diff --git a/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h b/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
index 98bf0c07c43..9cfb4482706 100644
--- a/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
+++ b/src/kv/KeyValueDB.h
@@ -322,6 +322,12 @@ private:
       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 @@ public:
 
   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 c95e344e0bc..df48f62fe2f 100644
--- a/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc
+++ b/src/kv/RocksDBStore.cc
@@ -667,11 +667,10 @@ rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *RocksDBStore::get_cf_handle(const std::string& pref
  * CF handle. In all other cases, we return a nullptr to indicate that the specified bounds cannot necessarily be mapped
  * to a single CF.
  */
-rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *RocksDBStore::get_cf_handle(const std::string& prefix, const IteratorBounds& bounds) {
+rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *RocksDBStore::check_cf_handle_bounds(const cf_handles_iterator& iter, const IteratorBounds& bounds) {
   if (!bounds.lower_bound || !bounds.upper_bound) {
     return nullptr;
   }
-  auto iter = cf_handles.find(prefix);
   ceph_assert(iter != cf_handles.end());
   ceph_assert(iter->second.handles.size() != 1);
   if (iter->second.hash_l != 0) {
@@ -3013,7 +3012,7 @@ KeyValueDB::Iterator RocksDBStore::get_iterator(const std::string& prefix, Itera
     if (cf_it->second.handles.size() == 1) {
       cf = cf_it->second.handles[0];
     } else if (cct->_conf->osd_rocksdb_iterator_bounds_enabled) {
-      cf = get_cf_handle(prefix, bounds);
+      cf = check_cf_handle_bounds(cf_it, bounds);
     }
     if (cf) {
       return std::make_shared<CFIteratorImpl>(
@@ -3029,7 +3028,13 @@ 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);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/kv/RocksDBStore.h b/src/kv/RocksDBStore.h
index 7cc861c0444..35fb21a9658 100644
--- a/src/kv/RocksDBStore.h
+++ b/src/kv/RocksDBStore.h
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ private:
     std::vector<rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *> handles;
   };
   std::unordered_map<std::string, prefix_shards> cf_handles;
+  typedef decltype(cf_handles)::iterator cf_handles_iterator;
   std::unordered_map<uint32_t, std::string> cf_ids_to_prefix;
   std::unordered_map<std::string, rocksdb::BlockBasedTableOptions> cf_bbt_opts;
   
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ private:
   rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *get_key_cf(const prefix_shards& shards, const char* key, const size_t keylen);
   rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *get_cf_handle(const std::string& prefix, const std::string& key);
   rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *get_cf_handle(const std::string& prefix, const char* key, size_t keylen);
-  rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *get_cf_handle(const std::string& prefix, const IteratorBounds& bounds);
+  rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle *check_cf_handle_bounds(const cf_handles_iterator& it, const IteratorBounds& bounds);
 
   int submit_common(rocksdb::WriteOptions& woptions, KeyValueDB::Transaction t);
   int install_cf_mergeop(const std::string &cf_name, rocksdb::ColumnFamilyOptions *cf_opt);