diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
index 247cbe95cf5..c7ec1206f06 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
@@ -307,6 +307,12 @@ module Hbase
     def move(encoded_region_name, server = nil)
       @admin.move(encoded_region_name.to_java_bytes, server ? server.to_java_bytes: nil)
     end
+    
+    #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Merge two regions
+    def merge_region(encoded_region_a_name, encoded_region_b_name, force)
+      @admin.mergeRegions(encoded_region_a_name.to_java_bytes, encoded_region_b_name.to_java_bytes, java.lang.Boolean::valueOf(force))
+    end
 
     #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Returns table's structure description
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell.rb b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell.rb
index 3e83ddf58e7..cab3442b472 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell.rb
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell.rb
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ Shell.load_command_group(
     major_compact
     move
     split
+    merge_region
     unassign
     zk_dump
     hlog_roll
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/merge_region.rb b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/merge_region.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6afa2e5b503
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/merge_region.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+module Shell
+  module Commands
+    class MergeRegion < Command
+      def help
+        return <<-EOF
+Merge two regions. Passing 'true' as the optional third parameter will force
+a merge ('force' merges regardless else merge will fail unless passed
+adjacent regions. 'force' is for expert use only).
+
+NOTE: You must pass the encoded region name, not the full region name so
+this command is a little different from other region operations.  The encoded
+region name is the hash suffix on region names: e.g. if the region name were
+TestTable,0094429456,1289497600452.527db22f95c8a9e0116f0cc13c680396. then
+the encoded region name portion is 527db22f95c8a9e0116f0cc13c680396
+
+Examples:
+
+  hbase> merge_region 'ENCODED_REGIONNAME', 'ENCODED_REGIONNAME'
+  hbase> merge_region 'ENCODED_REGIONNAME', 'ENCODED_REGIONNAME', true
+EOF
+      end
+
+      def command(encoded_region_a_name, encoded_region_b_name, force = 'false')
+        format_simple_command do
+          admin.merge_region(encoded_region_a_name, encoded_region_b_name, force)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end