diff --git a/etc/object-server.conf-sample b/etc/object-server.conf-sample
index ad52c243..f03e5af1 100644
--- a/etc/object-server.conf-sample
+++ b/etc/object-server.conf-sample
@@ -298,7 +298,18 @@ use = egg:swift#recon
 # lockup_timeout = 1800
 # ring_check_interval = 15
 # recon_cache_path = /var/cache/swift
-# handoffs_first = False
+# The handoffs_only mode option is for special case emergency situations during
+# rebalance such as disk full in the cluster.  This option SHOULD NOT BE
+# CHANGED, except for extreme situations.  When handoffs_only mode is enabled
+# the reconstructor will *only* revert rebalance fragments to primaries and not
+# attempt to sync any primary parts with neighbor primaries.  This will force
+# the reconstructor to sync and delete handoffs fragments more quickly and
+# minimize the time of the rebalance by limiting the number of rebuilds.  The
+# handoffs_only option is only for temporary use, it should be disabled as soon
+# as the emergency situation is resolved.  When handoffs_only is not set, the
+# deprecated handoffs_first option will be honored as a synonym, but may be
+# ignored in a future release.
+# handoffs_only = False
 #
 # You can set scheduling priority of processes. Niceness values range from -20
 # (most favorable to the process) to 19 (least favorable to the process).
diff --git a/swift/obj/reconstructor.py b/swift/obj/reconstructor.py
index b5b1045f..fe2b5fc0 100644
--- a/swift/obj/reconstructor.py
+++ b/swift/obj/reconstructor.py
@@ -149,8 +149,24 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
         self.headers = {
             'Content-Length': '0',
             'user-agent': 'obj-reconstructor %s' % os.getpid()}
-        self.handoffs_first = config_true_value(conf.get('handoffs_first',
-                                                         False))
+        if 'handoffs_first' in conf:
+            self.logger.warning(
+                'The handoffs_first option is deprecated in favor '
+                'of handoffs_only.  This option may be ignored in a '
+                'future release.')
+            # honor handoffs_first for backwards compatibility
+            default_handoffs_only = config_true_value(conf['handoffs_first'])
+        else:
+            default_handoffs_only = False
+        self.handoffs_only = config_true_value(
+            conf.get('handoffs_only', default_handoffs_only))
+        if self.handoffs_only:
+            self.logger.warning(
+                'Handoff only mode is not intended for normal '
+                'operation, use handoffs_only with care.')
+        elif default_handoffs_only:
+            self.logger.warning('Ignored handoffs_first option in favor '
+                                'of handoffs_only.')
         self._df_router = DiskFileRouter(conf, self.logger)
 
     def load_object_ring(self, policy):
@@ -668,6 +684,8 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
         if syncd_with >= len(job['sync_to']):
             self.delete_reverted_objs(
                 job, reverted_objs, job['frag_index'])
+        else:
+            self.handoffs_remaining += 1
         self.logger.timing_since('partition.delete.timing', begin)
 
     def _get_part_jobs(self, local_dev, part_path, partition, policy):
@@ -696,6 +714,9 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
         :param policy: the policy
 
         :returns: a list of dicts of job info
+
+        N.B. If this function ever returns an empty list of jobs the entire
+        partition will be deleted.
         """
         # find all the fi's in the part, and which suffixes have them
         try:
@@ -888,12 +909,12 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
         """
         Helper function for collect_jobs to build jobs for reconstruction
         using EC style storage policy
+
+        N.B. If this function ever returns an empty list of jobs the entire
+        partition will be deleted.
         """
         jobs = self._get_part_jobs(**part_info)
         random.shuffle(jobs)
-        if self.handoffs_first:
-            # Move the handoff revert jobs to the front of the list
-            jobs.sort(key=lambda job: job['job_type'], reverse=True)
         self.job_count += len(jobs)
         return jobs
 
@@ -909,6 +930,7 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
         self.reconstruction_part_count = 0
         self.reconstruction_device_count = 0
         self.last_reconstruction_count = -1
+        self.handoffs_remaining = 0
 
     def delete_partition(self, path):
         self.logger.info(_("Removing partition: %s"), path)
@@ -944,6 +966,11 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
                     self.run_pool.spawn(self.delete_partition,
                                         part_info['part_path'])
                 for job in jobs:
+                    if (self.handoffs_only and job['job_type'] != REVERT):
+                        self.logger.debug('Skipping %s job for %s '
+                                          'while in handoffs_only mode.',
+                                          job['job_type'], job['path'])
+                        continue
                     self.run_pool.spawn(self.process_job, job)
             with Timeout(self.lockup_timeout):
                 self.run_pool.waitall()
@@ -955,6 +982,16 @@ class ObjectReconstructor(Daemon):
             stats.kill()
             lockup_detector.kill()
             self.stats_line()
+        if self.handoffs_only:
+            if self.handoffs_remaining > 0:
+                self.logger.info(_(
+                    "Handoffs only mode still has handoffs remaining.  "
+                    "Next pass will continue to revert handoffs."))
+            else:
+                self.logger.warning(_(
+                    "Handoffs only mode found no handoffs remaining.  "
+                    "You should disable handoffs_only once all nodes "
+                    "are reporting no handoffs remaining."))
 
     def run_once(self, *args, **kwargs):
         start = time.time()
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py b/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
index f821d96e..0e870a86 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
@@ -719,7 +719,6 @@ class TestGlobalSetupObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         rmtree(testring, ignore_errors=1)
 
     def test_build_reconstruction_jobs(self):
-        self.reconstructor.handoffs_first = False
         self.reconstructor._reset_stats()
         for part_info in self.reconstructor.collect_parts():
             jobs = self.reconstructor.build_reconstruction_jobs(part_info)
@@ -728,13 +727,40 @@ class TestGlobalSetupObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
                              object_reconstructor.REVERT))
             self.assert_expected_jobs(part_info['partition'], jobs)
 
-        self.reconstructor.handoffs_first = True
-        self.reconstructor._reset_stats()
-        for part_info in self.reconstructor.collect_parts():
-            jobs = self.reconstructor.build_reconstruction_jobs(part_info)
-            self.assertTrue(jobs[0]['job_type'] ==
-                            object_reconstructor.REVERT)
-            self.assert_expected_jobs(part_info['partition'], jobs)
+    def test_handoffs_only(self):
+        self.reconstructor.handoffs_only = True
+
+        found_job_types = set()
+
+        def fake_process_job(job):
+            # increment failure counter
+            self.reconstructor.handoffs_remaining += 1
+            found_job_types.add(job['job_type'])
+
+        self.reconstructor.process_job = fake_process_job
+
+        # only revert jobs
+        self.reconstructor.reconstruct()
+        self.assertEqual(found_job_types, {object_reconstructor.REVERT})
+        # but failures keep handoffs remaining
+        msgs = self.reconstructor.logger.get_lines_for_level('info')
+        self.assertIn('Next pass will continue to revert handoffs', msgs[-1])
+        self.logger._clear()
+
+        found_job_types = set()
+
+        def fake_process_job(job):
+            # success does not increment failure counter
+            found_job_types.add(job['job_type'])
+
+        self.reconstructor.process_job = fake_process_job
+
+        # only revert jobs ... but all handoffs cleared out successfully
+        self.reconstructor.reconstruct()
+        self.assertEqual(found_job_types, {object_reconstructor.REVERT})
+        # it's time to turn off handoffs_only
+        msgs = self.reconstructor.logger.get_lines_for_level('warning')
+        self.assertIn('You should disable handoffs_only', msgs[-1])
 
     def test_get_partners(self):
         # we're going to perform an exhaustive test of every possible
@@ -1156,6 +1182,57 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
     def ts(self):
         return next(self.ts_iter)
 
+    def test_handoffs_only_default(self):
+        # sanity neither option added to default conf
+        self.conf.pop('handoffs_only', None)
+        self.conf.pop('handoffs_first', None)
+        self.reconstructor = object_reconstructor.ObjectReconstructor(
+            self.conf, logger=self.logger)
+        self.assertFalse(self.reconstructor.handoffs_only)
+
+    def test_handoffs_first_enables_handoffs_only(self):
+        self.conf.pop('handoffs_only', None)  # sanity
+        self.conf['handoffs_first'] = True
+        self.reconstructor = object_reconstructor.ObjectReconstructor(
+            self.conf, logger=self.logger)
+        self.assertTrue(self.reconstructor.handoffs_only)
+        warnings = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('warning')
+        expected = [
+            'The handoffs_first option is deprecated in favor '
+            'of handoffs_only.  This option may be ignored in a '
+            'future release.',
+            'Handoff only mode is not intended for normal operation, '
+            'use handoffs_only with care.',
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(expected, warnings)
+
+    def test_handoffs_only_ignores_handoffs_first(self):
+        self.conf['handoffs_first'] = True
+        self.conf['handoffs_only'] = False
+        self.reconstructor = object_reconstructor.ObjectReconstructor(
+            self.conf, logger=self.logger)
+        self.assertFalse(self.reconstructor.handoffs_only)
+        warnings = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('warning')
+        expected = [
+            'The handoffs_first option is deprecated in favor of '
+            'handoffs_only.  This option may be ignored in a future release.',
+            'Ignored handoffs_first option in favor of handoffs_only.',
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(expected, warnings)
+
+    def test_handoffs_only_enabled(self):
+        self.conf.pop('handoffs_first', None)  # sanity
+        self.conf['handoffs_only'] = True
+        self.reconstructor = object_reconstructor.ObjectReconstructor(
+            self.conf, logger=self.logger)
+        self.assertTrue(self.reconstructor.handoffs_only)
+        warnings = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('warning')
+        expected = [
+            'Handoff only mode is not intended for normal operation, '
+            'use handoffs_only with care.',
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(expected, warnings)
+
     def test_two_ec_policies(self):
         with patch_policies([
                 StoragePolicy(0, name='zero', is_deprecated=True),
@@ -2346,7 +2423,7 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(call['node'], sync_to[0])
         self.assertEqual(set(call['suffixes']), set(['123', 'abc']))
 
-    def test_process_job_revert_is_handoff(self):
+    def test_process_job_revert_is_handoff_fails(self):
         replicas = self.policy.object_ring.replicas
         frag_index = random.randint(0, replicas - 1)
         sync_to = [random.choice([n for n in self.policy.object_ring.devs
@@ -2376,7 +2453,8 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
 
         def ssync_response_callback(*args):
             # in this test ssync always fails, until we encounter ourselves in
-            # the list of possible handoff's to sync to
+            # the list of possible handoff's to sync to, so handoffs_remaining
+            # should increment
             return False, {}
 
         expected_suffix_calls = set([
@@ -2406,6 +2484,7 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         call = ssync_calls[0]
         self.assertEqual(call['node'], sync_to[0])
         self.assertEqual(set(call['suffixes']), set(['123', 'abc']))
+        self.assertEqual(self.reconstructor.handoffs_remaining, 1)
 
     def test_process_job_revert_cleanup(self):
         replicas = self.policy.object_ring.replicas
@@ -2451,6 +2530,7 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         }
 
         def ssync_response_callback(*args):
+            # success should not increment handoffs_remaining
             return True, {ohash: {'ts_data': ts}}
 
         ssync_calls = []
@@ -2474,6 +2554,7 @@ class TestObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         df_mgr.get_hashes(self.local_dev['device'], str(partition), [],
                           self.policy)
         self.assertFalse(os.access(df._datadir, os.F_OK))
+        self.assertEqual(self.reconstructor.handoffs_remaining, 0)
 
     def test_process_job_revert_cleanup_tombstone(self):
         sync_to = [random.choice([n for n in self.policy.object_ring.devs