diff --git a/bin/cassandra b/bin/cassandra
index 98489e20cc..3619d412b0 100755
--- a/bin/cassandra
+++ b/bin/cassandra
@@ -102,17 +102,12 @@ launch_service()
 {
     pidpath=$1
     foreground=$2
-    bootstrap=$3
     cassandra_parms="-Dcassandra -Dstorage-config=$CASSANDRA_CONF"
 
     if [ "x$pidpath" != "x" ]; then
         cassandra_parms="$cassandra_parms -Dcassandra-pidfile=$pidpath"
     fi
     
-    if [ "x$bootstrap" != "x" ]; then
-        cassandra_parms="$cassandra_parms -Dbootstrap=$bootstrap"
-    fi
-
     # The cassandra-foreground option will tell CassandraDaemon not
     # to close stdout/stderr, but it's up to us not to background.
     if [ "x$foreground" != "x" ]; then
@@ -143,10 +138,6 @@ while true; do
             foreground="yes"
             shift
         ;;
-        -b)
-            bootstrap="true"
-            shift
-        ;;
         -h)
             echo "Usage: $0 [-f] [-h] [-p pidfile] [-b]"
             exit 0
@@ -163,7 +154,7 @@ while true; do
 done
 
 # Start up the service
-launch_service "$pidfile" "$foreground" "$bootstrap"
+launch_service "$pidfile" "$foreground"
 
 exit $?
 
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/SystemTable.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/SystemTable.java
index b88106f645..2b247c63ac 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/SystemTable.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/SystemTable.java
@@ -27,9 +27,11 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.service.StorageService;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.Token;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.IPartitioner;
 import org.apache.cassandra.utils.BasicUtilities;
+import org.apache.cassandra.utils.FBUtilities;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.filter.IdentityQueryFilter;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.filter.QueryPath;
 import org.apache.cassandra.db.filter.QueryFilter;
+import org.apache.cassandra.db.filter.NamesQueryFilter;
 import org.apache.cassandra.net.EndPoint;
 
 public class SystemTable
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ public class SystemTable
     public static final String STATUS_CF = "LocationInfo"; // keep the old CF string for backwards-compatibility
     private static final String LOCATION_KEY = "L";
     private static final String BOOTSTRAP_KEY = "Bootstrap";
+    private static final byte[] BOOTSTRAP = utf8("B");
     private static final byte[] TOKEN = utf8("Token");
     private static final byte[] GENERATION = utf8("Generation");
     private static StorageMetadata metadata;
@@ -135,6 +138,38 @@ public class SystemTable
         return metadata;
     }
 
+    public static boolean isBootstrapped()
+    {
+        Table table = null;
+        try
+        {
+            table = Table.open(Table.SYSTEM_TABLE);
+            QueryFilter filter = new NamesQueryFilter(BOOTSTRAP_KEY, new QueryPath(STATUS_CF), BOOTSTRAP);
+            ColumnFamily cf = table.getColumnFamilyStore(STATUS_CF).getColumnFamily(filter);
+            return cf != null;
+        }
+        catch (IOException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void setBootstrapped()
+    {
+        ColumnFamily cf = ColumnFamily.create(Table.SYSTEM_TABLE, STATUS_CF);
+        cf.addColumn(new Column(BOOTSTRAP, new byte[] {1}, System.currentTimeMillis()));
+        RowMutation rm = new RowMutation(Table.SYSTEM_TABLE, BOOTSTRAP_KEY);
+        rm.add(cf);
+        try
+        {
+            rm.apply();
+        }
+        catch (IOException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
     public static class StorageMetadata
     {
         private Token token;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index e114e16eeb..c2f9ff21a2 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -137,11 +137,10 @@ public final class StorageService implements IEndPointStateChangeSubscriber, Sto
     */
     public static StorageService instance()
     {
-        String bs = System.getProperty("bootstrap");
-        boolean bootstrap = bs != null && bs.contains("true");
-
         if (instance_ == null)
         {
+            boolean bootstrap = !(DatabaseDescriptor.getSeeds().contains(getLocalControlEndPoint().getHost()) || SystemTable.isBootstrapped());
+
             synchronized (StorageService.class)
             {
                 if (instance_ == null)
@@ -205,6 +204,7 @@ public final class StorageService implements IEndPointStateChangeSubscriber, Sto
             logger_.debug("Removed " + s.getHost() + " as a bootstrap source");
         if (bootstrapSet.isEmpty())
         {
+            SystemTable.setBootstrapped();
             isBootstrapMode = false;
             updateTokenMetadata(storageMetadata_.getToken(), StorageService.tcpAddr_, false);