Index: hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/AsyncProcess.java =================================================================== --- hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/AsyncProcess.java (revision 1571370) +++ hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/AsyncProcess.java (working copy) @@ -479,7 +479,14 @@ // The position will be used by the processBatch to match the object array returned. int posInList = -1; NonceGenerator ng = this.hConnection.getNonceGenerator(); - for (Row r : rows) { + for (int i = 0; i < rows.size(); i++) { + Row r = rows.get(i); + if (r instanceof Put) { + Put put = (Put) r; + if (put.isEmpty()) { + throw new IllegalArgumentException("No columns to insert for #" + (i+1) + " item"); + } + } posInList++; Action action = new Action(r, posInList); setNonce(ng, r, action);