diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase.rb
index 940906a1a13..fd053bc30db 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ module HBaseConstants
   METHOD = "METHOD"
   MAXLENGTH = "MAXLENGTH"
   CACHE_BLOCKS = "CACHE_BLOCKS"
+  REVERSED = "REVERSED"
   REPLICATION_SCOPE = "REPLICATION_SCOPE"
   INTERVAL = 'INTERVAL'
   CACHE = 'CACHE'
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
index c78700b1455..3685ecafd0e 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/table.rb
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ EOF
         columns = args["COLUMNS"] || args["COLUMN"] || []
         cache_blocks = args["CACHE_BLOCKS"] || true
         cache = args["CACHE"] || 0
+        reversed = args["REVERSED"] || false
         versions = args["VERSIONS"] || 1
         timerange = args[TIMERANGE]
         raw = args["RAW"] || false
@@ -380,6 +381,7 @@ EOF
 
         scan.setTimeStamp(timestamp) if timestamp
         scan.setCacheBlocks(cache_blocks)
+        scan.setReversed(reversed)
         scan.setCaching(cache) if cache > 0
         scan.setMaxVersions(versions) if versions > 1
         scan.setTimeRange(timerange[0], timerange[1]) if timerange
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/scan.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/scan.rb
index 0564ad819d8..129961f2976 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/scan.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/scan.rb
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ Some examples:
   hbase> scan 'hbase:meta', {COLUMNS => 'info:regioninfo'}
   hbase> scan 't1', {COLUMNS => ['c1', 'c2'], LIMIT => 10, STARTROW => 'xyz'}
   hbase> scan 't1', {COLUMNS => 'c1', TIMERANGE => [1303668804, 1303668904]}
+  hbase> scan 't1', {REVERSED => true}
   hbase> scan 't1', {FILTER => "(PrefixFilter ('row2') AND
     (QualifierFilter (>=, 'binary:xyz'))) AND (TimestampsFilter ( 123, 456))"}
   hbase> scan 't1', {FILTER =>
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
index f55e941ef13..0f6347642e5 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/hbase/table_test.rb
@@ -424,6 +424,18 @@ module Hbase
       assert_not_nil(res['1']['x:b'])
       assert_nil(res['2'])
     end
+    
+    define_test "scan should support REVERSED parameter" do
+      res = @test_table._scan_internal REVERSED => true
+      assert_not_nil(res)
+      assert_kind_of(Hash, res)
+      assert_not_nil(res['1'])
+      assert_not_nil(res['1']['x:a'])
+      assert_not_nil(res['1']['x:b'])
+      assert_not_nil(res['2'])
+      assert_not_nil(res['2']['x:a'])
+      assert_not_nil(res['2']['x:b'])
+    end
 
     define_test "scan should support TIMESTAMP parameter" do
       res = @test_table._scan_internal TIMESTAMP => @test_ts