diff --git a/database.cc b/database.cc
index 71c6487e18..382a0617e8 100644
--- a/database.cc
+++ b/database.cc
@@ -537,6 +537,13 @@ mutation_partition::tombstone_for_row(const schema& schema, const clustering_key
     return t;
 }
 
+tombstone
+mutation_partition::tombstone_for_row(const schema& schema, const rows_entry& e) {
+    tombstone t = range_tombstone_for_row(schema, e.key());
+    t.apply(e.row().t);
+    return t;
+}
+
 void
 mutation_partition::apply_row_tombstone(schema_ptr schema, clustering_key_prefix prefix, tombstone t) {
     assert(!prefix.is_full(*schema));
@@ -649,7 +656,7 @@ column_family::get_partition_slice(mutation_partition& partition, const query::p
             auto&& cells = &row.row().cells;
 
             // FIXME: handle removed rows properly. In CQL rows are separate entities (can be live or dead).
-            auto row_tombstone = partition.tombstone_for_row(*_schema, row.key());
+            auto row_tombstone = partition.tombstone_for_row(*_schema, row);
 
             query::result::row result_row;
             result_row.cells.reserve(slice.regular_columns.size());
diff --git a/database.hh b/database.hh
index fe0ae61b8b..9854beb434 100644
--- a/database.hh
+++ b/database.hh
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ public:
     rows_entry* find_entry(schema_ptr schema, const clustering_key_prefix& key);
     tombstone range_tombstone_for_row(const schema& schema, const clustering_key& key);
     tombstone tombstone_for_row(const schema& schema, const clustering_key& key);
+    tombstone tombstone_for_row(const schema& schema, const rows_entry& e);
     friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const mutation_partition& mp);
     boost::iterator_range<rows_type::iterator> range(const schema& schema, const query::range<clustering_key_prefix>& r);
 };