @Test
+    public void testUseStatementWithBindVariable() throws Throwable
+    {
+        assertInvalidSyntaxMessage("Bind variables cannot be used for keyspace or table names", "USE ?");
+    }
+}