diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
index b7bc087855b9f..f6c17e362f9b3 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/KryoSerializer.scala
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ class KryoSerializer(conf: SparkConf)
   override def newInstance(): SerializerInstance = {
     new KryoSerializerInstance(this)
   }
+
+  override def supportsRelocationOfSerializedObjects: Boolean = {
+    // TODO: we should have a citation / explanatory comment here clarifying _why_ this is the case
+    newInstance().asInstanceOf[KryoSerializerInstance].getAutoReset()
+  }
 }
 
 private[spark]
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/Serializer.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/Serializer.scala
index c381672a4f588..144a1c51ac858 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/Serializer.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/serializer/Serializer.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import scala.reflect.ClassTag
 
 import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkEnv}
-import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
+import org.apache.spark.annotation.{Experimental, DeveloperApi}
 import org.apache.spark.util.{Utils, ByteBufferInputStream, NextIterator}
 
 /**
@@ -63,6 +63,30 @@ abstract class Serializer {
 
   /** Creates a new [[SerializerInstance]]. */
   def newInstance(): SerializerInstance
+
+  /**
+   * Returns true if this serializer supports relocation of its serialized objects and false
+   * otherwise.  This should return true if and only if reordering the bytes of serialized objects
+   * in serialization stream output results in re-ordered input that can be read with the
+   * deserializer. For instance, the following should work if the serializer supports relocation:
+   *
+   *  serOut.open()
+   *  position = 0
+   *  serOut.write(obj1)
+   *  serOut.flush()
+   *  position = # of bytes writen to stream so far
+   *  obj1Bytes = [bytes 0 through position of stream]
+   *  serOut.write(obj2)
+   *  serOut.flush
+   *  position2 = # of bytes written to stream so far
+   *  obj2Bytes = bytes[position through position2 of stream]
+   *
+   *  serIn.open([obj2bytes] concatenate [obj1bytes]) should return (obj2, obj1)
+   *
+   * See SPARK-7311 for more discussion.
+   */
+  @Experimental
+  def supportsRelocationOfSerializedObjects: Boolean = false
 }
 
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
index b7306cd551918..7d5cf7b61e56a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalSorter.scala
@@ -131,8 +131,7 @@ private[spark] class ExternalSorter[K, V, C](
   private val kvChunkSize = conf.getInt("spark.shuffle.sort.kvChunkSize", 1 << 22) // 4 MB
   private val useSerializedPairBuffer =
     !ordering.isDefined && conf.getBoolean("spark.shuffle.sort.serializeMapOutputs", true) &&
-    ser.isInstanceOf[KryoSerializer] &&
-    serInstance.asInstanceOf[KryoSerializerInstance].getAutoReset
+    ser.supportsRelocationOfSerializedObjects
 
   // Data structures to store in-memory objects before we spill. Depending on whether we have an
   // Aggregator set, we either put objects into an AppendOnlyMap where we combine them, or we