diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
index 23530bf8bc43bb230022e7e9fe66ed0d41783481..dd4109226a9771d9b38554259264497ba97a4a00 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
@@ -3044,6 +3044,11 @@ jint Arguments::finalize_vm_init_args(SysClassPath* scp_p, bool scp_assembly_req
     set_mode_flags(_int);
   }
 
+  // eventually fix up InitialTenuringThreshold if only MaxTenuringThreshold is set
+  if (FLAG_IS_DEFAULT(InitialTenuringThreshold) && (InitialTenuringThreshold > MaxTenuringThreshold)) {
+    FLAG_SET_ERGO(uintx, InitialTenuringThreshold, MaxTenuringThreshold);
+  }
+
 #ifndef COMPILER2
   // Don't degrade server performance for footprint
   if (FLAG_IS_DEFAULT(UseLargePages) &&
diff --git a/test/gc/arguments/TestInitialTenuringThreshold.java b/test/gc/arguments/TestInitialTenuringThreshold.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c97ccd8fff17237d784d21e559ab8cd4b40f652
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/gc/arguments/TestInitialTenuringThreshold.java
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/*
+* Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+* DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+*
+* This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+* under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+* published by the Free Software Foundation.
+*
+* This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+* ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+* FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+* version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+* accompanied this code).
+*
+* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+* 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+* Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+*
+* Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+* or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+* questions.
+*/
+
+/*
+ * @test TestInitialTenuringThreshold
+ * @key gc
+ * @bug 8014765
+ * @summary Tests argument processing for initial tenuring threshold
+ * @library /testlibrary
+ * @run main/othervm TestInitialTenuringThreshold
+ * @author thomas.schatzl@oracle.com
+ */
+
+import com.oracle.java.testlibrary.*;
+
+public class TestInitialTenuringThreshold {
+
+  public static void runWithThresholds(int initial, int max, boolean shouldfail) throws Exception {
+    ProcessBuilder pb = ProcessTools.createJavaProcessBuilder(
+      "-XX:InitialTenuringThreshold=" + String.valueOf(initial),
+      "-XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=" + String.valueOf(max),
+      "-version"
+      );
+
+    OutputAnalyzer output = new OutputAnalyzer(pb.start());
+    if (shouldfail) {
+      output.shouldHaveExitValue(1);
+    } else {
+      output.shouldHaveExitValue(0);
+    }
+  }
+
+
+  public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
+    ProcessBuilder pb = ProcessTools.createJavaProcessBuilder(
+      // some value below the default value of InitialTenuringThreshold of 7
+      "-XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1",
+      "-version"
+      );
+
+    OutputAnalyzer output = new OutputAnalyzer(pb.start());
+    output.shouldHaveExitValue(0);
+    // successful tests
+    runWithThresholds(0, 10, false);
+    runWithThresholds(5, 5, false);
+    // failing tests
+    runWithThresholds(10, 0, true);
+    runWithThresholds(9, 8, true);
+    runWithThresholds(-1, 8, true);
+    runWithThresholds(8, -1, true);
+    runWithThresholds(8, 16, true);
+    runWithThresholds(16, 8, true);
+  }
+}
+