diff --git a/db/inlineskiplist.h b/db/inlineskiplist.h
index 5e4ffbc7a..c31aa4aa5 100644
--- a/db/inlineskiplist.h
+++ b/db/inlineskiplist.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #pragma once
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <atomic>
 #include "port/port.h"
 #include "util/allocator.h"
@@ -53,6 +54,9 @@ namespace rocksdb {
 
 template <class Comparator>
 class InlineSkipList {
+ public:
+  struct InsertHint;
+
  private:
   struct Node;
 
@@ -77,6 +81,19 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   // REQUIRES: no concurrent calls to INSERT
   void Insert(const char* key);
 
+  // Inserts a key allocated by AllocateKey with a hint. It can be used to
+  // optimize sequential inserts, or inserting a key close to the largest
+  // key inserted previously with the same hint.
+  //
+  // If hint points to nullptr, a new hint will be populated, which can be
+  // used in subsequent calls.
+  //
+  // REQUIRES: All keys inserted with the same hint must be consecutive in the
+  // skip-list, i.e. let [k1..k2] be the range of keys inserted with hint h,
+  // there shouldn't be a key k in the skip-list with k1 < k < k2, unless k is
+  // also inserted with the same hint.
+  void InsertWithHint(const char* key, InsertHint** hint);
+
   // Like Insert, but external synchronization is not required.
   void InsertConcurrently(const char* key);
 
@@ -86,6 +103,9 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   // Return estimated number of entries smaller than `key`.
   uint64_t EstimateCount(const char* key) const;
 
+  // Validate correctness of the skip-list.
+  void TEST_Validate() const;
+
   // Iteration over the contents of a skip list
   class Iterator {
    public:
@@ -134,7 +154,7 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   };
 
  private:
-  enum MaxPossibleHeightEnum : uint16_t { kMaxPossibleHeight = 32 };
+  static const uint16_t kMaxPossibleHeight = 32;
 
   const uint16_t kMaxHeight_;
   const uint16_t kBranching_;
@@ -156,7 +176,7 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   // prev_height_ is the height of prev_[0].  prev_[0] can only be equal
   // to head when max_height_ and prev_height_ are both 1.
   Node** prev_;
-  std::atomic<int32_t> prev_height_;
+  std::atomic<uint16_t> prev_height_;
 
   inline int GetMaxHeight() const {
     return max_height_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
@@ -166,6 +186,13 @@ class InlineSkipList {
 
   Node* AllocateNode(size_t key_size, int height);
 
+  // Allocate a hint used by InsertWithHint().
+  InsertHint* AllocateInsertHint();
+
+  // Extract the node from a key allocated by AllocateKey(), and populate
+  // height of the node.
+  Node* GetNodeForInsert(const char* key, int* height);
+
   bool Equal(const char* a, const char* b) const {
     return (compare_(a, b) == 0);
   }
@@ -188,6 +215,13 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   // level in [0..max_height_-1], if prev is non-null.
   Node* FindLessThan(const char* key, Node** prev = nullptr) const;
 
+  // Return the latest node with a key < key on bottom_level. Start searching
+  // from root node on the level below top_level.
+  // Fills prev[level] with pointer to previous node at "level" for every
+  // level in [bottom_level..top_level-1], if prev is non-null.
+  Node* FindLessThan(const char* key, Node** prev, Node* root, int top_level,
+                     int bottom_level) const;
+
   // Return the last node in the list.
   // Return head_ if list is empty.
   Node* FindLast() const;
@@ -201,6 +235,10 @@ class InlineSkipList {
   void FindLevelSplice(const char* key, Node* before, Node* after, int level,
                        Node** out_prev, Node** out_next);
 
+  // Check if we need to invalidate prev_ cache after inserting a node of
+  // given height.
+  void MaybeInvalidatePrev(int height);
+
   // No copying allowed
   InlineSkipList(const InlineSkipList&);
   InlineSkipList& operator=(const InlineSkipList&);
@@ -265,12 +303,31 @@ struct InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Node {
     next_[-n].store(x, std::memory_order_relaxed);
   }
 
+  // Insert node after prev on specific level.
+  void InsertAfter(Node* prev, int level) {
+    // NoBarrier_SetNext() suffices since we will add a barrier when
+    // we publish a pointer to "this" in prev.
+    NoBarrier_SetNext(level, prev->NoBarrier_Next(level));
+    prev->SetNext(level, this);
+  }
+
  private:
   // next_[0] is the lowest level link (level 0).  Higher levels are
   // stored _earlier_, so level 1 is at next_[-1].
   std::atomic<Node*> next_[1];
 };
 
+//
+//
+// Hint to insert position to speed-up inserts. See implementation of
+// InsertWithHint() for more details.
+template <class Comparator>
+struct InlineSkipList<Comparator>::InsertHint {
+  Node** prev;
+  uint8_t* prev_height;
+  int num_levels;
+};
+
 template <class Comparator>
 inline InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Iterator::Iterator(
     const InlineSkipList* list) {
@@ -401,8 +458,17 @@ InlineSkipList<Comparator>::FindGreaterOrEqual(const char* key) const {
 template <class Comparator>
 typename InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Node*
 InlineSkipList<Comparator>::FindLessThan(const char* key, Node** prev) const {
-  Node* x = head_;
-  int level = GetMaxHeight() - 1;
+  return FindLessThan(key, prev, head_, GetMaxHeight(), 0);
+}
+
+template <class Comparator>
+typename InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Node*
+InlineSkipList<Comparator>::FindLessThan(const char* key, Node** prev,
+                                         Node* root, int top_level,
+                                         int bottom_level) const {
+  assert(top_level > bottom_level);
+  int level = top_level - 1;
+  Node* x = root;
   // KeyIsAfter(key, last_not_after) is definitely false
   Node* last_not_after = nullptr;
   while (true) {
@@ -416,10 +482,10 @@ InlineSkipList<Comparator>::FindLessThan(const char* key, Node** prev) const {
       if (prev != nullptr) {
         prev[level] = x;
       }
-      if (level == 0) {
+      if (level == bottom_level) {
         return x;
       } else {
-        // Switch to next list, reuse KeyIUsAfterNode() result
+        // Switch to next list, reuse KeyIsAfterNode() result
         last_not_after = next;
         level--;
       }
@@ -528,6 +594,63 @@ InlineSkipList<Comparator>::AllocateNode(size_t key_size, int height) {
   return x;
 }
 
+template <class Comparator>
+typename InlineSkipList<Comparator>::InsertHint*
+InlineSkipList<Comparator>::AllocateInsertHint() {
+  InsertHint* hint = reinterpret_cast<InsertHint*>(
+      allocator_->AllocateAligned(sizeof(InsertHint)));
+  // Allocate an extra level on kMaxHeight_, to make boundary cases easier to
+  // handle.
+  hint->prev = reinterpret_cast<Node**>(
+      allocator_->AllocateAligned(sizeof(Node*) * (kMaxHeight_ + 1)));
+  hint->prev_height = reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(
+      allocator_->AllocateAligned(sizeof(uint8_t*) * kMaxHeight_));
+  for (int i = 0; i <= kMaxHeight_; i++) {
+    hint->prev[i] = head_;
+  }
+  hint->num_levels = 0;
+  return hint;
+}
+
+template <class Comparator>
+typename InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Node*
+InlineSkipList<Comparator>::GetNodeForInsert(const char* key, int* height) {
+  // Find the Node that we placed before the key in AllocateKey
+  Node* x = reinterpret_cast<Node*>(const_cast<char*>(key)) - 1;
+  assert(height != nullptr);
+  *height = x->UnstashHeight();
+  assert(*height >= 1 && *height <= kMaxHeight_);
+
+  if (*height > GetMaxHeight()) {
+    // It is ok to mutate max_height_ without any synchronization
+    // with concurrent readers.  A concurrent reader that observes
+    // the new value of max_height_ will see either the old value of
+    // new level pointers from head_ (nullptr), or a new value set in
+    // the loop below.  In the former case the reader will
+    // immediately drop to the next level since nullptr sorts after all
+    // keys.  In the latter case the reader will use the new node.
+    max_height_.store(*height, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  }
+
+  return x;
+}
+
+template <class Comparator>
+void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::MaybeInvalidatePrev(int height) {
+  // We don't have a lock-free algorithm for updating prev_, but we do have
+  // the option of invalidating the entire sequential-insertion cache.
+  // prev_'s invariant is that prev_[i] (i > 0) is the predecessor of
+  // prev_[0] at that level.  We're only going to violate that if height
+  // > 1 and key lands after prev_[height - 1] but before prev_[0].
+  // Comparisons are pretty expensive, so an easier version is to just
+  // clear the cache if height > 1.  We only write to prev_height_ if the
+  // nobody else has, to avoid invalidating the root of the skip list in
+  // all of the other CPU caches.
+  if (height > 1 && prev_height_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) != 0) {
+    prev_height_.store(0, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  }
+}
+
 template <class Comparator>
 void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Insert(const char* key) {
   // InsertConcurrently often can't maintain the prev_ invariants, so
@@ -558,36 +681,135 @@ void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Insert(const char* key) {
   // Our data structure does not allow duplicate insertion
   assert(prev_[0]->Next(0) == nullptr || !Equal(key, prev_[0]->Next(0)->Key()));
 
-  // Find the Node that we placed before the key in AllocateKey
-  Node* x = reinterpret_cast<Node*>(const_cast<char*>(key)) - 1;
-  int height = x->UnstashHeight();
-  assert(height >= 1 && height <= kMaxHeight_);
-
-  if (height > GetMaxHeight()) {
-    for (int i = GetMaxHeight(); i < height; i++) {
-      prev_[i] = head_;
-    }
-
-    // It is ok to mutate max_height_ without any synchronization
-    // with concurrent readers.  A concurrent reader that observes
-    // the new value of max_height_ will see either the old value of
-    // new level pointers from head_ (nullptr), or a new value set in
-    // the loop below.  In the former case the reader will
-    // immediately drop to the next level since nullptr sorts after all
-    // keys.  In the latter case the reader will use the new node.
-    max_height_.store(height, std::memory_order_relaxed);
-  }
+  int height = 0;
+  Node* x = GetNodeForInsert(key, &height);
 
   for (int i = 0; i < height; i++) {
-    // NoBarrier_SetNext() suffices since we will add a barrier when
-    // we publish a pointer to "x" in prev[i].
-    x->NoBarrier_SetNext(i, prev_[i]->NoBarrier_Next(i));
-    prev_[i]->SetNext(i, x);
+    x->InsertAfter(prev_[i], i);
   }
   prev_[0] = x;
   prev_height_.store(height, std::memory_order_relaxed);
 }
 
+// The goal here is to reduce the number of key comparisons, as it can be
+// expensive. We maintain a hint which help us to find a insert position
+// between or next to previously inserted keys with the same hint.
+// Note that we require all keys inserted with the same hint are consecutive
+// in the skip-list.
+//
+// The hint keeps a list of nodes previous inserted with the same hint:
+//   * The first level, prev[0], points to the largest key of them.
+//   * For 0 < i < num_levels, prev[i] is the previous node of prev[i-1]
+//     on level i, i.e.
+//       prev[i] < prev[i-1] <= prev[i]->Next(i)
+//     (prev[i-1] and prev[i]->Next(i) could be the same node.)
+// In addition prev_height keeps the height of prev[i].
+//
+// When inserting a new key, we look for the lowest level L where
+// prev[L] < key < prev[L-1]. Let
+//    M = max(prev_height[i]..prev_height[num_levels-1])
+// For each level between in [L, M), the previous node of
+// the new key must be one of prev[i]. For levels below L and above M
+// we do normal skip-list search if needed.
+//
+// The optimization is suitable for stream of keys where new inserts are next
+// to or close to the largest key ever inserted, e.g. sequential inserts.
+template <class Comparator>
+void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::InsertWithHint(const char* key,
+                                                InsertHint** hint_ptr) {
+  int height = 0;
+  Node* x = GetNodeForInsert(key, &height);
+
+  // InsertWithHint() is not compatible with prev_ optimization used by
+  // Insert().
+  MaybeInvalidatePrev(height);
+
+  assert(hint_ptr != nullptr);
+  InsertHint* hint = *hint_ptr;
+  if (hint == nullptr) {
+    // AllocateInsertHint will initialize hint with num_levels = 0 and
+    // prev[i] = head_ for all i.
+    hint = AllocateInsertHint();
+    *hint_ptr = hint;
+  }
+
+  // Look for the first level i < num_levels with prev[i] < key.
+  int level = 0;
+  for (; level < hint->num_levels; level++) {
+    if (KeyIsAfterNode(key, hint->prev[level])) {
+      assert(!KeyIsAfterNode(key, hint->prev[level]->Next(level)));
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  Node* tmp_prev[kMaxPossibleHeight];
+  if (level >= hint->num_levels) {
+    // The hint is not useful in this case. Fallback to full search.
+    FindLessThan(key, tmp_prev);
+    for (int i = 0; i < height; i++) {
+      assert(tmp_prev[i] == head_ || KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]));
+      assert(!KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]->Next(i)));
+      x->InsertAfter(tmp_prev[i], i);
+    }
+  } else {
+    // Search on levels below "level", using prev[level] as root.
+    if (level > 0) {
+      FindLessThan(key, tmp_prev, hint->prev[level], level, 0);
+      for (int i = 0; i < level && i < height; i++) {
+        assert(tmp_prev[i] == head_ || KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]));
+        assert(!KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]->Next(i)));
+        x->InsertAfter(tmp_prev[i], i);
+      }
+    }
+    // The current level where the new node is to insert into skip-list.
+    int current_level = level;
+    for (int i = level; i < hint->num_levels; i++) {
+      while (current_level < height && current_level < hint->prev_height[i]) {
+        // In this case, prev[i] is the previous node of key on current_level,
+        // since:
+        //   * prev[i] < key;
+        //   * no other nodes less than prev[level-1] has height greater than
+        //     current_level, and prev[level-1] > key.
+        assert(KeyIsAfterNode(key, hint->prev[i]));
+        assert(!KeyIsAfterNode(key, hint->prev[i]->Next(current_level)));
+        x->InsertAfter(hint->prev[i], current_level);
+        current_level++;
+      }
+    }
+    // Full search on levels above current_level if needed.
+    if (current_level < height) {
+      FindLessThan(key, tmp_prev, head_, GetMaxHeight(), current_level);
+      for (int i = current_level; i < height; i++) {
+        assert(tmp_prev[i] == head_ || KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]));
+        assert(!KeyIsAfterNode(key, tmp_prev[i]->Next(i)));
+        x->InsertAfter(tmp_prev[i], i);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  // The last step is update the new node into the hint.
+  //   * If "height" <= "level", prev[level] is still the previous node of
+  //     prev[level-1] on level "level". Stop.
+  //   * Otherwise, the new node becomes the new previous node of
+  //     prev[level-1], or if level=0, the new node becomes the largest node
+  //     inserted with the same hint. Replace prev[level] with the new node.
+  //   * If prev[i] is replaced by another node, check if it can replace
+  //     prev[i+1] using a similar rule, up till "num_levels" level.
+  Node* p = x;
+  uint8_t h = static_cast<uint8_t>(height);
+  for (int i = level; i < hint->num_levels; i++) {
+    if (h <= i) {
+      p = nullptr;
+      break;
+    }
+    std::swap(p, hint->prev[i]);
+    std::swap(h, hint->prev_height[i]);
+  }
+  if (p != nullptr && h > hint->num_levels) {
+    hint->prev[hint->num_levels] = p;
+    hint->prev_height[hint->num_levels] = h;
+    hint->num_levels++;
+  }
+}
+
 template <class Comparator>
 void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::FindLevelSplice(const char* key, Node* before,
                                                  Node* after, int level,
@@ -613,19 +835,7 @@ void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::InsertConcurrently(const char* key) {
   Node* x = reinterpret_cast<Node*>(const_cast<char*>(key)) - 1;
   int height = x->UnstashHeight();
   assert(height >= 1 && height <= kMaxHeight_);
-
-  // We don't have a lock-free algorithm for updating prev_, but we do have
-  // the option of invalidating the entire sequential-insertion cache.
-  // prev_'s invariant is that prev_[i] (i > 0) is the predecessor of
-  // prev_[0] at that level.  We're only going to violate that if height
-  // > 1 and key lands after prev_[height - 1] but before prev_[0].
-  // Comparisons are pretty expensive, so an easier version is to just
-  // clear the cache if height > 1.  We only write to prev_height_ if the
-  // nobody else has, to avoid invalidating the root of the skip list in
-  // all of the other CPU caches.
-  if (height > 1 && prev_height_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) != 0) {
-    prev_height_.store(0, std::memory_order_relaxed);
-  }
+  MaybeInvalidatePrev(height);
 
   int max_height = max_height_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
   while (height > max_height) {
@@ -673,4 +883,44 @@ bool InlineSkipList<Comparator>::Contains(const char* key) const {
   }
 }
 
+template <class Comparator>
+void InlineSkipList<Comparator>::TEST_Validate() const {
+  // Interate over all levels at the same time, and verify nodes appear in
+  // the right order, and nodes appear in upper level also appear in lower
+  // levels.
+  Node* nodes[kMaxPossibleHeight];
+  int max_height = GetMaxHeight();
+  for (int i = 0; i < max_height; i++) {
+    nodes[i] = head_;
+  }
+  while (nodes[0] != nullptr) {
+    Node* l0_next = nodes[0]->Next(0);
+    if (l0_next == nullptr) {
+      break;
+    }
+    assert(nodes[0] == head_ || compare_(nodes[0]->Key(), l0_next->Key()) < 0);
+    nodes[0] = l0_next;
+
+    int i = 1;
+    while (i < max_height) {
+      Node* next = nodes[i]->Next(i);
+      if (next == nullptr) {
+        break;
+      }
+      auto cmp = compare_(nodes[0]->Key(), next->Key());
+      assert(cmp <= 0);
+      if (cmp == 0) {
+        assert(next == nodes[0]);
+        nodes[i] = next;
+      } else {
+        break;
+      }
+      i++;
+    }
+  }
+  for (int i = 1; i < max_height; i++) {
+    assert(nodes[i]->Next(i) == nullptr);
+  }
+}
+
 }  // namespace rocksdb
diff --git a/db/inlineskiplist_test.cc b/db/inlineskiplist_test.cc
index a683b332b..658ca4364 100644
--- a/db/inlineskiplist_test.cc
+++ b/db/inlineskiplist_test.cc
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 #include "db/inlineskiplist.h"
 #include <set>
+#include <unordered_set>
 #include "rocksdb/env.h"
 #include "util/concurrent_arena.h"
 #include "util/hash.h"
@@ -42,7 +43,49 @@ struct TestComparator {
   }
 };
 
-class InlineSkipTest : public testing::Test {};
+typedef InlineSkipList<TestComparator> TestInlineSkipList;
+
+class InlineSkipTest : public testing::Test {
+ public:
+  void Insert(TestInlineSkipList* list, Key key) {
+    char* buf = list->AllocateKey(sizeof(Key));
+    memcpy(buf, &key, sizeof(Key));
+    list->Insert(buf);
+    keys_.insert(key);
+  }
+
+  void InsertWithHint(TestInlineSkipList* list, Key key,
+                      TestInlineSkipList::InsertHint** hint) {
+    char* buf = list->AllocateKey(sizeof(Key));
+    memcpy(buf, &key, sizeof(Key));
+    list->InsertWithHint(buf, hint);
+    keys_.insert(key);
+  }
+
+  void Validate(TestInlineSkipList* list) {
+    // Check keys exist.
+    for (Key key : keys_) {
+      ASSERT_TRUE(list->Contains(Encode(&key)));
+    }
+    // Iterate over the list, make sure keys appears in order and no extra
+    // keys exist.
+    TestInlineSkipList::Iterator iter(list);
+    ASSERT_FALSE(iter.Valid());
+    Key zero = 0;
+    iter.Seek(Encode(&zero));
+    for (Key key : keys_) {
+      ASSERT_TRUE(iter.Valid());
+      ASSERT_EQ(key, Decode(iter.key()));
+      iter.Next();
+    }
+    ASSERT_FALSE(iter.Valid());
+    // Validate the list is well-formed.
+    list->TEST_Validate();
+  }
+
+ private:
+  std::set<Key> keys_;
+};
 
 TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, Empty) {
   Arena arena;
@@ -153,6 +196,103 @@ TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, InsertAndLookup) {
   }
 }
 
+TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, InsertWithHint_Sequential) {
+  const int N = 100000;
+  Arena arena;
+  TestComparator cmp;
+  TestInlineSkipList list(cmp, &arena);
+  TestInlineSkipList::InsertHint* hint = nullptr;
+  for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+    Key key = i;
+    InsertWithHint(&list, key, &hint);
+  }
+  Validate(&list);
+}
+
+TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, InsertWithHint_MultipleHints) {
+  const int N = 100000;
+  const int S = 100;
+  Random rnd(534);
+  Arena arena;
+  TestComparator cmp;
+  TestInlineSkipList list(cmp, &arena);
+  TestInlineSkipList::InsertHint* hints[S];
+  Key last_key[S];
+  for (int i = 0; i < S; i++) {
+    hints[i] = nullptr;
+    last_key[i] = 0;
+  }
+  for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+    Key s = rnd.Uniform(S);
+    Key key = (s << 32) + (++last_key[s]);
+    InsertWithHint(&list, key, &hints[s]);
+  }
+  Validate(&list);
+}
+
+TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, InsertWithHint_MultipleHintsRandom) {
+  const int N = 100000;
+  const int S = 100;
+  Random rnd(534);
+  Arena arena;
+  TestComparator cmp;
+  TestInlineSkipList list(cmp, &arena);
+  TestInlineSkipList::InsertHint* hints[S];
+  for (int i = 0; i < S; i++) {
+    hints[i] = nullptr;
+  }
+  for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+    Key s = rnd.Uniform(S);
+    Key key = (s << 32) + rnd.Next();
+    InsertWithHint(&list, key, &hints[s]);
+  }
+  Validate(&list);
+}
+
+TEST_F(InlineSkipTest, InsertWithHint_CompatibleWithInsertWithoutHint) {
+  const int N = 100000;
+  const int S1 = 100;
+  const int S2 = 100;
+  Random rnd(534);
+  Arena arena;
+  TestComparator cmp;
+  TestInlineSkipList list(cmp, &arena);
+  std::unordered_set<Key> used;
+  Key with_hint[S1];
+  Key without_hint[S2];
+  TestInlineSkipList::InsertHint* hints[S1];
+  for (int i = 0; i < S1; i++) {
+    hints[i] = nullptr;
+    while (true) {
+      Key s = rnd.Next();
+      if (used.insert(s).second) {
+        with_hint[i] = s;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  for (int i = 0; i < S2; i++) {
+    while (true) {
+      Key s = rnd.Next();
+      if (used.insert(s).second) {
+        without_hint[i] = s;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+    Key s = rnd.Uniform(S1 + S2);
+    if (s < S1) {
+      Key key = (with_hint[s] << 32) + rnd.Next();
+      InsertWithHint(&list, key, &hints[s]);
+    } else {
+      Key key = (without_hint[s - S1] << 32) + rnd.Next();
+      Insert(&list, key);
+    }
+  }
+  Validate(&list);
+}
+
 // We want to make sure that with a single writer and multiple
 // concurrent readers (with no synchronization other than when a
 // reader's iterator is created), the reader always observes all the