diff --git a/java/org/rocksdb/ReadOptions.java b/java/org/rocksdb/ReadOptions.java
index 5db616eba..aa6977e98 100644
--- a/java/org/rocksdb/ReadOptions.java
+++ b/java/org/rocksdb/ReadOptions.java
@@ -92,7 +92,11 @@ public class ReadOptions extends RocksObject {
    */
   public ReadOptions setSnapshot(Snapshot snapshot) {
     assert(isInitialized());
-    setSnapshot(nativeHandle_, snapshot.nativeHandle_);
+    if (snapshot != null) {
+      setSnapshot(nativeHandle_, snapshot.nativeHandle_);
+    } else {
+      setSnapshot(nativeHandle_, 0l);
+    }
     return this;
   }
   private native void setSnapshot(long handle, long snapshotHandle);
diff --git a/java/org/rocksdb/test/SnapshotTest.java b/java/org/rocksdb/test/SnapshotTest.java
index 7ff1637e3..67d0a83ef 100644
--- a/java/org/rocksdb/test/SnapshotTest.java
+++ b/java/org/rocksdb/test/SnapshotTest.java
@@ -69,6 +69,11 @@ public class SnapshotTest
       // null
       assert(db.get(readOptions, "newkey".getBytes())
           == null);
+      // setting null to snapshot in ReadOptions leads
+      // to no Snapshot being used.
+      readOptions.setSnapshot(null);
+      assert(new String(db.get(readOptions,
+          "newkey".getBytes())).equals("newvalue"));
       // release Snapshot
       db.releaseSnapshot(snapshot);
       // Close database