diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/Codec.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/Codec.java
index d52ef117282..1413b121e69 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/Codec.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/codec/Codec.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import java.io.OutputStream;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellScanner;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.CellOutputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.encoding.DataBlockEncoder;
 
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.encoding.DataBlockEncoder;
  * and without presuming an hfile context.  Intent is an Interface that will work for hfile and
  * rpc.
  */
-@InterfaceAudience.Private
+@InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate({HBaseInterfaceAudience.COPROC, HBaseInterfaceAudience.PHOENIX})
 public interface Codec {
   // TODO: interfacing with {@link DataBlockEncoder}
   /**
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ProtobufLogReader.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ProtobufLogReader.java
index e8a689868f1..3f2e6d68dc2 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ProtobufLogReader.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ProtobufLogReader.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FSDataInputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.codec.Codec;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.LimitInputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.protobuf.generated.WALProtos;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.protobuf.generated.WALProtos.WALHeader.Builder;
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ import com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException;
  * which is appended at the end of the WAL. This is empty for now; it can contain some meta
  * information such as Region level stats, etc in future.
  */
-@InterfaceAudience.Private
+@InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate({HBaseInterfaceAudience.COPROC, HBaseInterfaceAudience.PHOENIX})
 public class ProtobufLogReader extends ReaderBase {
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(ProtobufLogReader.class);
   static final byte[] PB_WAL_MAGIC = Bytes.toBytes("PWAL");
@@ -242,6 +243,11 @@ public class ProtobufLogReader extends ReaderBase {
     return WALCellCodec.create(conf, cellCodecClsName, compressionContext);
   }
 
+  @Override
+  protected void initAfterCompression() throws IOException {
+    initAfterCompression(null);
+  }
+  
   @Override
   protected void initAfterCompression(String cellCodecClsName) throws IOException {
     WALCellCodec codec = getCodec(this.conf, cellCodecClsName, this.compressionContext);
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ReaderBase.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ReaderBase.java
index 79dca1c33ac..47378c8af35 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ReaderBase.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/ReaderBase.java
@@ -28,12 +28,13 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FSDataInputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableName;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.io.util.LRUDictionary;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.protobuf.generated.WALProtos.WALTrailer;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.FSUtils;
 
-@InterfaceAudience.Private
+@InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate({HBaseInterfaceAudience.COPROC, HBaseInterfaceAudience.PHOENIX})
 public abstract class ReaderBase implements HLog.Reader {
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(ReaderBase.class);
   protected Configuration conf;
@@ -139,6 +140,11 @@ public abstract class ReaderBase implements HLog.Reader {
    */
   protected abstract String initReader(FSDataInputStream stream) throws IOException;
 
+  /**
+   * Initializes the compression after the shared stuff has been initialized. Called once.
+   */
+  protected abstract void initAfterCompression() throws IOException;
+  
   /**
    * Initializes the compression after the shared stuff has been initialized. Called once.
    * @param cellCodecClsName class name of cell Codec
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/SequenceFileLogReader.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/SequenceFileLogReader.java
index 66e0c1767c7..8b8a19b9b6d 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/SequenceFileLogReader.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/SequenceFileLogReader.java
@@ -32,12 +32,13 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FSDataInputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.wal.HLog.Entry;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.SequenceFile;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.SequenceFile.Metadata;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text;
 
-@InterfaceAudience.Private
+@InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate({HBaseInterfaceAudience.COPROC, HBaseInterfaceAudience.PHOENIX})
 public class SequenceFileLogReader extends ReaderBase {
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(SequenceFileLogReader.class);
 
@@ -189,6 +190,11 @@ public class SequenceFileLogReader extends ReaderBase {
     // Nothing to do here
   }
 
+  @Override
+  protected void initAfterCompression() throws IOException {
+    // Nothing to do here
+  }
+
   @Override
   protected boolean hasCompression() {
     return isWALCompressionEnabled(reader.getMetadata());
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
index a5a016e8b61..93c33ad35e0 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import java.io.OutputStream;
 import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.Cell;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.codec.BaseDecoder;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.codec.BaseEncoder;
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
  * This codec is used at server side for writing cells to WAL as well as for sending edits
  * as part of the distributed splitting process.
  */
-@InterfaceAudience.Private
+@InterfaceAudience.LimitedPrivate({HBaseInterfaceAudience.COPROC, HBaseInterfaceAudience.PHOENIX})
 public class WALCellCodec implements Codec {
   /** Configuration key for the class to use when encoding cells in the WAL */
   public static final String WAL_CELL_CODEC_CLASS_KEY = "hbase.regionserver.wal.codec";
@@ -102,6 +103,24 @@ public class WALCellCodec implements Codec {
         { Configuration.class, CompressionContext.class }, new Object[] { conf, compression });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Create and setup a {@link WALCellCodec} from the 
+   * CompressionContext.
+   * Cell Codec classname is read from {@link Configuration}.
+   * Fully prepares the codec for use.
+   * @param conf {@link Configuration} to read for the user-specified codec. If none is specified,
+   *          uses a {@link WALCellCodec}.
+   * @param compression compression the codec should use
+   * @return a {@link WALCellCodec} ready for use.
+   * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the codec cannot be instantiated
+   */
+  public static WALCellCodec create(Configuration conf,
+      CompressionContext compression) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+    String cellCodecClsName = getWALCellCodecClass(conf);
+    return ReflectionUtils.instantiateWithCustomCtor(cellCodecClsName, new Class[]
+        { Configuration.class, CompressionContext.class }, new Object[] { conf, compression });
+  }
+  
   public interface ByteStringCompressor {
     ByteString compress(byte[] data, Dictionary dict) throws IOException;
   }