diff --git a/db/view/view_update_generator.cc b/db/view/view_update_generator.cc
index 11c42ef2fd..5c38a7ded5 100644
--- a/db/view/view_update_generator.cc
+++ b/db/view/view_update_generator.cc
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ future<> view_update_generator::start() {
                 auto sstables = std::exchange(_sstables_with_tables[t], {});
 
                 try {
-                    // temporary: need an sstable set for the flat mutation reader, but the
-                    // compaction_descriptor takes a vector. Soon this will become a compaction
-                    // so the transformation to the SSTable set will not be needed.
-                    auto ssts = make_lw_shared(t->get_compaction_strategy().make_sstable_set(s));
+                    // Exploit the fact that sstables in the staging directory
+                    // are usually non-overlapping and use a partitioned set for
+                    // the read.
+                    auto ssts = make_lw_shared(sstables::make_partitioned_sstable_set(s, make_lw_shared<sstable_list>(sstable_list{}), false));
                     for (auto& sst : sstables) {
                         ssts->insert(sst);
                     }
diff --git a/sstables/compaction_strategy.cc b/sstables/compaction_strategy.cc
index f875d32841..29d9b09fee 100644
--- a/sstables/compaction_strategy.cc
+++ b/sstables/compaction_strategy.cc
@@ -438,8 +438,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<sstable_set_impl> leveled_compaction_strategy::make_sstable_set(
     return std::make_unique<partitioned_sstable_set>(std::move(schema));
 }
 
-std::unique_ptr<sstable_set_impl> make_partitioned_sstable_set(schema_ptr schema, bool use_level_metadata) {
-    return std::make_unique<partitioned_sstable_set>(std::move(schema), use_level_metadata);
+sstable_set make_partitioned_sstable_set(schema_ptr schema, lw_shared_ptr<sstable_list> all, bool use_level_metadata) {
+    return sstables::sstable_set(std::make_unique<partitioned_sstable_set>(schema, use_level_metadata), schema, std::move(all));
 }
 
 compaction_descriptor compaction_strategy_impl::get_major_compaction_job(column_family& cf, std::vector<sstables::shared_sstable> candidates) {
diff --git a/sstables/sstable_set.hh b/sstables/sstable_set.hh
index fe52670ea7..b42ccf294f 100644
--- a/sstables/sstable_set.hh
+++ b/sstables/sstable_set.hh
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public:
     incremental_selector make_incremental_selector() const;
 };
 
-std::unique_ptr<sstable_set_impl> make_partitioned_sstable_set(schema_ptr schema, bool use_level_metadata = true);
+sstable_set make_partitioned_sstable_set(schema_ptr schema, lw_shared_ptr<sstable_list> all, bool use_level_metadata = true);
 
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const sstables::sstable_run& run);