diff --git a/swift/common/ring/builder.py b/swift/common/ring/builder.py
index b95ff057db..d75e645519 100644
--- a/swift/common/ring/builder.py
+++ b/swift/common/ring/builder.py
@@ -644,6 +644,26 @@ class RingBuilder(object):
                 self._last_part_moves[part] = 0xff
         self._last_part_moves_epoch = int(time())
 
+    def _get_available_parts(self):
+        """
+        Returns a tuple (wanted_parts_total, dict of (tier: available parts in
+        other tiers) for all tiers in the ring.
+
+        Devices that have too much partitions (negative parts_wanted) are
+        ignored, otherwise the sum of all parts_wanted is 0 +/- rounding
+        errors.
+
+        """
+        wanted_parts_total = 0
+        wanted_parts_for_tier = {}
+        for dev in self._iter_devs():
+            wanted_parts_total += max(0, dev['parts_wanted'])
+            for tier in tiers_for_dev(dev):
+                if tier not in wanted_parts_for_tier:
+                    wanted_parts_for_tier[tier] = 0
+                wanted_parts_for_tier[tier] += max(0, dev['parts_wanted'])
+        return (wanted_parts_total, wanted_parts_for_tier)
+
     def _gather_reassign_parts(self):
         """
         Returns a list of (partition, replicas) pairs to be reassigned by
@@ -672,6 +692,9 @@ class RingBuilder(object):
         # currently sufficient spread out across the cluster.
         spread_out_parts = defaultdict(list)
         max_allowed_replicas = self._build_max_replicas_by_tier()
+        wanted_parts_total, wanted_parts_for_tier = \
+            self._get_available_parts()
+        moved_parts = 0
         for part in xrange(self.parts):
             # Only move one replica at a time if possible.
             if part in removed_dev_parts:
@@ -702,14 +725,20 @@ class RingBuilder(object):
                     rep_at_tier = 0
                     if tier in replicas_at_tier:
                         rep_at_tier = replicas_at_tier[tier]
+                    # Only allowing parts to be gathered if
+                    # there are wanted parts on other tiers
+                    available_parts_for_tier = wanted_parts_total - \
+                        wanted_parts_for_tier[tier] - moved_parts
                     if (rep_at_tier > max_allowed_replicas[tier] and
                             self._last_part_moves[part] >=
-                            self.min_part_hours):
+                            self.min_part_hours and
+                            available_parts_for_tier > 0):
                         self._last_part_moves[part] = 0
                         spread_out_parts[part].append(replica)
                         dev['parts_wanted'] += 1
                         dev['parts'] -= 1
                         removed_replica = True
+                        moved_parts += 1
                         break
                 if removed_replica:
                     if dev['id'] not in tfd:
diff --git a/test/unit/common/ring/test_builder.py b/test/unit/common/ring/test_builder.py
index b822432ae3..155edd6f44 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/ring/test_builder.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/ring/test_builder.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import os
 import unittest
 import cPickle as pickle
 from collections import defaultdict
+from math import ceil
 from tempfile import mkdtemp
 from shutil import rmtree
 
@@ -718,9 +719,7 @@ class TestRingBuilder(unittest.TestCase):
         population_by_region = self._get_population_by_region(rb)
         self.assertEquals(population_by_region, {0: 682, 1: 86})
 
-        # Rebalancing will reassign 143 of the partitions, which is ~1/5
-        # of the total amount of partitions (3*256)
-        self.assertEqual(143, changed_parts)
+        self.assertEqual(87, changed_parts)
 
         # and since there's not enough room, subsequent rebalances will not
         # cause additional assignments to r1
@@ -744,6 +743,35 @@ class TestRingBuilder(unittest.TestCase):
         population_by_region = self._get_population_by_region(rb)
         self.assertEquals(population_by_region, {0: 512, 1: 256})
 
+    def test_avoid_tier_change_new_region(self):
+        rb = ring.RingBuilder(8, 3, 1)
+        for i in range(5):
+            rb.add_dev({'id': i, 'region': 0, 'zone': 0, 'weight': 100,
+                        'ip': '127.0.0.1', 'port': i, 'device': 'sda1'})
+        rb.rebalance(seed=2)
+
+        # Add a new device in new region to a balanced ring
+        rb.add_dev({'id': 5, 'region': 1, 'zone': 0, 'weight': 0,
+                    'ip': '127.0.0.5', 'port': 10000, 'device': 'sda1'})
+
+        # Increase the weight of region 1 slowly
+        moved_partitions = []
+        for weight in range(0, 101, 10):
+            rb.set_dev_weight(5, weight)
+            rb.pretend_min_part_hours_passed()
+            changed_parts, _balance = rb.rebalance(seed=2)
+            moved_partitions.append(changed_parts)
+            # Ensure that the second region has enough partitions
+            # Otherwise there will be replicas at risk
+            min_parts_for_r1 = ceil(weight / (500.0 + weight) * 768)
+            parts_for_r1 = self._get_population_by_region(rb).get(1, 0)
+            self.assertEqual(min_parts_for_r1, parts_for_r1)
+
+        # Number of partitions moved on each rebalance
+        # 10/510 * 768 ~ 15.06 -> move at least 15 partitions in first step
+        ref = [0, 17, 16, 16, 14, 15, 13, 13, 12, 12, 14]
+        self.assertEqual(ref, moved_partitions)
+
     def test_set_replicas_increase(self):
         rb = ring.RingBuilder(8, 2, 0)
         rb.add_dev({'id': 0, 'region': 0, 'zone': 0, 'weight': 1,