diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 94340d87f6..432faa8c4d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 3.0.26:
+ * Debian init respects CASSANDRA_HEAPDUMP_DIR (CASSANDRA-13843)
  * Catch UnsatisfiedLinkError in WindowsTimer (CASSANDRA-16085)
  * Avoid removing batch when it's not created during view replication (CASSANDRA-16175)
  * Make the addition of regular column to COMPACT tables throw an InvalidRequestException (CASSANDRA-14564)
diff --git a/debian/init b/debian/init
index 0518cd2541..79a9a52e94 100644
--- a/debian/init
+++ b/debian/init
@@ -73,7 +73,11 @@ do_start()
     ulimit -n "$FD_LIMIT"
 
     cassandra_home=`getent passwd cassandra | awk -F ':' '{ print $6; }'`
-    heap_dump_f="$cassandra_home/java_`date +%s`.hprof"
+    if [ "x$CASSANDRA_HEAPDUMP_DIR" != "x" ]; then
+        heap_dump_f="$CASSANDRA_HEAPDUMP_DIR/java_`date +%s`.hprof"
+    else
+        heap_dump_f="$cassandra_home/java_`date +%s`.hprof"
+    fi
     error_log_f="$cassandra_home/hs_err_`date +%s`.log"
 
     [ -e `dirname "$PIDFILE"` ] || \