diff --git a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MetaTableAccessor.java b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MetaTableAccessor.java
index 1b81359d893..47fffa29842 100644
--- a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MetaTableAccessor.java
+++ b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MetaTableAccessor.java
@@ -1724,8 +1724,8 @@ public class MetaTableAccessor {
       Put putA = makePutFromRegionInfo(splitA);
       Put putB = makePutFromRegionInfo(splitB);
 
-      addLocation(putA, sn, 1, -1, splitA.getReplicaId()); //new regions, openSeqNum = 1 is fine.
-      addLocation(putB, sn, 1, -1, splitB.getReplicaId());
+      addSequenceNum(putA, 1, -1, splitA.getReplicaId()); //new regions, openSeqNum = 1 is fine.
+      addSequenceNum(putB, 1, -1, splitB.getReplicaId());
 
       // Add empty locations for region replicas of daughters so that number of replicas can be
       // cached whenever the primary region is looked up from meta
@@ -2100,6 +2100,15 @@ public class MetaTableAccessor {
     return p.getClass().getSimpleName() + p.toJSON();
   }
 
+  public static Put addSequenceNum(final Put p, long openSeqNum, long time, int replicaId) {
+    if (time <= 0) {
+      time = EnvironmentEdgeManager.currentTime();
+    }
+    p.addImmutable(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, getSeqNumColumn(replicaId), time,
+      Bytes.toBytes(openSeqNum));
+    return p;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get replication position for a peer in a region.
    * @param connection connection we're using
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestMetaTableAccessor.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestMetaTableAccessor.java
index 6e9454f1083..a0cd2368e31 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestMetaTableAccessor.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestMetaTableAccessor.java
@@ -699,5 +699,46 @@ public class TestMetaTableAccessor {
       assertTrue(prevCalls < scheduler.numPriorityCalls);
     }
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEmptyMetaDaughterLocationDuringSplit() throws IOException {
+    long regionId = System.currentTimeMillis();
+    ServerName serverName0 = ServerName.valueOf("foo", 60010, random.nextLong());
+    HRegionInfo parent = new HRegionInfo(TableName.valueOf("table_foo"), HConstants.EMPTY_START_ROW,
+        HConstants.EMPTY_END_ROW, false, regionId, 0);
+    HRegionInfo splitA = new HRegionInfo(TableName.valueOf("table_foo"), HConstants.EMPTY_START_ROW,
+        Bytes.toBytes("a"), false, regionId + 1, 0);
+    HRegionInfo splitB = new HRegionInfo(TableName.valueOf("table_foo"), Bytes.toBytes("a"),
+        HConstants.EMPTY_END_ROW, false, regionId + 1, 0);
+
+    Table meta = MetaTableAccessor.getMetaHTable(connection);
+    try {
+      List<HRegionInfo> regionInfos = Lists.newArrayList(parent);
+      MetaTableAccessor.addRegionsToMeta(connection, regionInfos, 3);
+
+      MetaTableAccessor.splitRegion(connection, parent, splitA, splitB, serverName0, 3, false);
+      Get get1 = new Get(splitA.getRegionName());
+      Result resultA = meta.get(get1);
+      Cell serverCellA = resultA.getColumnLatestCell(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY,
+        MetaTableAccessor.getServerColumn(splitA.getReplicaId()));
+      Cell startCodeCellA = resultA.getColumnLatestCell(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY,
+        MetaTableAccessor.getStartCodeColumn(splitA.getReplicaId()));
+      assertNull(serverCellA);
+      assertNull(startCodeCellA);
+
+      Get get2 = new Get(splitA.getRegionName());
+      Result resultB = meta.get(get2);
+      Cell serverCellB = resultB.getColumnLatestCell(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY,
+        MetaTableAccessor.getServerColumn(splitB.getReplicaId()));
+      Cell startCodeCellB = resultB.getColumnLatestCell(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY,
+        MetaTableAccessor.getStartCodeColumn(splitB.getReplicaId()));
+      assertNull(serverCellB);
+      assertNull(startCodeCellB);
+    } finally {
+      if (meta != null) {
+        meta.close();
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }