diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
index 2b1d29e7849e..8827db0daefc 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/hbase/admin.rb
@@ -1484,7 +1484,7 @@ def describe_namespace(namespace_name)
     def list_namespace(regex = '.*')
       pattern = java.util.regex.Pattern.compile(regex)
       list = @admin.listNamespaces
-      list.select { |s| pattern.match(s) }
+      list.select { |s| pattern.matcher(s).matches }
     end
 
     #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------