diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 98c8d7320a..0ed63f1f79 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
  * UDF / UDA execution time in trace (CASSANDRA-9723)
  * Fix broken internode SSL (CASSANDRA-9884)
 Merged from 2.1:
+ * (cqlsh) Avoid overwriting new config file with old config
+   when both exist (CASSANDRA-9777)
  * Release snapshot selfRef when doing snapshot repair (CASSANDRA-9998)
  * Cannot replace token does not exist - DN node removed as Fat Client (CASSANDRA-9871)
  * Fix handling of enable/disable autocompaction (CASSANDRA-9899)
diff --git a/bin/cqlsh.py b/bin/cqlsh.py
index 6df1d75ab1..11f110dce7 100644
--- a/bin/cqlsh.py
+++ b/bin/cqlsh.py
@@ -199,7 +199,14 @@ if not os.path.exists(HISTORY_DIR):
 
 OLD_CONFIG_FILE = os.path.expanduser(os.path.join('~', '.cqlshrc'))
 if os.path.exists(OLD_CONFIG_FILE):
-    os.rename(OLD_CONFIG_FILE, CONFIG_FILE)
+    if os.path.exists(CONFIG_FILE):
+        print '\nWarning: cqlshrc config files were found at both the old location (%s) and \
+                the new location (%s), the old config file will not be migrated to the new \
+                location, and the new location will be used for now.  You should manually \
+                consolidate the config files at the new location and remove the old file.' \
+                % (OLD_CONFIG_FILE, CONFIG_FILE)
+    else:
+        os.rename(OLD_CONFIG_FILE, CONFIG_FILE)
 OLD_HISTORY = os.path.expanduser(os.path.join('~', '.cqlsh_history'))
 if os.path.exists(OLD_HISTORY):
     os.rename(OLD_HISTORY, HISTORY)