diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
index 64641585695..4aacff1aa18 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
@@ -1602,6 +1602,11 @@ public final class HConstants {
     "hbase.regionserver.slowlog.systable.enabled";
   public static final boolean DEFAULT_SLOW_LOG_SYS_TABLE_ENABLED_KEY = false;
 
+  public static final String SHELL_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT_EPOCH_KEY =
+      "hbase.shell.timestamp.format.epoch";
+
+  public static final boolean DEFAULT_SHELL_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT_EPOCH = false;
+
   /**
    * Number of rows in a batch operation above which a warning will be logged.
    */
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
index d55e516ba94..0cd917efcc1 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ EOF
       @name = @table.getName.getNameAsString
       @shell = shell
       @converters = {}
+      @timestamp_format_epoch = table.getConfiguration.getBoolean(
+          HConstants::SHELL_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT_EPOCH_KEY,
+          HConstants::DEFAULT_SHELL_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT_EPOCH)
     end
 
     def close
@@ -751,8 +754,12 @@ EOF
     end
 
     def toLocalDateTime(millis)
-      instant = java.time.Instant.ofEpochMilli(millis)
-      return java.time.LocalDateTime.ofInstant(instant, java.time.ZoneId.systemDefault()).toString
+      if @timestamp_format_epoch
+        return millis
+      else
+        instant = java.time.Instant.ofEpochMilli(millis)
+        return java.time.LocalDateTime.ofInstant(instant, java.time.ZoneId.systemDefault()).toString
+      end
     end
 
     # Make a String of the passed kv