diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 00d2cc4a59..8a695ff643 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  * Fix for discarding unneeded commitlog segments (CASSANDRA-459)
  * Add SnapshotBeforeCompaction configuration option (CASSANDRA-426)
  * Fix compaction abort under insufficient disk space (CASSANDRA-473)
+ * Fix reading subcolumn slice from tombstoned CF (CASSANDRA-484)
 
 
 0.4.0
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
index b70c1fccc1..c51f6467a9 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
@@ -1080,7 +1080,7 @@ public final class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
         {
             QueryFilter nameFilter = new NamesQueryFilter(filter.key, new QueryPath(columnFamily_), filter.path.superColumnName);
             ColumnFamily cf = getColumnFamily(nameFilter);
-            if (cf == null)
+            if (cf == null || cf.getColumnCount() == 0)
                 return cf;
 
             assert cf.getSortedColumns().size() == 1;
diff --git a/test/system/test_server.py b/test/system/test_server.py
index a4149547ee..e9053927ce 100644
--- a/test/system/test_server.py
+++ b/test/system/test_server.py
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ class TestMutations(CassandraTester):
         _insert_simple()
         _insert_super()
 
-        # Remove the key1:Standard1 cf:
+        # Remove the key1:Standard1 cf; verify super is unaffected
         client.remove('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnPath('Standard1'), 3, ConsistencyLevel.ONE)
         assert _big_slice('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnParent('Standard1')) == []
         _verify_super()
@@ -381,6 +381,11 @@ class TestMutations(CassandraTester):
         assert _big_slice('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnParent('Standard1')) == \
             [ColumnOrSuperColumn(column=Column('c1', 'value1', 4))]
 
+        # check removing the entire super cf, too.
+        client.remove('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnPath('Super1'), 3, ConsistencyLevel.ONE)
+        assert _big_slice('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnParent('Super1')) == []
+        assert _big_slice('Keyspace1', 'key1', ColumnParent('Super1', 'sc1')) == []
+
 
     def test_super_cf_remove_column(self):
         _insert_simple()