diff --git a/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift2/ThriftServer.java b/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift2/ThriftServer.java
index 8f56b10da5b..560ae649188 100644
--- a/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift2/ThriftServer.java
+++ b/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift2/ThriftServer.java
@@ -432,6 +432,9 @@ public class ThriftServer extends Configured implements Tool {
       throw new RuntimeException("Could not parse the value provided for the port option", e);
     }
 
+    // Thrift's implementation uses '0' as a placeholder for 'use the default.'
+    int backlog = conf.getInt(BACKLOG_CONF_KEY, 0);
+
     // Local hostname and user name,
     // used only if QOP is configured.
     String host = null;