diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/Scrubber.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/Scrubber.java
index 1752b21ef1..f04df27b56 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/Scrubber.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/compaction/Scrubber.java
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ public class Scrubber implements Closeable
                     if (key == null)
                         throw new IOError(new IOException("Unable to read row key from data file"));
 
-                    if (!key.key.equals(currentIndexKey))
+                    if (currentIndexKey != null && !key.key.equals(currentIndexKey))
                     {
                         throw new IOError(new IOException(String.format("Key from data file (%s) does not match key from index file (%s)",
                                 ByteBufferUtil.bytesToHex(key.key), ByteBufferUtil.bytesToHex(currentIndexKey))));