diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 6b93631c78..94bea7b989 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  * Fix AssertionError when using empty clustering columns and static columns
    (CASSANDRA-7455)
  * Add inter_dc_stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec (CASSANDRA-6596)
+ * Add option to disable STCS in L0 (CASSANDRA-6621)
 Merged from 1.2:
 
 
diff --git a/NEWS.txt b/NEWS.txt
index 0fbc20f2ce..ea085ae71b 100644
--- a/NEWS.txt
+++ b/NEWS.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@ restore snapshots created with the previous major version using the
 'sstableloader' tool. You can upgrade the file format of your snapshots
 using the provided 'sstableupgrade' tool.
 
+2.0.10
+====
+New features
+------------
+    - If you are using Leveled Compaction, you can now disable doing size-tiered
+      compaction in L0 by starting Cassandra with -Dcassandra.disable_stcs_in_l0
+      (see CASSANDRA-6621 for details).
+
+
 2.0.9
 =====
 
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index badd975e16..bf0307b6c6 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -904,6 +904,11 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
         conf.compaction_throughput_mb_per_sec = value;
     }
 
+    public static boolean getDisableSTCSInL0()
+    {
+        return Boolean.getBoolean("cassandra.disable_stcs_in_l0");
+    }
+
     public static int getStreamThroughputOutboundMegabitsPerSec()
     {
         return conf.stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LeveledManifest.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LeveledManifest.java
index 1118ddc00c..70e5cae88d 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LeveledManifest.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/LeveledManifest.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import org.apache.cassandra.config.CFMetaData;
+import org.apache.cassandra.config.DatabaseDescriptor;
 import org.apache.cassandra.config.Schema;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.ColumnFamilyStore;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.RowPosition;
@@ -267,7 +268,7 @@ public class LeveledManifest
             if (score > 1.001)
             {
                 // before proceeding with a higher level, let's see if L0 is far enough behind to warrant STCS
-                if (generations[0].size() > MAX_COMPACTING_L0)
+                if (!DatabaseDescriptor.getDisableSTCSInL0() && generations[0].size() > MAX_COMPACTING_L0)
                 {
                     Iterable<SSTableReader> candidates = cfs.getDataTracker().getUncompactingSSTables(generations[0]);
                     List<Pair<SSTableReader,Long>> pairs = SizeTieredCompactionStrategy.createSSTableAndLengthPairs(AbstractCompactionStrategy.filterSuspectSSTables(candidates));