diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c495f0a..399cd43 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   <groupId>siftscience</groupId>
   <artifactId>kafka-assigner</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
-  <version>1.0</version>
+  <version>1.1</version>
 
   <name>kafka-assigner</name>
   <description>Tools for reassigning Kafka partitions with minimal movement</description>
@@ -130,4 +130,4 @@
     </plugins>
   </build>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaAssignmentGenerator.java b/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaAssignmentGenerator.java
index 05b9abf..9375154 100644
--- a/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaAssignmentGenerator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaAssignmentGenerator.java
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ public class KafkaAssignmentGenerator {
             usage = "comma-separated list of topics")
     private String topics = null;
 
+    @Option(name = "--desired_replication_factor",
+            usage = "used for changing replication factor for topics, if not present it will use the existing number")
+    private int desiredReplicationFactor = -1;
+
     @Option(name = "--disable_rack_awareness",
             usage = "set to true to ignore rack configurations")
     private boolean disableRackAwareness = false;
@@ -126,7 +130,7 @@ private static void printCurrentBrokers(ZkUtils zkUtils) throws JSONException {
 
     private static void printLeastDisruptiveReassignment(
             ZkUtils zkUtils, List<String> specifiedTopics, Set<Integer> specifiedBrokers,
-            Set<Integer> excludedBrokers, Map<Integer, String> rackAssignment)
+            Set<Integer> excludedBrokers, Map<Integer, String> rackAssignment, int desiredReplicationFactor)
             throws JSONException {
         // We need three inputs for rebalacing: the brokers, the topics, and the current assignment
         // of topics to brokers.
@@ -169,7 +173,7 @@ public Integer apply(Broker broker) {
         for (String topic : JavaConversions.seqAsJavaList(topics)) {
             Map<Integer, List<Integer>> partitionAssignment = initialAssignments.get(topic);
             Map<Integer, List<Integer>> finalAssignment = assigner.generateAssignment(
-                    topic, partitionAssignment, brokers, rackAssignment);
+                    topic, partitionAssignment, brokers, rackAssignment, desiredReplicationFactor);
             for (Map.Entry<Integer, List<Integer>> e : finalAssignment.entrySet()) {
                 JSONObject partitionJson = new JSONObject();
                 partitionJson.put("topic", topic);
@@ -284,7 +288,7 @@ private void runTool(String[] args) throws JSONException {
                     break;
                 case PRINT_REASSIGNMENT:
                     printLeastDisruptiveReassignment(zkUtils, topics, brokerIdSet,
-                            excludedBrokerIdSet, rackAssignment);
+                            excludedBrokerIdSet, rackAssignment, desiredReplicationFactor);
                     break;
                 default:
                     throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Invalid mode: " + mode);
diff --git a/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssigner.java b/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssigner.java
index f34dd50..5b5211e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssigner.java
+++ b/src/main/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssigner.java
@@ -35,15 +35,18 @@ public KafkaTopicAssigner() {
      *                          in each list is the "leader" replica for a partition.
      * @param brokers a list of broker IDs as strings
      * @param rackAssignment a map from broker ID to rack ID if a rack is defined for that broker
+     * @param desiredReplicationFactor used to change replication factor, use -1 to keep the same as
+     *                                 the original topic
      * @return the new assignment: a map from partition ID to ordered list of broker IDs
      */
     public Map<Integer, List<Integer>> generateAssignment(
             String topic, Map<Integer, List<Integer>> currentAssignment, Set<Integer> brokers,
-            Map<Integer, String> rackAssignment) {
+            Map<Integer, String> rackAssignment, int desiredReplicationFactor) {
         // We need to do 2 things:
         //  - Get the set of partitions as integers
         //  - Figure out the replication factor (which should be the same for each partition)
-        int replicationFactor = -1;
+        // if desiredReplicationFactor is negative
+        int replicationFactor = desiredReplicationFactor;
         Set<Integer> partitions = Sets.newTreeSet();
         for (Map.Entry<Integer, List<Integer>> entry : currentAssignment.entrySet()) {
             int partition = entry.getKey();
@@ -51,7 +54,7 @@ public Map<Integer, List<Integer>> generateAssignment(
             partitions.add(partition);
             if (replicationFactor < 0) {
                 replicationFactor = replicas.size();
-            } else {
+            } else if (desiredReplicationFactor < 0) {
                 Preconditions.checkState(replicationFactor == replicas.size(),
                         "Topic " + topic + " has partition " + partition +
                                 " with unexpected replication factor " + replicas.size());
diff --git a/src/test/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssignerTest.java b/src/test/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssignerTest.java
index 8c63d68..1d56448 100644
--- a/src/test/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssignerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/siftscience/kafka/tools/KafkaTopicAssignerTest.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public void testRackAwareExpansion() {
         );
         KafkaTopicAssigner assigner = new KafkaTopicAssigner();
         Map<Integer, List<Integer>> newAssignment = assigner.generateAssignment(
-                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, rackAssignments);
+                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, rackAssignments, -1);
 
         Map<Integer, Integer> brokerReplicaCounts = verifyPartitionsAndBuildReplicaCounts(
                 currentAssignment, newAssignment, 1);
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public void testClusterExpansion() {
         Set<Integer> newBrokers = ImmutableSet.of(10, 11, 12, 13);
         KafkaTopicAssigner assigner = new KafkaTopicAssigner();
         Map<Integer, List<Integer>> newAssignment = assigner.generateAssignment(
-                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap());
+                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap(), -1);
 
         Map<Integer, Integer> brokerReplicaCounts = verifyPartitionsAndBuildReplicaCounts(
                 currentAssignment, newAssignment, 1);
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public void testDecommission() {
         Set<Integer> newBrokers = ImmutableSet.of(10, 11, 13);
         KafkaTopicAssigner assigner = new KafkaTopicAssigner();
         Map<Integer, List<Integer>> newAssignment = assigner.generateAssignment(
-                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap());
+                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap(), -1);
 
         Map<Integer, Integer> brokerReplicaCounts = verifyPartitionsAndBuildReplicaCounts(
                 currentAssignment, newAssignment, 1);
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ public void testReplacement() {
         Set<Integer> newBrokers = ImmutableSet.of(10, 11, 13);
         KafkaTopicAssigner assigner = new KafkaTopicAssigner();
         Map<Integer, List<Integer>> newAssignment = assigner.generateAssignment(
-                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap());
+                topic, currentAssignment, newBrokers, Collections.<Integer, String>emptyMap(),-1);
 
         // run basic sanity checks
         Map<Integer, Integer> brokerReplicaCounts = verifyPartitionsAndBuildReplicaCounts(