diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/snapshot/RestoreSnapshotHelper.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/snapshot/RestoreSnapshotHelper.java
index 0b29b8a9fcd1..f034eb19a66f 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/snapshot/RestoreSnapshotHelper.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/snapshot/RestoreSnapshotHelper.java
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ public static RestoreMetaChanges copySnapshotForScanner(Configuration conf, File
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("Filesystems for restore directory and HBase root " +
           "directory should be the same");
     }
-    if (restoreDir.toUri().getPath().startsWith(rootDir.toUri().getPath())) {
+    if (restoreDir.toUri().getPath().startsWith(rootDir.toUri().getPath() + "/" )) {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("Restore directory cannot be a sub directory of HBase " +
           "root directory. RootDir: " + rootDir + ", restoreDir: " + restoreDir);
     }