diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
index 1efcb9ea66..4f96c5dfd8 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ public class Config
     public Integer allocate_tokens_for_local_replication_factor = null;
 
     public boolean skip_bootstrap_streaming = false;
+    public String replace_address_first_boot = null;
 
     public long native_transport_idle_timeout_in_ms = 0L;
 
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index 34cdaece46..32e6998a49 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -1571,6 +1571,8 @@ public static InetAddressAndPort getReplaceAddress()
                 return InetAddressAndPort.getByName(System.getProperty(Config.PROPERTY_PREFIX + "replace_address", null));
             else if (System.getProperty(Config.PROPERTY_PREFIX + "replace_address_first_boot", null) != null)
                 return InetAddressAndPort.getByName(System.getProperty(Config.PROPERTY_PREFIX + "replace_address_first_boot", null));
+            else if (conf.replace_address_first_boot != null)
+                return InetAddressAndPort.getByName(conf.replace_address_first_boot);
             return null;
         }
         catch (UnknownHostException e)
@@ -1584,6 +1586,11 @@ public static boolean skipBootstrapStreaming()
         return conf.skip_bootstrap_streaming;
     }
 
+    public static boolean replaceOnFirstBootRequested()
+    {
+        return System.getProperty("cassandra.replace_address_first_boot", null) != null || conf.replace_address_first_boot != null;
+    }
+
     public static Collection<String> getReplaceTokens()
     {
         return tokensFromString(System.getProperty(Config.PROPERTY_PREFIX + "replace_token", null));
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index 997ee4a143..62182adcb4 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ private void populatePeerTokenMetadata()
 
     private boolean isReplacing()
     {
-        if (System.getProperty("cassandra.replace_address_first_boot", null) != null && SystemKeyspace.bootstrapComplete())
+        if (DatabaseDescriptor.replaceOnFirstBootRequested() && SystemKeyspace.bootstrapComplete())
         {
             logger.info("Replace address on first boot requested; this node is already bootstrapped");
             return false;