diff --git a/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h b/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
index 98bf0c07c43f4..9cfb4482706c9 100644
--- a/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
+++ b/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
@@ -322,6 +322,12 @@ class KeyValueDB {
       return generic_iter->status();
     }
   };
+protected:
+  Iterator make_iterator(const std::string &prefix, WholeSpaceIterator w_iter) {
+    return std::make_shared<PrefixIteratorImpl>(
+      prefix,
+      w_iter);
+  }
 public:
   typedef uint32_t IteratorOpts;
   static const uint32_t ITERATOR_NOCACHE = 1;
@@ -333,8 +339,7 @@ class KeyValueDB {
 
   virtual WholeSpaceIterator get_wholespace_iterator(IteratorOpts opts = 0) = 0;
   virtual Iterator get_iterator(const std::string &prefix, IteratorOpts opts = 0, IteratorBounds bounds = IteratorBounds()) {
-    return std::make_shared<PrefixIteratorImpl>(
-      prefix,
+    return make_iterator(prefix,
       get_wholespace_iterator(opts));
   }
 
diff --git a/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc b/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc
index bd716d2093f30..b421098f78cc3 100644
--- a/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc
+++ b/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc
@@ -3011,7 +3011,13 @@ KeyValueDB::Iterator RocksDBStore::get_iterator(const std::string& prefix, Itera
         std::move(bounds));
     }
   } else {
-    return KeyValueDB::get_iterator(prefix, opts);
+    // use wholespace engine if no cfs are configured
+    // or use default cf otherwise as there is no
+    // matching cf for the specified prefix.
+    auto w_it = cf_handles.size() == 0 || prefix.empty() ?
+      get_wholespace_iterator(opts) :
+      get_default_cf_iterator();
+    return KeyValueDB::make_iterator(prefix, w_it);
   }
 }