diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/BaseLoadBalancer.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/BaseLoadBalancer.java
index 3d390a5c3f4..54da5c473b3 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/BaseLoadBalancer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/BaseLoadBalancer.java
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ public abstract class BaseLoadBalancer implements LoadBalancer {
   }
 
   // slop for regions
-  private float slop;
+  protected float slop;
   private Configuration config;
   private static final Random RANDOM = new Random(System.currentTimeMillis());
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(BaseLoadBalancer.class);
@@ -352,12 +352,17 @@ public abstract class BaseLoadBalancer implements LoadBalancer {
 
   @Override
   public void setConf(Configuration conf) {
-    this.slop = conf.getFloat("hbase.regions.slop", (float) 0.2);
+    setSlop(conf);
     if (slop < 0) slop = 0;
     else if (slop > 1) slop = 1;
+
     this.config = conf;
   }
 
+  protected void setSlop(Configuration conf) {
+    this.slop = conf.getFloat("hbase.regions.slop", (float) 0.2);
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Configuration getConf() {
     return this.config;
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/StochasticLoadBalancer.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/StochasticLoadBalancer.java
index e00afbd4063..8876f7df3f2 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/StochasticLoadBalancer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/balancer/StochasticLoadBalancer.java
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ public class StochasticLoadBalancer extends BaseLoadBalancer {
   @Override
   public void setConf(Configuration conf) {
     super.setConf(conf);
+
     regionFinder.setConf(conf);
 
     maxSteps = conf.getInt(MAX_STEPS_KEY, maxSteps);
@@ -159,6 +160,11 @@ public class StochasticLoadBalancer extends BaseLoadBalancer {
     };
   }
 
+  @Override
+  protected void setSlop(Configuration conf) {
+    this.slop = conf.getFloat("hbase.regions.slop", 0.001F);
+  }
+
   @Override
   public void setClusterStatus(ClusterStatus st) {
     super.setClusterStatus(st);