diff --git a/hbase-rsgroup/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/RSGroupAdminClient.java b/hbase-rsgroup/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/RSGroupAdminClient.java
index 32f8692414c..af1924c391a 100644
--- a/hbase-rsgroup/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/RSGroupAdminClient.java
+++ b/hbase-rsgroup/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/RSGroupAdminClient.java
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableName;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.classification.InterfaceAudience;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Admin;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Connection;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.net.Address;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.protobuf.ProtobufUtil;
@@ -55,9 +57,11 @@ import com.google.protobuf.ServiceException;
 @InterfaceAudience.Private
 public class RSGroupAdminClient implements RSGroupAdmin {
   private RSGroupAdminService.BlockingInterface stub;
+  private Admin admin;
 
   public RSGroupAdminClient(Connection conn) throws IOException {
-    stub = RSGroupAdminService.newBlockingStub(conn.getAdmin().coprocessorService());
+    admin = conn.getAdmin();
+    stub = RSGroupAdminService.newBlockingStub(admin.coprocessorService());
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -114,6 +118,9 @@ public class RSGroupAdminClient implements RSGroupAdmin {
     MoveTablesRequest.Builder builder = MoveTablesRequest.newBuilder().setTargetGroup(targetGroup);
     for(TableName tableName: tables) {
       builder.addTableName(ProtobufUtil.toProtoTableName(tableName));
+      if (!admin.tableExists(tableName)) {
+        throw new TableNotFoundException(tableName);
+      }
     }
     try {
       stub.moveTables(null, builder.build());
@@ -200,6 +207,9 @@ public class RSGroupAdminClient implements RSGroupAdmin {
     }
     for(TableName tableName: tables) {
       builder.addTableName(ProtobufUtil.toProtoTableName(tableName));
+      if (!admin.tableExists(tableName)) {
+        throw new TableNotFoundException(tableName);
+      }
     }
     try {
       stub.moveServersAndTables(null, builder.build());
diff --git a/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin1.java b/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin1.java
index 2a6c1b33700..b95db7b23a6 100644
--- a/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin1.java
+++ b/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin1.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.NamespaceDescriptor;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.ServerName;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableExistsException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableName;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.Waiter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.constraint.ConstraintException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.master.ServerManager;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ public class TestRSGroupsAdmin1 extends TestRSGroupsBase {
     try {
       rsGroupAdmin.moveTables(Sets.newHashSet(TableName.valueOf("bogustable")), "bogus");
       fail("Expected move with bogus group to fail");
-    } catch(ConstraintException ex) {
+    } catch(ConstraintException | TableNotFoundException ex) {
       //expected
     }
 
diff --git a/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin2.java b/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin2.java
index b026daf172d..aad5f6e185e 100644
--- a/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin2.java
+++ b/hbase-rsgroup/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rsgroup/TestRSGroupsAdmin2.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.rsgroup;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HRegionInfo;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.ServerName;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableName;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.Waiter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.ClusterConnection;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.master.HMaster;
@@ -298,6 +300,37 @@ public class TestRSGroupsAdmin2 extends TestRSGroupsBase {
     assertTrue(observer.preRemoveServersCalled);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testNonExistentTableMove() throws Exception {
+    TableName tableName = TableName.valueOf(tablePrefix + rand.nextInt());
+
+    RSGroupInfo tableGrp = rsGroupAdmin.getRSGroupInfoOfTable(tableName);
+    assertNull(tableGrp);
+
+    //test if table exists already.
+    boolean exist = admin.tableExists(tableName);
+    assertFalse(exist);
+
+    LOG.info("Moving table "+ tableName + " to " + RSGroupInfo.DEFAULT_GROUP);
+    try {
+      rsGroupAdmin.moveTables(Sets.newHashSet(tableName), RSGroupInfo.DEFAULT_GROUP);
+      fail("Table " + tableName + " shouldn't have been successfully moved.");
+    } catch(IOException ex) {
+      assertTrue(ex instanceof TableNotFoundException);
+    }
+
+    try {
+      rsGroupAdmin.moveServersAndTables(
+        Sets.newHashSet(Address.fromParts("bogus",123)),
+        Sets.newHashSet(tableName), RSGroupInfo.DEFAULT_GROUP);
+      fail("Table " + tableName + " shouldn't have been successfully moved.");
+    } catch(IOException ex) {
+      assertTrue(ex instanceof TableNotFoundException);
+    }
+    //verify group change
+    assertNull(rsGroupAdmin.getRSGroupInfoOfTable(tableName));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testMoveServersAndTables() throws Exception {
     final TableName tableName = TableName.valueOf(tablePrefix + "_testMoveServersAndTables");
@@ -414,4 +447,4 @@ public class TestRSGroupsAdmin2 extends TestRSGroupsBase {
     assertTrue(observer.postMoveServersAndTables);
   }
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
index 102a6e190fc..e769fd01c99 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ module Shell
         end
         # Global HBase exception handling below if not handled by respective command above
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException) then
+          strs = cause.to_s.split(' ')
+          raise "Unknown table #{strs[0]}!" if strs.size == 1
           raise "Unknown table #{args.first}!"
         end
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.UnknownRegionException) then