diff --git a/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java b/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
index e2d23e5e0a1..8255573a2bc 100644
--- a/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
+++ b/hbase-mapreduce/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ public class PerformanceEvaluation extends Configured implements Tool {
     if (opts.replicas != DEFAULT_OPTS.replicas) {
       desc.setRegionReplication(opts.replicas);
     }
-    if (opts.splitPolicy != DEFAULT_OPTS.splitPolicy) {
+    if (opts.splitPolicy != null && !opts.splitPolicy.equals(DEFAULT_OPTS.splitPolicy)) {
       desc.setRegionSplitPolicyClassName(opts.splitPolicy);
     }
     return desc;