diff --git a/mysql-test/r/variables.result b/mysql-test/r/variables.result
index b2a97ce3e48..01db98648bd 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/variables.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/variables.result
@@ -478,3 +478,7 @@ t1	CREATE TABLE `t1` (
   `c3` longtext
 ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1
 drop table t1;
+SET GLOBAL MYISAM_DATA_POINTER_SIZE= 8;
+SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'MYISAM_DATA_POINTER_SIZE';
+Variable_name	Value
+myisam_data_pointer_size	8
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/variables.test b/mysql-test/t/variables.test
index d0a78c157c3..7dc07f9313e 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/variables.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/variables.test
@@ -355,3 +355,10 @@ create table t1 as select @arg00 as c1, @arg01 as c2, @arg02 as c3;
 show create table t1;
 drop table t1;
 
+
+#
+# Bug #6993: myisam_data_pointer_size
+#
+
+SET GLOBAL MYISAM_DATA_POINTER_SIZE= 8;
+SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'MYISAM_DATA_POINTER_SIZE';
diff --git a/sql/mysqld.cc b/sql/mysqld.cc
index da834080bc0..607dd6a101a 100644
--- a/sql/mysqld.cc
+++ b/sql/mysqld.cc
@@ -5004,7 +5004,7 @@ The minimum value for this variable is 4096.",
    "Default pointer size to be used for MyISAM tables.",
    (gptr*) &myisam_data_pointer_size,
    (gptr*) &myisam_data_pointer_size, 0, GET_ULONG, REQUIRED_ARG,
-   4, 2, 7, 0, 1, 0},
+   4, 2, 8, 0, 1, 0},
   {"myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size", OPT_MYISAM_MAX_EXTRA_SORT_FILE_SIZE,
    "Used to help MySQL to decide when to use the slow but safe key cache index create method.",
    (gptr*) &global_system_variables.myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size,