diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index c160d69f0b..169f66dcc4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  * Fix LCS bug with sstable containing only 1 row (CASSANDRA-4411)
  * fix "Can't Modify Index Name" problem on CF update (CASSANDRA-4439)
  * Fix assertion error in getOverlappingSSTables during repair (CASSANDRA-4456)
+ * fix nodetool's setcompactionthreshold command (CASSANDRA-4455)
 Merged from 1.0:
  * allow dropping columns shadowed by not-yet-expired supercolumn or row
    tombstones in PrecompactedRow (CASSANDRA-4396)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
index 0b66020ec4..b93adc19e4 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
@@ -1845,6 +1845,18 @@ public class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
         return compactionStrategy;
     }
 
+    public void setCompactionThresholds(int minThreshold, int maxThreshold)
+    {
+        validateCompactionThresholds(minThreshold, maxThreshold);
+
+        minCompactionThreshold.set(minThreshold);
+        maxCompactionThreshold.set(maxThreshold);
+
+        // this is called as part of CompactionStrategy constructor; avoid circular dependency by checking for null
+        if (compactionStrategy != null)
+            CompactionManager.instance.submitBackground(this);
+    }
+
     public int getMinimumCompactionThreshold()
     {
         return minCompactionThreshold.value();
@@ -1852,14 +1864,8 @@ public class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
 
     public void setMinimumCompactionThreshold(int minCompactionThreshold)
     {
-        if ((minCompactionThreshold > this.maxCompactionThreshold.value()) && this.maxCompactionThreshold.value() != 0)
-            throw new RuntimeException("The min_compaction_threshold cannot be larger than the max.");
-
+        validateCompactionThresholds(minCompactionThreshold, maxCompactionThreshold.value());
         this.minCompactionThreshold.set(minCompactionThreshold);
-
-        // this is called as part of CompactionStrategy constructor; avoid circular dependency by checking for null
-        if (compactionStrategy != null)
-            CompactionManager.instance.submitBackground(this);
     }
 
     public int getMaximumCompactionThreshold()
@@ -1869,14 +1875,15 @@ public class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
 
     public void setMaximumCompactionThreshold(int maxCompactionThreshold)
     {
-        if (maxCompactionThreshold > 0 && maxCompactionThreshold < this.minCompactionThreshold.value())
-            throw new RuntimeException("The max_compaction_threshold cannot be smaller than the min.");
-
+        validateCompactionThresholds(minCompactionThreshold.value(), maxCompactionThreshold);
         this.maxCompactionThreshold.set(maxCompactionThreshold);
+    }
 
-        // this is called as part of CompactionStrategy constructor; avoid circular dependency by checking for null
-        if (compactionStrategy != null)
-            CompactionManager.instance.submitBackground(this);
+    private void validateCompactionThresholds(int minThreshold, int maxThreshold)
+    {
+        if (minThreshold > maxThreshold && maxThreshold != 0)
+            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("The min_compaction_threshold cannot be larger than the max_compaction_threshold. " +
+                                                     "Min is '%d', Max is '%d'.", minThreshold, maxThreshold));
     }
 
     public boolean isCompactionDisabled()
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStoreMBean.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStoreMBean.java
index 68448c97e9..1d9959e258 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStoreMBean.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStoreMBean.java
@@ -182,6 +182,11 @@ public interface ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
      */
     public int getMaximumCompactionThreshold();
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the maximum and maximum number of SSTables in queue before compaction kicks off
+     */
+    public void setCompactionThresholds(int minThreshold, int maxThreshold);
+
     /**
      * Sets the maximum number of sstables in queue before compaction kicks off
      */
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/SizeTieredCompactionStrategy.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/SizeTieredCompactionStrategy.java
index 63ec442487..3ee4d01dea 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/SizeTieredCompactionStrategy.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/SizeTieredCompactionStrategy.java
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ public class SizeTieredCompactionStrategy extends AbstractCompactionStrategy
         this.estimatedRemainingTasks = 0;
         String optionValue = options.get(MIN_SSTABLE_SIZE_KEY);
         minSSTableSize = (null != optionValue) ? Long.parseLong(optionValue) : DEFAULT_MIN_SSTABLE_SIZE;
-        cfs.setMaximumCompactionThreshold(cfs.metadata.getMaxCompactionThreshold());
-        cfs.setMinimumCompactionThreshold(cfs.metadata.getMinCompactionThreshold());
+        cfs.setCompactionThresholds(cfs.metadata.getMinCompactionThreshold(), cfs.metadata.getMaxCompactionThreshold());
     }
 
     public AbstractCompactionTask getNextBackgroundTask(final int gcBefore)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
index 5c04eff805..5488d7513c 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/NodeProbe.java
@@ -440,8 +440,7 @@ public class NodeProbe
     public void setCompactionThreshold(String ks, String cf, int minimumCompactionThreshold, int maximumCompactionThreshold)
     {
         ColumnFamilyStoreMBean cfsProxy = getCfsProxy(ks, cf);
-        cfsProxy.setMinimumCompactionThreshold(minimumCompactionThreshold);
-        cfsProxy.setMaximumCompactionThreshold(maximumCompactionThreshold);
+        cfsProxy.setCompactionThresholds(minimumCompactionThreshold, maximumCompactionThreshold);
     }
 
     public void setCacheCapacities(String tableName, String cfName, int keyCacheCapacity, int rowCacheCapacity)
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/CompactionsTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/CompactionsTest.java
index 6339224150..55616a23b5 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/CompactionsTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/CompactionsTest.java
@@ -194,8 +194,7 @@ public class CompactionsTest extends SchemaLoader
     private void forceCompactions(ColumnFamilyStore cfs) throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException
     {
         // re-enable compaction with thresholds low enough to force a few rounds
-        cfs.setMinimumCompactionThreshold(2);
-        cfs.setMaximumCompactionThreshold(4);
+        cfs.setCompactionThresholds(2, 4);
 
         // loop submitting parallel compactions until they all return 0
         do