diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 19c59ba5e1..9be9210347 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ akka {
     # this probability. Otherwise Gossip to any random live node.
     # Probability value is between 0.0 and 1.0. 0.0 means never, 1.0 means always.
     gossip-different-view-probability = 0.8
+    
+    # Reduced the above probability when the number of nodes in the cluster
+    # greater than this value.
+    reduce-gossip-different-view-probability = 400
 
     # Settings for the Phi accrual failure detector (http://ddg.jaist.ac.jp/pub/HDY+04.pdf
     # [Hayashibara et al]) used by the cluster subsystem to detect unreachable
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
index 0e80545d59..4f6e4673bc 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
@@ -698,7 +698,8 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
       val localGossip = latestGossip
 
       val preferredGossipTargets: Vector[UniqueAddress] =
-        if (ThreadLocalRandom.current.nextDouble() < GossipDifferentViewProbability) { // If it's time to try to gossip to some nodes with a different view
+        if (ThreadLocalRandom.current.nextDouble() < adjustedGossipDifferentViewProbability) {
+          // If it's time to try to gossip to some nodes with a different view
           // gossip to a random alive member with preference to a member with older gossip version
           localGossip.members.collect {
             case m if !localGossip.seenByNode(m.uniqueAddress) && validNodeForGossip(m.uniqueAddress) ⇒
@@ -723,6 +724,33 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * For large clusters we should avoid shooting down individual
+   * nodes. Therefore the probability is reduced for large clusters.
+   */
+  def adjustedGossipDifferentViewProbability: Double = {
+    val size = latestGossip.members.size
+    val low = ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability
+    val high = low * 3
+    // start reduction when cluster is larger than configured ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability
+    if (size <= low)
+      GossipDifferentViewProbability
+    else {
+      // don't go lower than 1/10 of the configured GossipDifferentViewProbability
+      val minP = GossipDifferentViewProbability / 10
+      if (size >= high)
+        minP
+      else {
+        // linear reduction of the probability with increasing number of nodes
+        // from ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability at ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability nodes
+        // to ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability / 10 at ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability * 3 nodes
+        // i.e. default from 0.8 at 400 nodes, to 0.08 at 1600 nodes
+        val k = (minP - GossipDifferentViewProbability) / (high - low)
+        GossipDifferentViewProbability + (size - low) * k
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Runs periodic leader actions, such as member status transitions, assigning partitions etc.
    */
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterSettings.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterSettings.scala
index b456aa892e..dd62cf745f 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterSettings.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterSettings.scala
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ final class ClusterSettings(val config: Config, val systemName: String) {
     case id ⇒ id
   }
   val GossipDifferentViewProbability: Double = cc.getDouble("gossip-different-view-probability")
+  val ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability: Int = cc.getInt("reduce-gossip-different-view-probability")
   val SchedulerTickDuration: FiniteDuration = Duration(cc.getMilliseconds("scheduler.tick-duration"), MILLISECONDS)
   val SchedulerTicksPerWheel: Int = cc.getInt("scheduler.ticks-per-wheel")
   val MetricsEnabled: Boolean = cc.getBoolean("metrics.enabled")
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
index 6341ff4665..936aa90424 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ class ClusterConfigSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       JmxEnabled must be(true)
       UseDispatcher must be(Dispatchers.DefaultDispatcherId)
       GossipDifferentViewProbability must be(0.8 plusOrMinus 0.0001)
+      ReduceGossipDifferentViewProbability must be(400)
       SchedulerTickDuration must be(33 millis)
       SchedulerTicksPerWheel must be(512)
       MetricsEnabled must be(true)