diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
index 5219b99a5f2..e10e2be0e8b 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
@@ -518,10 +518,19 @@ module Hbase
           # Unset table attributes
           elsif method == "table_att_unset"
             raise(ArgumentError, "NAME parameter missing for table_att_unset method") unless name
-            if (htd.getValue(name) == nil)
-              raise ArgumentError, "Can not find attribute: #{name}"
+            if name.kind_of?(Array)
+              name.each do |key|
+                if (htd.getValue(key) == nil)
+                  raise ArgumentError, "Could not find attribute: #{key}"
+                end
+                htd.remove(key)
+              end
+            else
+              if (htd.getValue(name) == nil)
+                raise ArgumentError, "Could not find attribute: #{name}"
+              end
+              htd.remove(name)
             end
-            htd.remove(name)
             @admin.modifyTable(table_name.to_java_bytes, htd)
           # Unknown method
           else
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/admin_test.rb b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/admin_test.rb
index 19258649c79..b643890dbbe 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/admin_test.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/admin_test.rb
@@ -348,6 +348,22 @@ module Hbase
       assert_no_match(eval("/" + key + "/"), admin.describe(@test_name))
     end
 
+    define_test "alter should be able to remove a list of table attributes" do
+      drop_test_table(@test_name)
+
+      key_1 = "TestAttr1"
+      key_2 = "TestAttr2"
+      admin.create(@test_name, { NAME => 'i'}, METADATA => { key_1 => 1, key_2 => 2 })
+
+      # eval() is used to convert a string to regex
+      assert_match(eval("/" + key_1 + "/"), admin.describe(@test_name))
+      assert_match(eval("/" + key_2 + "/"), admin.describe(@test_name))
+
+      admin.alter(@test_name, true, 'METHOD' => 'table_att_unset', 'NAME' => [ key_1, key_2 ])
+      assert_no_match(eval("/" + key_1 + "/"), admin.describe(@test_name))
+      assert_no_match(eval("/" + key_2 + "/"), admin.describe(@test_name))
+    end
+
     define_test "get_table should get a real table" do
       drop_test_table(@test_name)
       create_test_table(@test_name)