diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/RSRpcServices.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/RSRpcServices.java
index d3c877284e3..266b4f3c74b 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/RSRpcServices.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/RSRpcServices.java
@@ -2855,9 +2855,9 @@ public class RSRpcServices implements HBaseRPCErrorHandler,
               // Heartbeat messages occur when the time limit has been reached.
               builder.setHeartbeatMessage(timeLimitReached);
               if (timeLimitReached && rsh.needCursor) {
-                Cell readingCell = scannerContext.getPeekedCellInHeartbeat();
-                if (readingCell != null) {
-                  builder.setCursor(ProtobufUtil.toCursor(readingCell));
+                Cell cursorCell = scannerContext.getLastPeekedCell();
+                if (cursorCell != null) {
+                  builder.setCursor(ProtobufUtil.toCursor(cursorCell));
                 }
               }
             }
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/ScannerContext.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/ScannerContext.java
index ee53a9513f0..6831c919770 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/ScannerContext.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/ScannerContext.java
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver;
 
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
-import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.Cell;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.classification.InterfaceAudience;
@@ -97,7 +95,7 @@ public class ScannerContext {
   boolean keepProgress;
   private static boolean DEFAULT_KEEP_PROGRESS = false;
 
-  private Cell peekedCellInHeartbeat = null;
+  private Cell lastPeekedCell = null;
 
   /**
    * Tracks the relevant server side metrics during scans. null when metrics should not be tracked
@@ -324,12 +322,12 @@ public class ScannerContext {
         || checkTimeLimit(checkerScope);
   }
 
-  public Cell getPeekedCellInHeartbeat() {
-    return peekedCellInHeartbeat;
+  public Cell getLastPeekedCell() {
+    return lastPeekedCell;
   }
 
-  public void setPeekedCellInHeartbeat(Cell peekedCellInHeartbeat) {
-    this.peekedCellInHeartbeat = peekedCellInHeartbeat;
+  public void setLastPeekedCell(Cell lastPeekedCell) {
+    this.lastPeekedCell = lastPeekedCell;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
index 7c34b870300..fbdf7b2f1b2 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
@@ -46,11 +46,11 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.filter.Filter;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.ScannerContext.LimitScope;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.ScannerContext.NextState;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.handler.ParallelSeekHandler;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.querymatcher.CompactionScanQueryMatcher;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.querymatcher.LegacyScanQueryMatcher;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.querymatcher.ScanQueryMatcher;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.querymatcher.UserScanQueryMatcher;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.CollectionUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.EnvironmentEdgeManager;
 
@@ -540,7 +540,6 @@ public class StoreScanner extends NonReversedNonLazyKeyValueScanner
       if ((kvsScanned % cellsPerHeartbeatCheck == 0)) {
         scannerContext.updateTimeProgress();
         if (scannerContext.checkTimeLimit(LimitScope.BETWEEN_CELLS)) {
-          scannerContext.setPeekedCellInHeartbeat(prevCell);
           return scannerContext.setScannerState(NextState.TIME_LIMIT_REACHED).hasMoreValues();
         }
       }
@@ -548,6 +547,7 @@ public class StoreScanner extends NonReversedNonLazyKeyValueScanner
       if (prevCell != cell) ++kvsScanned; // Do object compare - we set prevKV from the same heap.
       checkScanOrder(prevCell, cell, comparator);
       prevCell = cell;
+      scannerContext.setLastPeekedCell(cell);
       topChanged = false;
       ScanQueryMatcher.MatchCode qcode = matcher.match(cell);
       switch (qcode) {