diff --git a/sstables/compaction.cc b/sstables/compaction.cc
index 61a3003e8e..c2bce1ca84 100644
--- a/sstables/compaction.cc
+++ b/sstables/compaction.cc
@@ -104,16 +104,6 @@ static bool belongs_to_current_node(const dht::token& t, const dht::token_range_
     return false;
 }
 
-static void delete_sstables_for_interrupted_compaction(std::vector<shared_sstable>& new_sstables, sstring& ks, sstring& cf) {
-    // Delete either partially or fully written sstables of a compaction that
-    // was either stopped abruptly (e.g. out of disk space) or deliberately
-    // (e.g. nodetool stop COMPACTION).
-    for (auto& sst : new_sstables) {
-        clogger.debug("Deleting sstable {} of interrupted compaction for {}.{}", sst->get_filename(), ks, cf);
-        sst->mark_for_deletion();
-    }
-}
-
 static std::vector<shared_sstable> get_uncompacting_sstables(column_family& cf, std::vector<shared_sstable> sstables) {
     auto all_sstables = boost::copy_range<std::vector<shared_sstable>>(*cf.get_sstables_including_compacted_undeleted());
     boost::sort(all_sstables, [] (const shared_sstable& x, const shared_sstable& y) {
@@ -317,6 +307,9 @@ protected:
     column_family& _cf;
     schema_ptr _schema;
     std::vector<shared_sstable> _sstables;
+    // Unused sstables are tracked because if compaction is interrupted we can only delete them.
+    // Deleting used sstables could potentially result in data loss.
+    std::vector<shared_sstable> _new_unused_sstables;
     lw_shared_ptr<sstable_set> _compacting;
     uint64_t _max_sstable_size;
     uint32_t _sstable_level;
@@ -347,6 +340,7 @@ protected:
 
     void setup_new_sstable(shared_sstable& sst) {
         _info->new_sstables.push_back(sst);
+        _new_unused_sstables.push_back(sst);
         sst->get_metadata_collector().set_replay_position(_rp);
         sst->get_metadata_collector().sstable_level(_sstable_level);
         for (auto ancestor : _ancestors) {
@@ -488,6 +482,16 @@ private:
     const schema_ptr& schema() const {
         return _schema;
     }
+
+    void delete_sstables_for_interrupted_compaction() {
+        // Delete either partially or fully written sstables of a compaction that
+        // was either stopped abruptly (e.g. out of disk space) or deliberately
+        // (e.g. nodetool stop COMPACTION).
+        for (auto& sst : _new_unused_sstables) {
+            clogger.debug("Deleting sstable {} of interrupted compaction for {}.{}", sst->get_filename(), _info->ks_name, _info->cf_name);
+            sst->mark_for_deletion();
+        }
+    }
 public:
     static future<compaction_info> run(std::unique_ptr<compaction> c);
 
@@ -521,7 +525,6 @@ void compacting_sstable_writer::consume_end_of_stream() {
 class regular_compaction : public compaction {
     std::function<shared_sstable()> _creator;
     replacer_fn _replacer;
-    std::vector<shared_sstable> _unreplaced_new_tables;
     std::unordered_set<shared_sstable> _compacting_for_max_purgeable_func;
     // store a clone of sstable set for column family, which needs to be alive for incremental selector.
     sstable_set _set;
@@ -625,8 +628,6 @@ private:
     }
 
     void maybe_replace_exhausted_sstables() {
-        _unreplaced_new_tables.push_back(_sst);
-
         // Replace exhausted sstable(s), if any, by new one(s) in the column family.
         auto not_exhausted = [s = _schema, &dk = _sst->get_last_decorated_key()] (shared_sstable& sst) {
             return sst->get_last_decorated_key().tri_compare(*s, dk) > 0;
@@ -668,7 +669,7 @@ private:
                 _compacting->erase(sst);
                 _monitor_generator.remove_sstable(_info->tracking, sst);
             });
-            _replacer(std::vector<shared_sstable>(exhausted, _sstables.end()), std::move(_unreplaced_new_tables));
+            _replacer(std::vector<shared_sstable>(exhausted, _sstables.end()), std::move(_new_unused_sstables));
             _sstables.erase(exhausted, _sstables.end());
         }
     }
@@ -677,7 +678,7 @@ private:
         if (!_sstables.empty()) {
             std::vector<shared_sstable> sstables_compacted;
             std::move(_sstables.begin(), _sstables.end(), std::back_inserter(sstables_compacted));
-            _replacer(std::move(sstables_compacted), std::move(_unreplaced_new_tables));
+            _replacer(std::move(sstables_compacted), std::move(_new_unused_sstables));
         }
     }
 
@@ -877,7 +878,7 @@ future<compaction_info> compaction::run(std::unique_ptr<compaction> c) {
             auto r = std::move(reader);
             r.consume_in_thread(std::move(cfc), c->filter_func(), db::no_timeout);
         } catch (...) {
-            delete_sstables_for_interrupted_compaction(c->_info->new_sstables, c->_info->ks_name, c->_info->cf_name);
+            c->delete_sstables_for_interrupted_compaction();
             c = nullptr; // make sure writers are stopped while running in thread context
             throw;
         }