diff --git a/db/column_family.cc b/db/column_family.cc
index 05e0966bf..c65ab90f7 100644
--- a/db/column_family.cc
+++ b/db/column_family.cc
@@ -160,11 +160,6 @@ Status CheckConcurrentWritesSupported(const ColumnFamilyOptions& cf_options) {
     return Status::InvalidArgument(
         "Memtable doesn't concurrent writes (allow_concurrent_memtable_write)");
   }
-  if (cf_options.max_successive_merges != 0) {
-    return Status::InvalidArgument(
-        "max_successive_merges > 0 is incompatible "
-        "with concurrent writes (allow_concurrent_memtable_write)");
-  }
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
@@ -1252,6 +1247,11 @@ Status ColumnFamilyData::ValidateOptions(
   if (s.ok() && db_options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write) {
     s = CheckConcurrentWritesSupported(cf_options);
   }
+  if (s.ok() && db_options.unordered_write &&
+      cf_options.max_successive_merges != 0) {
+    s = Status::InvalidArgument(
+        "max_successive_merges > 0 is incompatible with unordered_write");
+  }
   if (s.ok()) {
     s = CheckCFPathsSupported(db_options, cf_options);
   }
diff --git a/db/db_merge_operator_test.cc b/db/db_merge_operator_test.cc
index 114c7e811..8358ddb56 100644
--- a/db/db_merge_operator_test.cc
+++ b/db/db_merge_operator_test.cc
@@ -150,8 +150,6 @@ TEST_F(DBMergeOperatorTest, MergeErrorOnWrite) {
   options.create_if_missing = true;
   options.merge_operator.reset(new TestPutOperator());
   options.max_successive_merges = 3;
-  // allow_concurrent_memtable_write is incompatible with max_successive_merges
-  options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write = false;
   options.env = env_;
   Reopen(options);
   ASSERT_OK(Merge("k1", "v1"));
diff --git a/db/db_test2.cc b/db/db_test2.cc
index 8095330d2..07ed8608b 100644
--- a/db/db_test2.cc
+++ b/db/db_test2.cc
@@ -153,8 +153,6 @@ TEST_F(DBTest2, MaxSuccessiveMergesChangeWithDBRecovery) {
   options.create_if_missing = true;
   options.statistics = rocksdb::CreateDBStatistics();
   options.max_successive_merges = 3;
-  // allow_concurrent_memtable_write is incompatible with max_successive_merges
-  options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write = false;
   options.merge_operator = MergeOperators::CreatePutOperator();
   options.disable_auto_compactions = true;
   DestroyAndReopen(options);
diff --git a/db/merge_test.cc b/db/merge_test.cc
index 228cb5e30..2965045d9 100644
--- a/db/merge_test.cc
+++ b/db/merge_test.cc
@@ -78,9 +78,6 @@ std::shared_ptr<DB> OpenDb(const std::string& dbname, const bool ttl = false,
   options.create_if_missing = true;
   options.merge_operator = std::make_shared<CountMergeOperator>();
   options.max_successive_merges = max_successive_merges;
-  if (max_successive_merges > 0) {
-    options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write = false;
-  }
   Status s;
   DestroyDB(dbname, Options());
 // DBWithTTL is not supported in ROCKSDB_LITE
diff --git a/test_util/testutil.cc b/test_util/testutil.cc
index a4be935f9..e309df088 100644
--- a/test_util/testutil.cc
+++ b/test_util/testutil.cc
@@ -351,8 +351,7 @@ void RandomInitCFOptions(ColumnFamilyOptions* cf_opt, DBOptions& db_options,
   // size_t options
   cf_opt->arena_block_size = rnd->Uniform(10000);
   cf_opt->inplace_update_num_locks = rnd->Uniform(10000);
-  cf_opt->max_successive_merges =
-      db_options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write ? 0 : rnd->Uniform(10000);
+  cf_opt->max_successive_merges = rnd->Uniform(10000);
   cf_opt->memtable_huge_page_size = rnd->Uniform(10000);
   cf_opt->write_buffer_size = rnd->Uniform(10000);
 
diff --git a/utilities/transactions/transaction_test.cc b/utilities/transactions/transaction_test.cc
index 72fd0b546..da1edd185 100644
--- a/utilities/transactions/transaction_test.cc
+++ b/utilities/transactions/transaction_test.cc
@@ -5820,7 +5820,7 @@ TEST_P(TransactionTest, DuplicateKeys) {
     }    // do_rollback
   }      // do_prepare
 
-  if (!options.unordered_write && !options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write) {
+  if (!options.unordered_write) {
     // Also test with max_successive_merges > 0. max_successive_merges will not
     // affect our algorithm for duplicate key insertion but we add the test to
     // verify that.