diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/FixedFileTrailer.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/FixedFileTrailer.java
index 72340eeead4f..13a93b84bd44 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/FixedFileTrailer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/FixedFileTrailer.java
@@ -553,14 +553,23 @@ public void setComparatorClass(Class<? extends CellComparator> klass) {
   private static Class<? extends CellComparator> getComparatorClass(String comparatorClassName)
     throws IOException {
     Class<? extends CellComparator> comparatorKlass;
-    // for BC
-    if (comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparator")) {
+    // for backward compatibility
+    // We will force comparator class name to be "KeyValue$KVComparator" and
+    // "KeyValue$MetaComparator" on 2.x although we do not use them on newer 2.x versions, for
+    // maintaining compatibility while upgrading and downgrading between different 2.x versions. So
+    // here on 3.x, we still need to check these two class names although the actual classes have
+    // already been purged.
+    if (
+      comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue$KVComparator")
+        || comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparator")
+    ) {
       comparatorKlass = InnerStoreCellComparator.class;
     } else if (
-      comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparator$MetaCellComparator")
-        || (comparatorClassName
-          .equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparatorImpl$MetaCellComparator"))
-        || (comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.MetaCellComparator"))
+      comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue$MetaComparator")
+        || comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparator$MetaCellComparator")
+        || comparatorClassName
+          .equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparatorImpl$MetaCellComparator")
+        || comparatorClassName.equals("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.MetaCellComparator")
     ) {
       comparatorKlass = MetaCellComparator.class;
     } else if (
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestFixedFileTrailer.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestFixedFileTrailer.java
index 5c4767b2a677..b37c2bf7e75f 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestFixedFileTrailer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestFixedFileTrailer.java
@@ -100,8 +100,13 @@ public void setUp() throws IOException {
 
   @Test
   public void testCreateComparator() throws IOException {
+    assertEquals(InnerStoreCellComparator.class,
+      createComparator("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue$KVComparator").getClass());
     assertEquals(InnerStoreCellComparator.class,
       createComparator(CellComparator.class.getName()).getClass());
+
+    assertEquals(MetaCellComparator.class,
+      createComparator("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue$MetaComparator").getClass());
     assertEquals(MetaCellComparator.class,
       createComparator("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellComparator$MetaCellComparator").getClass());
     assertEquals(MetaCellComparator.class,
@@ -110,8 +115,10 @@ public void testCreateComparator() throws IOException {
       createComparator(MetaCellComparator.META_COMPARATOR.getClass().getName()).getClass());
     assertEquals(MetaCellComparator.META_COMPARATOR.getClass(),
       createComparator(MetaCellComparator.META_COMPARATOR.getClass().getName()).getClass());
+
     assertEquals(CellComparatorImpl.COMPARATOR.getClass(),
       createComparator(MetaCellComparator.COMPARATOR.getClass().getName()).getClass());
+
     assertNull(createComparator(Bytes.BYTES_RAWCOMPARATOR.getClass().getName()));
     assertNull(createComparator("org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue$RawBytesComparator"));