diff --git a/db/memtable.cc b/db/memtable.cc
index 291899c217..44eb160e7b 100644
--- a/db/memtable.cc
+++ b/db/memtable.cc
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ Slice MemTableRep::UserKey(const char* key) const {
 // Encode a suitable internal key target for "target" and return it.
 // Uses *scratch as scratch space, and the returned pointer will point
 // into this scratch space.
-static const char* EncodeKey(std::string* scratch, const Slice& target) {
+const char* EncodeKey(std::string* scratch, const Slice& target) {
   scratch->clear();
   PutVarint32(scratch, target.size());
   scratch->append(target.data(), target.size());
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class MemTableIterator: public Iterator {
   }
 
   virtual bool Valid() const { return iter_->Valid(); }
-  virtual void Seek(const Slice& k) { iter_->Seek(EncodeKey(&tmp_, k)); }
+  virtual void Seek(const Slice& k) { iter_->Seek(k, nullptr); }
   virtual void SeekToFirst() { iter_->SeekToFirst(); }
   virtual void SeekToLast() { iter_->SeekToLast(); }
   virtual void Next() { iter_->Next(); }
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ class MemTableIterator: public Iterator {
 
  private:
   std::shared_ptr<MemTableRep::Iterator> iter_;
-  std::string tmp_;       // For passing to EncodeKey
 
   // No copying allowed
   MemTableIterator(const MemTableIterator&);
@@ -165,7 +164,7 @@ bool MemTable::Get(const LookupKey& key, std::string* value, Status* s,
   Slice memkey = key.memtable_key();
   std::shared_ptr<MemTableRep::Iterator> iter(
     table_->GetIterator(key.user_key()));
-  iter->Seek(memkey.data());
+  iter->Seek(key.user_key(), memkey.data());
 
   // It is the caller's responsibility to allocate/delete operands list
   assert(operands != nullptr);
@@ -274,7 +273,7 @@ bool MemTable::Update(SequenceNumber seq, ValueType type,
 
   std::shared_ptr<MemTableRep::Iterator> iter(
     table_.get()->GetIterator(lkey.user_key()));
-  iter->Seek(memkey.data());
+  iter->Seek(key, memkey.data());
 
   if (iter->Valid()) {
     // entry format is:
diff --git a/db/memtable.h b/db/memtable.h
index 93b9b7e2c7..9efb164316 100644
--- a/db/memtable.h
+++ b/db/memtable.h
@@ -169,4 +169,6 @@ class MemTable {
   port::RWMutex* GetLock(const Slice& key);
 };
 
+extern const char* EncodeKey(std::string* scratch, const Slice& target);
+
 }  // namespace rocksdb
diff --git a/include/rocksdb/memtablerep.h b/include/rocksdb/memtablerep.h
index 4147e5f3a0..83b15d2565 100644
--- a/include/rocksdb/memtablerep.h
+++ b/include/rocksdb/memtablerep.h
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class MemTableRep {
     virtual void Prev() = 0;
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) = 0;
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) = 0;
 
     // Position at the first entry in collection.
     // Final state of iterator is Valid() iff collection is not empty.
diff --git a/util/hash_skiplist_rep.cc b/util/hash_skiplist_rep.cc
index b67911f93a..290ce9d634 100644
--- a/util/hash_skiplist_rep.cc
+++ b/util/hash_skiplist_rep.cc
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "port/port.h"
 #include "port/atomic_pointer.h"
 #include "util/murmurhash.h"
+#include "db/memtable.h"
 #include "db/skiplist.h"
 
 namespace rocksdb {
@@ -112,9 +113,12 @@ class HashSkipListRep : public MemTableRep {
     }
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) {
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) {
       if (list_ != nullptr) {
-        iter_.Seek(target);
+        const char* encoded_key =
+            (memtable_key != nullptr) ?
+                memtable_key : EncodeKey(&tmp_, user_key);
+        iter_.Seek(encoded_key);
       }
     }
 
@@ -151,6 +155,7 @@ class HashSkipListRep : public MemTableRep {
     // here we track if we own list_. If we own it, we are also
     // responsible for it's cleaning. This is a poor man's shared_ptr
     bool own_list_;
+    std::string tmp_;       // For passing to EncodeKey
   };
 
   class DynamicIterator : public HashSkipListRep::Iterator {
@@ -160,11 +165,10 @@ class HashSkipListRep : public MemTableRep {
         memtable_rep_(memtable_rep) {}
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) {
-      auto transformed = memtable_rep_.transform_->Transform(
-        memtable_rep_.UserKey(target));
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& k, const char* memtable_key) {
+      auto transformed = memtable_rep_.transform_->Transform(k);
       Reset(memtable_rep_.GetBucket(transformed));
-      HashSkipListRep::Iterator::Seek(target);
+      HashSkipListRep::Iterator::Seek(k, memtable_key);
     }
 
     // Position at the first entry in collection.
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ class HashSkipListRep : public MemTableRep {
     }
     virtual void Next() { }
     virtual void Prev() { }
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) { }
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) { }
     virtual void SeekToFirst() { }
     virtual void SeekToLast() { }
    private:
diff --git a/util/skiplistrep.cc b/util/skiplistrep.cc
index 955d754b15..f4c6e0c93f 100644
--- a/util/skiplistrep.cc
+++ b/util/skiplistrep.cc
@@ -70,8 +70,13 @@ public:
     }
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) override {
-      iter_.Seek(target);
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key)
+        override {
+      if (memtable_key != nullptr) {
+        iter_.Seek(memtable_key);
+      } else {
+        iter_.Seek(EncodeKey(&tmp_, user_key));
+      }
     }
 
     // Position at the first entry in list.
@@ -85,6 +90,8 @@ public:
     virtual void SeekToLast() override {
       iter_.SeekToLast();
     }
+   protected:
+    std::string tmp_;       // For passing to EncodeKey
   };
 
   // Unhide default implementations of GetIterator
diff --git a/util/transformrep.cc b/util/transformrep.cc
index 4c7df13213..ef12055702 100644
--- a/util/transformrep.cc
+++ b/util/transformrep.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "rocksdb/arena.h"
 #include "rocksdb/slice.h"
 #include "rocksdb/slice_transform.h"
+#include "db/memtable.h"
 #include "port/port.h"
 #include "util/mutexlock.h"
 #include "util/murmurhash.h"
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ class TransformRep : public MemTableRep {
     virtual void Prev();
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target);
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key);
 
     // Position at the first entry in collection.
     // Final state of iterator is Valid() iff collection is not empty.
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ class TransformRep : public MemTableRep {
    private:
     std::shared_ptr<Bucket> items_;
     Bucket::const_iterator cit_;
+    std::string tmp_;       // For passing to EncodeKey
   };
 
   class EmptyIterator : public MemTableRep::Iterator {
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ class TransformRep : public MemTableRep {
     }
     virtual void Next() { }
     virtual void Prev() { }
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) { }
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) { }
     virtual void SeekToFirst() { }
     virtual void SeekToLast() { }
     static std::shared_ptr<EmptyIterator> GetInstance();
@@ -197,9 +199,8 @@ class TransformRep : public MemTableRep {
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target within the
     // same bucket as target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) {
-      Slice prefix = memtable_rep_.transform_->Transform(
-        memtable_rep_.UserKey(target));
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) {
+      Slice prefix = memtable_rep_.transform_->Transform(user_key);
 
       ReadLock l(&memtable_rep_.rwlock_);
       auto bucket = memtable_rep_.buckets_.find(prefix);
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@ class TransformRep : public MemTableRep {
       } else {
         bucket_iterator_.reset(
           new TransformIterator(bucket->second, memtable_rep_.GetLock(prefix)));
-        bucket_iterator_->Seek(target);
+        bucket_iterator_->Seek(user_key, memtable_key);
       }
     }
 
@@ -343,8 +344,11 @@ void TransformRep::Iterator::Prev() {
 }
 
 // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-void TransformRep::Iterator::Seek(const char* target) {
-  cit_ = items_->lower_bound(target);
+void TransformRep::Iterator::Seek(const Slice& user_key,
+                                  const char* memtable_key) {
+  const char* encoded_key =
+    (memtable_key != nullptr) ? memtable_key : EncodeKey(&tmp_, user_key);
+  cit_ = items_->lower_bound(encoded_key);
 }
 
 // Position at the first entry in collection.
diff --git a/util/vectorrep.cc b/util/vectorrep.cc
index 8d3ccc9dfb..3887f356d5 100644
--- a/util/vectorrep.cc
+++ b/util/vectorrep.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <type_traits>
 
 #include "rocksdb/arena.h"
+#include "db/memtable.h"
 #include "port/port.h"
 #include "util/mutexlock.h"
 #include "util/stl_wrappers.h"
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ class VectorRep : public MemTableRep {
     std::shared_ptr<std::vector<const char*>> bucket_;
     typename std::vector<const char*>::const_iterator mutable cit_;
     const KeyComparator& compare_;
+    std::string tmp_;       // For passing to EncodeKey
     bool mutable sorted_;
     void DoSort() const;
    public:
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ class VectorRep : public MemTableRep {
     virtual void Prev() override;
 
     // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-    virtual void Seek(const char* target) override;
+    virtual void Seek(const Slice& user_key, const char* memtable_key) override;
 
     // Position at the first entry in collection.
     // Final state of iterator is Valid() iff collection is not empty.
@@ -200,12 +202,15 @@ void VectorRep::Iterator::Prev() {
 }
 
 // Advance to the first entry with a key >= target
-void VectorRep::Iterator::Seek(const char* target) {
+void VectorRep::Iterator::Seek(const Slice& user_key,
+                               const char* memtable_key) {
   DoSort();
   // Do binary search to find first value not less than the target
+  const char* encoded_key =
+      (memtable_key != nullptr) ? memtable_key : EncodeKey(&tmp_, user_key);
   cit_ = std::equal_range(bucket_->begin(),
                           bucket_->end(),
-                          target,
+                          encoded_key,
                           [this] (const char* a, const char* b) {
                             return compare_(a, b) < 0;
                           }).first;