diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 94270a0b46..9fa2bafff2 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ Merged from 4.0:
  * Fix Down nodes counter in nodetool describecluster (CASSANDRA-18512)
  * Remove unnecessary shuffling of GossipDigests in Gossiper#makeRandomGossipDigest (CASSANDRA-18546)
 Merged from 3.11:
+ * Wait for live endpoints in gossip waiting to settle (CASSANDRA-18543)
  * Fix error message handling when trying to use CLUSTERING ORDER with non-clustering column (CASSANDRA-17818
  * Add keyspace and table name to exception message during ColumnSubselection deserialization (CASSANDRA-18346)
 Merged from 3.0:
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
index 8eaaa7a9e0..fbb20766fa 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
@@ -234,6 +234,22 @@ public enum CassandraRelevantProperties
     GOSSIPER_QUARANTINE_DELAY("cassandra.gossip_quarantine_delay_ms"),
     GOSSIPER_SKIP_WAITING_TO_SETTLE("cassandra.skip_wait_for_gossip_to_settle", "-1"),
     GOSSIP_DISABLE_THREAD_VALIDATION("cassandra.gossip.disable_thread_validation"),
+
+    /**
+     * Delay before checking if gossip is settled.
+     */
+    GOSSIP_SETTLE_MIN_WAIT_MS("cassandra.gossip_settle_min_wait_ms", "5000"),
+
+    /**
+     * Interval delay between checking gossip is settled.
+     */
+    GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS("cassandra.gossip_settle_interval_ms", "1000"),
+
+    /**
+     * Number of polls without gossip state change to consider gossip as settled.
+     */
+    GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_SUCCESSES_REQUIRED("cassandra.gossip_settle_poll_success_required", "3"),
+
     IGNORED_SCHEMA_CHECK_ENDPOINTS("cassandra.skip_schema_check_for_endpoints"),
     IGNORED_SCHEMA_CHECK_VERSIONS("cassandra.skip_schema_check_for_versions"),
     IGNORE_CORRUPTED_SCHEMA_TABLES("cassandra.ignore_corrupted_schema_tables"),
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/gms/Gossiper.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/gms/Gossiper.java
index adff044420..dd6605cca7 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/gms/Gossiper.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/gms/Gossiper.java
@@ -61,9 +61,11 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.apache.cassandra.concurrent.FutureTask;
 import org.apache.cassandra.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorPlus;
 import org.apache.cassandra.concurrent.Stage;
+import org.apache.cassandra.config.CassandraRelevantProperties;
 import org.apache.cassandra.config.DatabaseDescriptor;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.SystemKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.Token;
+import org.apache.cassandra.exceptions.RequestFailureReason;
 import org.apache.cassandra.locator.InetAddressAndPort;
 import org.apache.cassandra.net.Message;
 import org.apache.cassandra.net.MessagingService;
@@ -160,6 +162,9 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
     @VisibleForTesting
     final Set<InetAddressAndPort> liveEndpoints = new ConcurrentSkipListSet<>();
 
+    /* Inflight echo requests. */
+    private final Set<InetAddressAndPort> inflightEcho = new ConcurrentSkipListSet<>();
+
     /* unreachable member set */
     private final Map<InetAddressAndPort, Long> unreachableEndpoints = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 
@@ -671,6 +676,7 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
             return;
 
         liveEndpoints.remove(endpoint);
+        inflightEcho.remove(endpoint);
         unreachableEndpoints.remove(endpoint);
         MessagingService.instance().versions.reset(endpoint);
         quarantineEndpoint(endpoint);
@@ -1361,14 +1367,45 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
 
     private void markAlive(final InetAddressAndPort addr, final EndpointState localState)
     {
+        if (inflightEcho.contains(addr))
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+        inflightEcho.add(addr);
+
         localState.markDead();
 
         Message<NoPayload> echoMessage = Message.out(ECHO_REQ, noPayload);
         logger.trace("Sending ECHO_REQ to {}", addr);
-        RequestCallback echoHandler = msg ->
+        RequestCallback echoHandler = new RequestCallback()
         {
-            // force processing of the echo response onto the gossip stage, as it comes in on the REQUEST_RESPONSE stage
-            runInGossipStageBlocking(() -> realMarkAlive(addr, localState));
+            @Override
+            public void onResponse(Message msg)
+            {
+                // force processing of the echo response onto the gossip stage, as it comes in on the REQUEST_RESPONSE stage
+                runInGossipStageBlocking(() -> {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        realMarkAlive(addr, localState);
+                    }
+                    finally
+                    {
+                        inflightEcho.remove(addr);
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public boolean invokeOnFailure()
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onFailure(InetAddressAndPort from, RequestFailureReason failureReason)
+            {
+                inflightEcho.remove(addr);
+            }
         };
 
         MessagingService.instance().sendWithCallback(echoMessage, addr, echoHandler);
@@ -1424,6 +1461,7 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
         if (!disableEndpointRemoval)
         {
             liveEndpoints.remove(addr);
+            inflightEcho.remove(addr);
             unreachableEndpoints.put(addr, nanoTime());
         }
     }
@@ -2378,21 +2416,23 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
         {
             return;
         }
-        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_MIN_WAIT_MS = 5000;
-        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 1000;
-        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_SUCCESSES_REQUIRED = 3;
+        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_MIN_WAIT_MS = CassandraRelevantProperties.GOSSIP_SETTLE_MIN_WAIT_MS.getInt();
+        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = CassandraRelevantProperties.GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS.getInt();
+        final int GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_SUCCESSES_REQUIRED = CassandraRelevantProperties.GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_SUCCESSES_REQUIRED.getInt();
 
         logger.info("Waiting for gossip to settle...");
         Uninterruptibles.sleepUninterruptibly(GOSSIP_SETTLE_MIN_WAIT_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
         int totalPolls = 0;
         int numOkay = 0;
         int epSize = Gossiper.instance.getEndpointCount();
+        int liveSize = Gossiper.instance.getLiveMembers().size();
         while (numOkay < GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_SUCCESSES_REQUIRED)
         {
             Uninterruptibles.sleepUninterruptibly(GOSSIP_SETTLE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
             int currentSize = Gossiper.instance.getEndpointCount();
+            int currentLive = Gossiper.instance.getLiveMembers().size();
             totalPolls++;
-            if (currentSize == epSize)
+            if (currentSize == epSize && currentLive == liveSize)
             {
                 logger.debug("Gossip looks settled.");
                 numOkay++;
@@ -2403,6 +2443,7 @@ public class Gossiper implements IFailureDetectionEventListener, GossiperMBean
                 numOkay = 0;
             }
             epSize = currentSize;
+            liveSize = currentLive;
             if (forceAfter > 0 && totalPolls > forceAfter)
             {
                 logger.warn("Gossip not settled but startup forced by cassandra.skip_wait_for_gossip_to_settle. Gossip total polls: {}",