diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index c73c0a1e38..37a3b6b3aa 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
  * re-set bootstrapped flag after move finishes (CASSANDRA-2435)
  * use 64KB flush buffer instead of in_memory_compaction_limit (CASSANDRA-2463)
  * fix duplicate results from CFS.scan (CASSANDRA-2406)
+ * avoid caching token-only decoratedkeys (CASSANDRA-2416)
 
 
 0.7.4
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/io/sstable/SSTableReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/io/sstable/SSTableReader.java
index 2d56ed17c4..6bbd830978 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/io/sstable/SSTableReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/io/sstable/SSTableReader.java
@@ -417,8 +417,9 @@ public class SSTableReader extends SSTable implements Comparable<SSTableReader>
 
     public void cacheKey(DecoratedKey key, Long info)
     {
+        assert key.key != null;
         // avoid keeping a permanent reference to the original key buffer
-        DecoratedKey copiedKey = new DecoratedKey(key.token, key.key == null ? null : ByteBufferUtil.clone(key.key));
+        DecoratedKey copiedKey = new DecoratedKey(key.token, ByteBufferUtil.clone(key.key));
         keyCache.put(new Pair<Descriptor, DecoratedKey>(descriptor, copiedKey), info);
     }
 
@@ -487,7 +488,8 @@ public class SSTableReader extends SSTable implements Comparable<SSTableReader>
                             if (op == Operator.EQ)
                                 bloomFilterTracker.addTruePositive();
                             // store exact match for the key
-                            cacheKey(decoratedKey, dataPosition);
+                            if (decoratedKey.key != null)
+                                cacheKey(decoratedKey, dataPosition);
                         }
                         return dataPosition;
                     }