diff --git a/sstables/key.hh b/sstables/key.hh
index 032a75d329..856dfcdf35 100644
--- a/sstables/key.hh
+++ b/sstables/key.hh
@@ -16,12 +16,15 @@ class key_view {
     bytes_view _bytes;
 public:
     key_view(bytes_view b) : _bytes(b) {}
+    key_view() : _bytes() {}
 
     std::vector<bytes> explode(const schema& s) const;
 
     bool operator==(const key_view& k) const { return k._bytes == _bytes; }
     bool operator!=(const key_view& k) const { return !(k == *this); }
 
+    bool empty() { return _bytes.empty(); }
+
     explicit operator bytes_view() const {
         return _bytes;
     }
diff --git a/sstables/partition.cc b/sstables/partition.cc
index 6048c06ed9..ab9f534eeb 100644
--- a/sstables/partition.cc
+++ b/sstables/partition.cc
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ public:
 
     mp_row_consumer(const key& key, const schema_ptr _schema)
             : _schema(_schema)
-            , _key(key)
+            , _key(key_view(key))
             , mut(partition_key::from_exploded(*_schema, key.explode(*_schema)), _schema)
     { }