diff --git a/conf/cassandra-env.sh b/conf/cassandra-env.sh
index d4e6590103..5e2fb87d44 100644
--- a/conf/cassandra-env.sh
+++ b/conf/cassandra-env.sh
@@ -214,6 +214,10 @@ JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+UseCMSInitiatingOccupancyOnly"
 JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+UseTLAB"
 
 # 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="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+CMSParallelInitialMarkEnabled -XX:+CMSEdenChunksRecordAlways"
+fi
+
 if [ "$JVM_ARCH" = "64-Bit" ] ; then
     JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -XX:+UseCondCardMark"
 fi