diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
index cf6ad9a252f..ccd181424aa 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ public class TestMergeTool extends HBaseTestCase {
     try {
       // Create root and meta regions
       createRootAndMetaRegions();
+      FSUtils.createTableDescriptor(this.fs, this.testDir, this.desc);
       /*
        * Create the regions we will merge
        */