diff --git a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/HConnectionKey.java b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/HConnectionKey.java
index 45c9bbbfc1b..0c2018189c5 100644
--- a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/HConnectionKey.java
+++ b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/HConnectionKey.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HConstants;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.ipc.RpcControllerFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.security.User;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.security.UserProvider;
 
@@ -47,7 +48,8 @@ class HConnectionKey {
       HConstants.HBASE_RPC_TIMEOUT_KEY,
       HConstants.HBASE_META_SCANNER_CACHING,
       HConstants.HBASE_CLIENT_INSTANCE_ID,
-      HConstants.RPC_CODEC_CONF_KEY };
+      HConstants.RPC_CODEC_CONF_KEY,
+      RpcControllerFactory.CUSTOM_CONTROLLER_CONF_KEY};
 
   private Map<String, String> properties;
   private String username;