diff --git a/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKUtil.java b/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKUtil.java
index 334c12b532fd..8d22747b70fa 100644
--- a/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKUtil.java
+++ b/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKUtil.java
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ public static void deleteNodeRecursivelyMultiOrSequential(ZKWatcher zkw,
         ops.add(ZKUtilOp.deleteNodeFailSilent(children.get(i)));
       }
       try {
-        if (zkw.getRecoverableZooKeeper().exists(eachRoot, zkw) != null) {
+        if (zkw.getRecoverableZooKeeper().exists(eachRoot, null) != null) {
           ops.add(ZKUtilOp.deleteNodeFailSilent(eachRoot));
         }
       } catch (InterruptedException e) {