diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/UnsafeRowSerializer.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/UnsafeRowSerializer.scala
index 8aeb3e9c4aad9..318550e5ed899 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/UnsafeRowSerializer.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/UnsafeRowSerializer.scala
@@ -49,8 +49,16 @@ private[sql] class UnsafeRowSerializer(numFields: Int) extends Serializer with S
 
 private class UnsafeRowSerializerInstance(numFields: Int) extends SerializerInstance {
 
+  /**
+   * Marks the end of a stream written with [[serializeStream()]].
+   */
   private[this] val EOF: Int = -1
 
+  /**
+   * Serializes a stream of UnsafeRows. Within the stream, each record consists of a record
+   * length (stored as a 4-byte integer, written high byte first), followed by the record's bytes.
+   * The end of the stream is denoted by a record with the special length `EOF` (-1).
+   */
   override def serializeStream(out: OutputStream): SerializationStream = new SerializationStream {
     private[this] var writeBuffer: Array[Byte] = new Array[Byte](4096)
     private[this] val dOut: DataOutputStream = new DataOutputStream(out)
@@ -62,15 +70,28 @@ private class UnsafeRowSerializerInstance(numFields: Int) extends SerializerInst
       row.writeToStream(out, writeBuffer)
       this
     }
+
     override def writeKey[T: ClassTag](key: T): SerializationStream = {
+      // The key is only needed on the map side when computing partition ids. It does not need to
+      // be shuffled.
       assert(key.isInstanceOf[Int])
       this
     }
-    override def writeAll[T: ClassTag](iter: Iterator[T]): SerializationStream =
+
+    override def writeAll[T: ClassTag](iter: Iterator[T]): SerializationStream = {
+      // This method is never called by shuffle code.
       throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-    override def writeObject[T: ClassTag](t: T): SerializationStream =
+    }
+
+    override def writeObject[T: ClassTag](t: T): SerializationStream = {
+      // This method is never called by shuffle code.
       throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-    override def flush(): Unit = dOut.flush()
+    }
+
+    override def flush(): Unit = {
+      dOut.flush()
+    }
+
     override def close(): Unit = {
       writeBuffer = null
       dOut.writeInt(EOF)
@@ -81,6 +102,7 @@ private class UnsafeRowSerializerInstance(numFields: Int) extends SerializerInst
   override def deserializeStream(in: InputStream): DeserializationStream = {
     new DeserializationStream {
       private[this] val dIn: DataInputStream = new DataInputStream(in)
+      // 1024 is a default buffer size; this buffer will grow to accommodate larger rows
       private[this] var rowBuffer: Array[Byte] = new Array[Byte](1024)
       private[this] var row: UnsafeRow = new UnsafeRow()
       private[this] var rowTuple: (Int, UnsafeRow) = (0, row)
@@ -112,14 +134,40 @@ private class UnsafeRowSerializerInstance(numFields: Int) extends SerializerInst
           }
         }
       }
-      override def asIterator: Iterator[Any] = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-      override def readKey[T: ClassTag](): T = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-      override def readValue[T: ClassTag](): T = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-      override def readObject[T: ClassTag](): T = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
-      override def close(): Unit = dIn.close()
+
+      override def asIterator: Iterator[Any] = {
+        // This method is never called by shuffle code.
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException
+      }
+
+      override def readKey[T: ClassTag](): T = {
+        // We skipped serialization of the key in writeKey(), so just return a dummy value since
+        // this is going to be discarded anyways.
+        null.asInstanceOf[T]
+      }
+
+      override def readValue[T: ClassTag](): T = {
+        val rowSize = dIn.readInt()
+        if (rowBuffer.length < rowSize) {
+          rowBuffer = new Array[Byte](rowSize)
+        }
+        ByteStreams.readFully(in, rowBuffer, 0, rowSize)
+        row.pointTo(rowBuffer, PlatformDependent.BYTE_ARRAY_OFFSET, numFields, rowSize, null)
+        row.asInstanceOf[T]
+      }
+
+      override def readObject[T: ClassTag](): T = {
+        // This method is never called by shuffle code.
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException
+      }
+
+      override def close(): Unit = {
+        dIn.close()
+      }
     }
   }
 
+  // These methods are never called by shuffle code.
   override def serialize[T: ClassTag](t: T): ByteBuffer = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
   override def deserialize[T: ClassTag](bytes: ByteBuffer): T =
     throw new UnsupportedOperationException