diff --git a/hbase-protocol/src/main/java/com/google/protobuf/HBaseZeroCopyByteString.java b/hbase-protocol/src/main/java/com/google/protobuf/HBaseZeroCopyByteString.java
index 9d756121c43..d0acd4c4fca 100644
--- a/hbase-protocol/src/main/java/com/google/protobuf/HBaseZeroCopyByteString.java
+++ b/hbase-protocol/src/main/java/com/google/protobuf/HBaseZeroCopyByteString.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public final class HBaseZeroCopyByteString extends LiteralByteString {
     if (buf instanceof LiteralByteString) {
       return ((LiteralByteString) buf).bytes;
     }
-    throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Need a LiteralByteString, got a "
-                                            + buf.getClass().getName());
+    // In case it's BoundedByteString
+    return buf.toByteArray();
   }
 }