diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
index 946c72cc950..3185939afc4 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
@@ -286,7 +286,13 @@ EOF
         set_op_ttl(append, ttl) if ttl
       end
       append.add(family, qualifier, value.to_s.to_java_bytes)
-      @table.append(append)
+      result = @table.append(append)
+      return nil if result.isEmpty
+
+      # Fetch cell value
+      cell = result.listCells[0]
+      org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes::toStringBinary(cell.getValueArray,
+        cell.getValueOffset, cell.getValueLength)
     end
 
     #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/append.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/append.rb
index 93a43174365..c2fb9c19abb 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/append.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/append.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ EOF
       end
 
       def append(table, row, column, value, args={})
-        table._append_internal(row, column, value, args)
+        if current_value = table._append_internal(row, column, value, args)
+          puts "CURRENT VALUE = #{current_value}"
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
index 53d0ca9f81a..90ed7fca82f 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ module Hbase
 
     define_test "append should work with value" do
       @test_table.append("123", 'x:cnt2', '123')
+      assert_equal("123123", @test_table._append_internal("123", 'x:cnt2', '123'))
     end
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------