diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/RowCounter.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/RowCounter.java
index de58ad2a899..ebf96978e12 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/RowCounter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/RowCounter.java
@@ -81,21 +81,43 @@ public class RowCounter {
   public static Job createSubmittableJob(Configuration conf, String[] args)
   throws IOException {
     String tableName = args[0];
-    Job job = new Job(conf, NAME + "_" + tableName);
-    job.setJarByClass(RowCounter.class);
-    // Columns are space delimited
+    String startKey = null;
+    String endKey = null;
     StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-    final int columnoffset = 1;
-    for (int i = columnoffset; i < args.length; i++) {
-      if (i > columnoffset) {
+
+    final String rangeSwitch = "--range=";
+
+    // First argument is table name, starting from second
+    for (int i = 1; i < args.length; i++) {
+      if (args[i].startsWith(rangeSwitch)) {
+        String[] startEnd = args[i].substring(rangeSwitch.length()).split(",", 2);
+        if (startEnd.length != 2 || startEnd[1].contains(",")) {
+          printUsage("Please specify range in such format as \"--range=a,b\" " +
+              "or, with only one boundary, \"--range=,b\" or \"--range=a,\"");
+          return null;
+        }
+        startKey = startEnd[0];
+        endKey = startEnd[1];
+      }
+      else {
+        // if no switch, assume column names
+        sb.append(args[i]);
         sb.append(" ");
       }
-      sb.append(args[i]);
     }
+
+    Job job = new Job(conf, NAME + "_" + tableName);
+    job.setJarByClass(RowCounter.class);
     Scan scan = new Scan();
+    if (startKey != null && !startKey.equals("")) {
+      scan.setStartRow(Bytes.toBytes(startKey));
+    }
+    if (endKey != null && !endKey.equals("")) {
+      scan.setStopRow(Bytes.toBytes(endKey));
+    }
     scan.setFilter(new FirstKeyOnlyFilter());
     if (sb.length() > 0) {
-      for (String columnName :sb.toString().split(" ")) {
+      for (String columnName : sb.toString().trim().split(" ")) {
         String [] fields = columnName.split(":");
         if(fields.length == 1) {
           scan.addFamily(Bytes.toBytes(fields[0]));
@@ -104,7 +126,6 @@ public class RowCounter {
         }
       }
     }
-    // Second argument is the table name.
     job.setOutputFormatClass(NullOutputFormat.class);
     TableMapReduceUtil.initTableMapperJob(tableName, scan,
       RowCounterMapper.class, ImmutableBytesWritable.class, Result.class, job);
@@ -112,6 +133,22 @@ public class RowCounter {
     return job;
   }
 
+  /*
+   * @param errorMessage Can attach a message when error occurs.
+   */
+  private static void printUsage(String errorMessage) {
+    System.err.println("ERROR: " + errorMessage);
+    printUsage();
+  }
+
+  /*
+   * Prints usage without error message
+   */
+  private static void printUsage() {
+    System.err.println("Usage: RowCounter <tablename> " +
+        "[--range=[startKey],[endKey]] [<column1> <column2>...]");
+  }
+
   /**
    * Main entry point.
    *
@@ -122,11 +159,13 @@ public class RowCounter {
     Configuration conf = HBaseConfiguration.create();
     String[] otherArgs = new GenericOptionsParser(conf, args).getRemainingArgs();
     if (otherArgs.length < 1) {
-      System.err.println("ERROR: Wrong number of parameters: " + args.length);
-      System.err.println("Usage: RowCounter <tablename> [<column1> <column2>...]");
+      printUsage("Wrong number of parameters: " + args.length);
       System.exit(-1);
     }
     Job job = createSubmittableJob(conf, otherArgs);
+    if (job == null) {
+      System.exit(-1);
+    }
     System.exit(job.waitForCompletion(true) ? 0 : 1);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TableInputFormatBase.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TableInputFormatBase.java
index 468e38d929d..7ebd62f18ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TableInputFormatBase.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TableInputFormatBase.java
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ extends InputFormat<ImmutableBytesWritable, Result> {
         keys.getFirst().length == 0) {
       throw new IOException("Expecting at least one region.");
     }
-    int count = 0;
     List<InputSplit> splits = new ArrayList<InputSplit>(keys.getFirst().length);
     for (int i = 0; i < keys.getFirst().length; i++) {
       if ( !includeRegionInSplit(keys.getFirst()[i], keys.getSecond()[i])) {
@@ -158,8 +157,9 @@ extends InputFormat<ImmutableBytesWritable, Result> {
         InputSplit split = new TableSplit(table.getTableName(),
           splitStart, splitStop, regionLocation);
         splits.add(split);
-        if (LOG.isDebugEnabled())
-          LOG.debug("getSplits: split -> " + (count++) + " -> " + split);
+        if (LOG.isDebugEnabled()) {
+          LOG.debug("getSplits: split -> " + i + " -> " + split);
+        }
       }
     }
     return splits;