diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/BufferedDataBlockEncoder.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/BufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
index d873f7e7770..e8a1c3f71b3 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/BufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/BufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ abstract class BufferedDataBlockEncoder implements DataBlockEncoder {
 
     /** We need to store a copy of the key. */
     protected byte[] keyBuffer = new byte[INITIAL_KEY_BUFFER_SIZE];
-    protected byte[] tagsBuffer = new byte[INITIAL_KEY_BUFFER_SIZE];
+    protected byte[] tagsBuffer = null;
 
     protected long memstoreTS;
     protected int nextKvOffset;
@@ -132,9 +132,15 @@ abstract class BufferedDataBlockEncoder implements DataBlockEncoder {
     private final ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair;
     private final boolean includeTags;
 
-    public SeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair, boolean includeTags) {
+    public SeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair, boolean includeTags,
+        boolean tagsCompressed) {
       this.tmpPair = tmpPair;
       this.includeTags = includeTags;
+      if (tagsCompressed) {
+        tagsBuffer = new byte[INITIAL_KEY_BUFFER_SIZE];
+      } else {
+        tagsBuffer = HConstants.EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY;
+      }
     }
 
     protected boolean isValid() {
@@ -724,6 +730,10 @@ abstract class BufferedDataBlockEncoder implements DataBlockEncoder {
       return this.decodingCtx.getHFileContext().isIncludesTags();
     }
 
+    protected boolean tagsCompressed() {
+      return this.decodingCtx.getHFileContext().isCompressTags();
+    }
+
     @Override
     public int compareKey(CellComparator comparator, Cell key) {
       keyOnlyKV.setKey(current.keyBuffer, 0, current.keyLength);
@@ -978,7 +988,8 @@ abstract class BufferedDataBlockEncoder implements DataBlockEncoder {
     protected STATE createSeekerState() {
       // This will fail for non-default seeker state if the subclass does not
       // override this method.
-      return (STATE) new SeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags());
+      return (STATE) new SeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags(),
+          this.tagsCompressed());
     }
 
     abstract protected void decodeFirst();
diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/DiffKeyDeltaEncoder.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/DiffKeyDeltaEncoder.java
index fe9e518b9b9..0caf8e855c0 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/DiffKeyDeltaEncoder.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/DiffKeyDeltaEncoder.java
@@ -367,8 +367,9 @@ public class DiffKeyDeltaEncoder extends BufferedDataBlockEncoder {
     private int rowLengthWithSize;
     private long timestamp;
 
-    public DiffSeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair, boolean includeTags) {
-      super(tmpPair, includeTags);
+    public DiffSeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair,
+        boolean includeTags, boolean tagsCompressed) {
+      super(tmpPair, includeTags, tagsCompressed);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -503,7 +504,8 @@ public class DiffKeyDeltaEncoder extends BufferedDataBlockEncoder {
 
       @Override
       protected DiffSeekerState createSeekerState() {
-        return new DiffSeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags());
+        return new DiffSeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags(),
+            this.tagsCompressed());
       }
     };
   }
diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/FastDiffDeltaEncoder.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/FastDiffDeltaEncoder.java
index b1f1965c049..b8b56ef2ea9 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/FastDiffDeltaEncoder.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/FastDiffDeltaEncoder.java
@@ -378,8 +378,9 @@ public class FastDiffDeltaEncoder extends BufferedDataBlockEncoder {
     private int rowLengthWithSize;
     private int familyLengthWithSize;
 
-    public FastDiffSeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair, boolean includeTags) {
-      super(tmpPair, includeTags);
+    public FastDiffSeekerState(ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer> tmpPair,
+        boolean includeTags, boolean tagsCompressed) {
+      super(tmpPair, includeTags, tagsCompressed);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -519,7 +520,8 @@ public class FastDiffDeltaEncoder extends BufferedDataBlockEncoder {
 
       @Override
       protected FastDiffSeekerState createSeekerState() {
-        return new FastDiffSeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags());
+        return new FastDiffSeekerState(this.tmpPair, this.includesTags(),
+            this.tagsCompressed());
       }
     };
   }
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
index 9e1bb64debc..d31fd0ce4c1 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/encoding/TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder.java
@@ -21,16 +21,15 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue.Type;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.testclassification.MediumTests;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.testclassification.IOTests;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.testclassification.MediumTests;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.ObjectIntPair;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.experimental.categories.Category;
 
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
-
 @Category({IOTests.class, MediumTests.class})
 public class TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder {
 
@@ -49,8 +48,8 @@ public class TestBufferedDataBlockEncoder {
 
   @Test
   public void testEnsureSpaceForKey() {
-    BufferedDataBlockEncoder.SeekerState state =
-        new BufferedDataBlockEncoder.SeekerState(new ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer>(), false);
+    BufferedDataBlockEncoder.SeekerState state = new BufferedDataBlockEncoder.SeekerState(
+        new ObjectIntPair<ByteBuffer>(), false, false);
     for (int i = 1; i <= 65536; ++i) {
       state.keyLength = i;
       state.ensureSpaceForKey();