diff --git a/debian/cassandra.install b/debian/cassandra.install
index e1966051ba..6fa84ce11b 100644
--- a/debian/cassandra.install
+++ b/debian/cassandra.install
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 conf/log4j-server.properties etc/cassandra
 conf/cassandra.yaml etc/cassandra
 conf/cassandra-env.sh etc/cassandra
+conf/cassandra-rackdc.properties etc/cassandra
 debian/cassandra.in.sh usr/share/cassandra
 debian/cassandra.conf etc/security/limits.d
 debian/cassandra-sysctl.conf etc/sysctl.d
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/GossipingPropertyFileSnitch.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/GossipingPropertyFileSnitch.java
index a75f3f7a13..0b36a3c52f 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/GossipingPropertyFileSnitch.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/GossipingPropertyFileSnitch.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public class GossipingPropertyFileSnitch extends AbstractNetworkTopologySnitch
         myDC = SnitchProperties.get("dc", null);
         myRack = SnitchProperties.get("rack", null);
         if (myDC == null || myRack == null)
-            throw new ConfigurationException("DC or rack not found in snitch properties");
+            throw new ConfigurationException("DC or rack not found in snitch properties, Plz check your configuration in: " + SnitchProperties.RACKDC_PROPERTY_FILENAME);
 
         myDC = myDC.trim();
         myRack = myRack.trim();
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/SnitchProperties.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/SnitchProperties.java
index 16989ff6ff..ae27fbe913 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/SnitchProperties.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/SnitchProperties.java
@@ -21,9 +21,12 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.apache.cassandra.io.util.FileUtils;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 public class SnitchProperties
 {
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(GossipingPropertyFileSnitch.class);
     public static final String RACKDC_PROPERTY_FILENAME = "cassandra-rackdc.properties";
     private static Properties properties = new Properties();
 
@@ -36,7 +39,8 @@ public class SnitchProperties
         }
         catch (Exception e)
         {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Unable to read " + RACKDC_PROPERTY_FILENAME, e);
+            // do not throw exception here, just consider this a incomplete or a empty property file.
+            logger.warn("Unable to read " + RACKDC_PROPERTY_FILENAME);
         }
         finally
         {