diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
index bd998770e7e4..f75e7e125350 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/StoreScanner.java
@@ -751,6 +751,12 @@ public boolean next(List<Cell> outResult, ScannerContext scannerContext) throws
           default:
             throw new RuntimeException("UNEXPECTED");
         }
+        // when reaching the heartbeat check, try to return from the loop,
+        // to avoid the cycle of skipped cells. See HBASE-25709
+        if (kvsScanned % cellsPerHeartbeatCheck == 0) {
+          return scannerContext.setScannerState(NextState.MORE_VALUES).hasMoreValues();
+        }
+
       } while ((cell = this.heap.peek()) != null);
 
       if (count > 0) {
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/compactions/Compactor.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/compactions/Compactor.java
index 6b5e7f52fbdc..d9e98615ce9b 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/compactions/Compactor.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/compactions/Compactor.java
@@ -401,8 +401,9 @@ protected boolean performCompaction(FileDetails fd, InternalScanner scanner, Cel
     String compactionName = ThroughputControlUtil.getNameForThrottling(store, "compaction");
     long now = 0;
     boolean hasMore;
-    ScannerContext scannerContext =
-          ScannerContext.newBuilder().setBatchLimit(compactionKVMax).build();
+    ScannerContext scannerContext = ScannerContext.newBuilder()
+      .setBatchLimit(compactionKVMax)
+      .build();
 
     throughputController.start(compactionName);
     KeyValueScanner kvs = (scanner instanceof KeyValueScanner) ? (KeyValueScanner) scanner : null;