diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
index 69e6343527f..5dd4a76fcb0 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ module Hbase
 
     #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Returns a list of tables in hbase
-    def list
-      @admin.listTables.map { |t| t.getNameAsString }
+    def list(regex = ".*")
+        @admin.listTables(regex).map { |t| t.getNameAsString }
     end
 
     #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/list.rb b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/list.rb
index 16af27b9c09..c43e0c4a347 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/list.rb
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/list.rb
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ EOF
         now = Time.now
         formatter.header([ "TABLE" ])
 
-        regex = /#{regex}/ unless regex.is_a?(Regexp)
-        list = admin.list.grep(regex)
+        list = admin.list(regex)
         list.each do |table|
           formatter.row([ table ])
         end