diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 619e41591e..24e9163d3e 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 1.2.6
  * Write row markers when serializing schema (CASSANDRA-5572)
  * Check only SSTables for the requested range when streaming (CASSANDRA-5569)
+Merged from 1.1
+ * Fix NPE in Pig's widerow mode (CASSANDRA-5488)
 
 
 1.2.5
diff --git a/examples/pig/test/test_storage.pig b/examples/pig/test/test_storage.pig
index 026cb025a9..93dd91f2db 100644
--- a/examples/pig/test/test_storage.pig
+++ b/examples/pig/test/test_storage.pig
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-rows = LOAD 'cassandra://PigTest/SomeApp' USING CassandraStorage();
+rows = LOAD 'cassandra://PigTest/SomeApp?widerows=true' USING CassandraStorage();
 -- full copy
 STORE rows INTO 'cassandra://PigTest/CopyOfSomeApp' USING CassandraStorage();
 -- single tuple
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/hadoop/pig/CassandraStorage.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/hadoop/pig/CassandraStorage.java
index 110f61d9c5..76feb5a3f0 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/hadoop/pig/CassandraStorage.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/hadoop/pig/CassandraStorage.java
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
                         if (tuple.size() == 0) // lastRow is a new one
                         {
                             key = (ByteBuffer)reader.getCurrentKey();
-                            addKeyToTuple(tuple, key, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
+                            tuple = addKeyToTuple(tuple, key, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
                         }
                         for (Map.Entry<ByteBuffer, IColumn> entry : lastRow.entrySet())
                         {
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
                     key = (ByteBuffer)reader.getCurrentKey();
                     if (lastKey != null && !(key.equals(lastKey))) // last key only had one value
                     {
-                        addKeyToTuple(tuple, lastKey, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
+                        tuple = addKeyToTuple(tuple, lastKey, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
                         for (Map.Entry<ByteBuffer, IColumn> entry : lastRow.entrySet())
                         {
                             bag.add(columnToTuple(entry.getValue(), cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getComparator_type())));
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
                         lastRow = (SortedMap<ByteBuffer,IColumn>)reader.getCurrentValue();
                         return tuple;
                     }
-                    addKeyToTuple(tuple, lastKey, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
+                    tuple = addKeyToTuple(tuple, lastKey, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
                 }
                 SortedMap<ByteBuffer,IColumn> row = (SortedMap<ByteBuffer,IColumn>)reader.getCurrentValue();
                 if (lastRow != null) // prepend what was read last time
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
             // output tuple, will hold the key, each indexed column in a tuple, then a bag of the rest
             // NOTE: we're setting the tuple size here only for the key so we can use setTupleValue on it
 
-            Tuple tuple = keyToTuple(key, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
+            Tuple tuple = addKeyToTuple(null, key, cfDef, parseType(cfDef.getKey_validation_class()));
             DefaultDataBag bag = new DefaultDataBag();
 
             // we must add all the indexed columns first to match the schema
@@ -295,15 +295,12 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
         return t;
     }
 
-    private Tuple keyToTuple(ByteBuffer key, CfDef cfDef, AbstractType comparator) throws IOException
-    {
-        Tuple tuple = TupleFactory.getInstance().newTuple(1);
-        addKeyToTuple(tuple, key, cfDef, comparator);
-        return tuple;
-    }
-
-    private void addKeyToTuple(Tuple tuple, ByteBuffer key, CfDef cfDef, AbstractType comparator) throws IOException
+    private Tuple addKeyToTuple(Tuple tuple, ByteBuffer key, CfDef cfDef, AbstractType comparator) throws IOException
     {
+        if( tuple == null )
+        {
+            tuple = TupleFactory.getInstance().newTuple(1);
+        }
         if( comparator instanceof AbstractCompositeType )
         {
             setTupleValue(tuple, 0, composeComposite((AbstractCompositeType)comparator,key));
@@ -312,7 +309,7 @@ public class CassandraStorage extends LoadFunc implements StoreFuncInterface, Lo
         {
             setTupleValue(tuple, 0, getDefaultMarshallers(cfDef).get(MarshallerType.KEY_VALIDATOR).compose(key));
         }
-
+        return tuple;
     }
 
     private Tuple columnToTuple(IColumn col, CfDef cfDef, AbstractType comparator) throws IOException