diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/BaseDecoder.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/BaseDecoder.java
index 2bd650f63c8..51801a8595d 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/BaseDecoder.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/BaseDecoder.java
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@ public abstract class BaseDecoder implements Codec.Decoder {
       LOG.trace("Error getting available for error message - ignoring", t);
     }
     if (!isEof) throw ioEx;
-    LOG.error("Partial cell read caused by EOF: " + ioEx);
+    if (LOG.isTraceEnabled()) {
+      LOG.trace("Partial cell read caused by EOF", ioEx);
+    }
     EOFException eofEx = new EOFException("Partial cell read");
     eofEx.initCause(ioEx);
     throw eofEx;