diff --git a/conf/cassandra-env.sh b/conf/cassandra-env.sh
index 755f9623fb..3f4c21b088 100644
--- a/conf/cassandra-env.sh
+++ b/conf/cassandra-env.sh
@@ -221,6 +221,10 @@ JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:CompileCommandFile=$CASSANDRA_CONF/hotspot_compiler"
 JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:CMSWaitDuration=10000"
 
 # note: bash evals '1.7.x' as > '1.7' so this is really a >= 1.7 jvm check
+if { [ "$JVM_VERSION" \> "1.7" ] && [ "$JVM_VERSION" \< "1.8.0" ] && [ "$JVM_PATCH_VERSION" -ge "60" ]; } || [ "$JVM_VERSION" \> "1.8" ] ; then
+    JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+CMSParallelInitialMarkEnabled -XX:+CMSEdenChunksRecordAlways -XX:CMSWaitDuration=10000"
+fi
+
 if [ "$JVM_ARCH" = "64-Bit" ] ; then
     JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+UseCondCardMark"
 fi