diff --git a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/dynamodb/DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator.java b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/dynamodb/DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator.java
index 70f417e6..be484a73 100644
--- a/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/dynamodb/DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator.java
+++ b/amazon-kinesis-client/src/main/java/software/amazon/kinesis/leases/dynamodb/DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator.java
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ import software.amazon.kinesis.metrics.MetricsUtil;
 public class DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator implements LeaseCoordinator {
     // Time to wait for in-flight Runnables to finish when calling .stop();
     private static final long STOP_WAIT_TIME_MILLIS = 2000L;
+    private static final long DEFAULT_INITIAL_LEASE_TABLE_READ_CAPACITY = 10L;
+    private static final long DEFAULT_INITIAL_LEASE_TABLE_WRITE_CAPACITY = 10L;
     private static final ThreadFactory LEASE_COORDINATOR_THREAD_FACTORY = new ThreadFactoryBuilder()
             .setNameFormat("LeaseCoordinator-%04d").setDaemon(true).build();
     private static final ThreadFactory LEASE_RENEWAL_THREAD_FACTORY = new ThreadFactoryBuilder()
@@ -70,8 +72,8 @@ public class DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator implements LeaseCoordinator {
     private final long takerIntervalMillis;
     private final ExecutorService leaseRenewalThreadpool;
     private final LeaseRefresher leaseRefresher;
-    private final long initialLeaseTableReadCapacity;
-    private final long initialLeaseTableWriteCapacity;
+    private long initialLeaseTableReadCapacity;
+    private long initialLeaseTableWriteCapacity;
     protected final MetricsFactory metricsFactory;
 
     private final Object shutdownLock = new Object();
@@ -81,6 +83,40 @@ public class DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator implements LeaseCoordinator {
 
     private volatile boolean running = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Constructor.
+     *
+     * <p>NOTE: This constructor is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.</p>
+     *
+     * @param leaseRefresher
+     *            LeaseRefresher instance to use
+     * @param workerIdentifier
+     *            Identifies the worker (e.g. useful to track lease ownership)
+     * @param leaseDurationMillis
+     *            Duration of a lease
+     * @param epsilonMillis
+     *            Allow for some variance when calculating lease expirations
+     * @param maxLeasesForWorker
+     *            Max leases this Worker can handle at a time
+     * @param maxLeasesToStealAtOneTime
+     *            Steal up to these many leases at a time (for load balancing)
+     * @param metricsFactory
+     *            Used to publish metrics about lease operations
+     */
+    @Deprecated
+    public DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator(final LeaseRefresher leaseRefresher,
+                                    final String workerIdentifier,
+                                    final long leaseDurationMillis,
+                                    final long epsilonMillis,
+                                    final int maxLeasesForWorker,
+                                    final int maxLeasesToStealAtOneTime,
+                                    final int maxLeaseRenewerThreadCount,
+                                    final MetricsFactory metricsFactory) {
+        this(leaseRefresher, workerIdentifier, leaseDurationMillis, epsilonMillis, maxLeasesForWorker,
+                maxLeasesToStealAtOneTime, maxLeaseRenewerThreadCount, DEFAULT_INITIAL_LEASE_TABLE_READ_CAPACITY,
+                DEFAULT_INITIAL_LEASE_TABLE_WRITE_CAPACITY, metricsFactory);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Constructor.
      *
@@ -342,13 +378,33 @@ public class DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator implements LeaseCoordinator {
                 lease.checkpoint());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     *
+     * <p>NOTE: This method is deprecated. Please set the initial capacity through the constructor.</p>
+     */
     @Override
+    @Deprecated
     public DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator initialLeaseTableReadCapacity(long readCapacity) {
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Please set read capacity using the constructor");
+        if (readCapacity <= 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("readCapacity should be >= 1");
+        }
+        initialLeaseTableReadCapacity = readCapacity;
+        return this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     *
+     * <p>NOTE: This method is deprecated. Please set the initial capacity through the constructor.</p>
+     */
     @Override
+    @Deprecated
     public DynamoDBLeaseCoordinator initialLeaseTableWriteCapacity(long writeCapacity) {
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Please set write capacity using the constructor");
+        if (writeCapacity <= 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("writeCapacity should be >= 1");
+        }
+        initialLeaseTableWriteCapacity = writeCapacity;
+        return this;
     }
 }