diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 16e8f6937c..4d13ba5ee5 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 dev
  * expose getNaturalEndpoints in StorageServiceMBean taking byte[]
    key; RMI cannot serialize ByteBuffer (CASSANDRA-1833)
+ * infer org.apache.cassandra.locator for replication strategy classes
+   when not otherwise specified
  * validation that generates less garbage (CASSANDRA-1814)
 
+
 0.7.0-rc2
  * fix live-column-count of slice ranges including tombstoned supercolumn 
    with live subcolumn (CASSANDRA-1591)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/avro/CassandraServer.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/avro/CassandraServer.java
index 5901a38615..3621392828 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/avro/CassandraServer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/avro/CassandraServer.java
@@ -42,12 +42,10 @@ import org.apache.avro.ipc.AvroRemoteException;
 import org.apache.avro.util.Utf8;
 import org.apache.cassandra.concurrent.Stage;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.DropKeyspace;
-import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.RenameKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.UpdateColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.UpdateKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.*;
-import org.apache.cassandra.gms.Gossiper;
-import org.apache.cassandra.utils.FBUtilities;
+
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -66,7 +64,6 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.AddColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.AddKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.DropColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.Migration;
-import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.RenameColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.locator.AbstractReplicationStrategy;
 import org.apache.cassandra.scheduler.IRequestScheduler;
 import org.apache.cassandra.service.ClientState;
@@ -646,7 +643,7 @@ public class CassandraServer implements Cassandra {
 
             KSMetaData ksmeta = new KSMetaData(
                     ksDef.name.toString(),
-                    FBUtilities.<AbstractReplicationStrategy>classForName(ksDef.strategy_class.toString(), "keyspace replication strategy"),
+                    AbstractReplicationStrategy.getClass(ksDef.strategy_class.toString()),
                     strategyOptions,
                     ksDef.replication_factor,
                     cfDefs.toArray(new CFMetaData[cfDefs.size()]));
@@ -738,7 +735,7 @@ public class CassandraServer implements Cassandra {
             
             KSMetaData ksm = new KSMetaData(
                     ks_def.name.toString(), 
-                    (Class<? extends AbstractReplicationStrategy>) FBUtilities.<AbstractReplicationStrategy>classForName(ks_def.strategy_class.toString(), "keyspace replication strategy"),
+                    AbstractReplicationStrategy.getClass(ks_def.strategy_class.toString()),
                     strategyOptions,
                     ks_def.replication_factor);
             applyMigrationOnStage(new UpdateKeyspace(ksm));
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/AbstractReplicationStrategy.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/AbstractReplicationStrategy.java
index 1f997cbafc..36e8702a17 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/AbstractReplicationStrategy.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/locator/AbstractReplicationStrategy.java
@@ -261,7 +261,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractReplicationStrategy
                                                                         Map<String, String> strategyOptions)
             throws ConfigurationException
     {
-        Class<AbstractReplicationStrategy> c = FBUtilities.<AbstractReplicationStrategy>classForName(strategyClassName, "replication-strategy");
+        Class<AbstractReplicationStrategy> c = getClass(strategyClassName);
         return createReplicationStrategy(table, c, tokenMetadata, snitch, strategyOptions);
     }
+
+    public static Class<AbstractReplicationStrategy> getClass(String cls) throws ConfigurationException
+    {
+        String className = cls.contains(".") ? cls : "org.apache.cassandra.locator." + cls;
+        return FBUtilities.classForName(className, "replication strategy");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/CassandraServer.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/CassandraServer.java
index e8d659c465..1e6d75de68 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/CassandraServer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/thrift/CassandraServer.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.config.ConfigurationException;
 import org.apache.cassandra.config.DatabaseDescriptor;
 import org.apache.cassandra.config.KSMetaData;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.ColumnFamily;
-import org.apache.cassandra.db.ColumnFamilyNotDefinedException;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.ColumnFamilyType;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.DecoratedKey;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.ExpiringColumn;
@@ -60,8 +59,6 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.AddKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.DropColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.DropKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.Migration;
-import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.RenameColumnFamily;
-import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.RenameKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.UpdateColumnFamily;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.migration.UpdateKeyspace;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.AbstractBounds;
@@ -75,7 +72,6 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.scheduler.IRequestScheduler;
 import org.apache.cassandra.service.ClientState;
 import org.apache.cassandra.service.StorageProxy;
 import org.apache.cassandra.service.StorageService;
-import org.apache.cassandra.utils.FBUtilities;
 import org.apache.thrift.TException;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -767,7 +763,7 @@ public class CassandraServer implements Cassandra.Iface
             }
 
             KSMetaData ksm = new KSMetaData(ks_def.name,
-                                            FBUtilities.<AbstractReplicationStrategy>classForName(ks_def.strategy_class, "keyspace replication strategy"),
+                                            AbstractReplicationStrategy.getClass(ks_def.strategy_class),
                                             ks_def.strategy_options,
                                             ks_def.replication_factor,
                                             cfDefs.toArray(new CFMetaData[cfDefs.size()]));
@@ -826,7 +822,7 @@ public class CassandraServer implements Cassandra.Iface
         {
             KSMetaData ksm = new KSMetaData(
                     ks_def.name, 
-                    FBUtilities.<AbstractReplicationStrategy>classForName(ks_def.strategy_class, "keyspace replication strategy"),
+                    AbstractReplicationStrategy.getClass(ks_def.strategy_class),
                     ks_def.strategy_options,
                     ks_def.replication_factor);
             applyMigrationOnStage(new UpdateKeyspace(ksm));
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/FBUtilities.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/FBUtilities.java
index e54e961a9f..0b310672b3 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/FBUtilities.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/utils/FBUtilities.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.db.marshal.AbstractType;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.IPartitioner;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.Range;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.Token;
+import org.apache.cassandra.locator.AbstractReplicationStrategy;
 import org.apache.cassandra.locator.PropertyFileSnitch;
 import org.apache.thrift.TBase;
 import org.apache.thrift.TDeserializer;