diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspector.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspector.java
index de396bb69c..2884bc212f 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspector.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspector.java
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ public final class JVMStabilityInspector
 
     /**
      * Certain Throwables and Exceptions represent "Die" conditions for the server.
+     * This recursively checks the input Throwable's cause hierarchy until null.
      * @param t
      *      The Throwable to check for server-stop conditions
      */
@@ -65,6 +66,9 @@ public final class JVMStabilityInspector
 
         if (isUnstable)
             killer.killCurrentJVM(t);
+
+        if (t.getCause() != null)
+            inspectThrowable(t.getCause());
     }
 
     public static void inspectCommitLogThrowable(Throwable t)
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspectorTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspectorTest.java
index f588244367..7142f97259 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspectorTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/utils/JVMStabilityInspectorTest.java
@@ -58,6 +58,15 @@ public class JVMStabilityInspectorTest
             killerForTests.reset();
             JVMStabilityInspector.inspectCommitLogThrowable(new Throwable());
             assertTrue(killerForTests.wasKilled());
+
+            killerForTests.reset();
+            JVMStabilityInspector.inspectThrowable(new Exception(new IOException()));
+            assertFalse(killerForTests.wasKilled());
+
+            killerForTests.reset();
+            JVMStabilityInspector.inspectThrowable(new Exception(new OutOfMemoryError()));
+            assertTrue(killerForTests.wasKilled());
+
         }
         finally
         {