diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
index 9c5dd1d4787..94d977b3037 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ public final class HConstants {
   /**
    * Last row in a table.
    */
-  public static final byte [] EMPTY_END_ROW = EMPTY_START_ROW;
+  public static final byte [] EMPTY_END_ROW = EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY;
 
   /**
     * Used by scanners and others when they're trying to detect the end of a