diff --git a/sstables/sstables.cc b/sstables/sstables.cc
index 07551953e2..c934ed2088 100644
--- a/sstables/sstables.cc
+++ b/sstables/sstables.cc
@@ -3914,6 +3914,17 @@ sstable::compute_shards_for_this_sstable() const {
     return boost::copy_range<std::vector<unsigned>>(shards);
 }
 
+future<bool> sstable::has_partition_key(const utils::hashed_key& hk, const dht::decorated_key& dk) {
+    shared_sstable s = shared_from_this();
+    if (!filter_has_key(hk)) {
+        return make_ready_future<bool>(false);
+    }
+    seastar::shared_ptr<sstables::index_reader> lh_index = seastar::make_shared<sstables::index_reader>(s, default_priority_class());
+    return lh_index->advance_lower_and_check_if_present(dk).then([lh_index, s, this] (bool present) {
+        return make_ready_future<bool>(present);
+    });
+}
+
 utils::hashed_key sstable::make_hashed_key(const schema& s, const partition_key& key) {
     return utils::make_hashed_key(static_cast<bytes_view>(key::from_partition_key(s, key)));
 }
diff --git a/sstables/sstables.hh b/sstables/sstables.hh
index 1ad8531d8e..4dfd290211 100644
--- a/sstables/sstables.hh
+++ b/sstables/sstables.hh
@@ -604,6 +604,14 @@ public:
         return _components->filter->is_present(bytes_view(key));
     }
 
+    /*!
+     * \brief check if the sstable contains the given key.
+     * The method would search that the key is actually
+     * found in the sstable not just in the filter.
+     *
+     */
+    future<bool> has_partition_key(const utils::hashed_key& hk, const dht::decorated_key& dk);
+
     bool filter_has_key(utils::hashed_key key) {
         return _components->filter->is_present(key);
     }