diff --git a/pkg/ccl/backupccl/split_and_scatter_processor.go b/pkg/ccl/backupccl/split_and_scatter_processor.go
index 110c05026fd1..3143c6ecdb8f 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/backupccl/split_and_scatter_processor.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/backupccl/split_and_scatter_processor.go
@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ func (s dbSplitAndScatterer) split(
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if splitAt, err := keys.EnsureSafeSplitKey(newSplitKey); err != nil {
+		// Ignore the error, not all keys are table keys.
+	} else if len(splitAt) != 0 {
+		newSplitKey = splitAt
+	}
 	log.VEventf(ctx, 1, "presplitting new key %+v", newSplitKey)
 	if err := s.db.AdminSplit(ctx, newSplitKey, expirationTime); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrapf(err, "splitting key %s", newSplitKey)
@@ -107,6 +112,11 @@ func (s dbSplitAndScatterer) scatter(
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+	if scatterAt, err := keys.EnsureSafeSplitKey(newScatterKey); err != nil {
+		// Ignore the error, not all keys are table keys.
+	} else if len(scatterAt) != 0 {
+		newScatterKey = scatterAt
+	}
 
 	log.VEventf(ctx, 1, "scattering new key %+v", newScatterKey)
 	req := &roachpb.AdminScatterRequest{
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/backupccl/testdata/backup-restore/column-families b/pkg/ccl/backupccl/testdata/backup-restore/column-families
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..09ad3f69b35d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/ccl/backupccl/testdata/backup-restore/column-families
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+new-server name=s1 localities=us-east-1,us-west-1,us-west-2,eu-central-1
+----
+
+exec-sql
+CREATE DATABASE orig;
+USE orig;
+CREATE TABLE cfs (a INT PRIMARY KEY, b STRING, c STRING, d STRING, FAMILY (b), FAMILY (c));
+INSERT INTO cfs SELECT x, repeat('abc', 100), repeat('abc', 100) FROM generate_series(0, 3) AS x;
+ALTER TABLE cfs SPLIT AT SELECT a FROM cfs;
+-- Split the output files very small to catch output SSTs mid-row.
+SET CLUSTER SETTING kv.bulk_sst.target_size = '1';
+BACKUP cfs TO 'nodelocal://1/foo';
+CREATE DATABASE r1;
+RESTORE cfs FROM 'nodelocal://1/foo' WITH into_db='r1';
+----
+
+query-sql
+SELECT max(length(start_key)) FROM [SHOW RANGES FROM TABLE orig.cfs];
+----
+2
+
+# Regression test for #67488.
+# This can return up to 6 if RESTORE improperly splits the ranges in the middle
+# of a SQL row since column family keys are longer. E.g. Keys are expected to be
+# of the form '/1' (row with PK 1), and not '/3/1/1' (row with PK 3, and CF 1).
+query-sql
+SELECT max(length(start_key)) FROM [SHOW RANGES FROM TABLE r1.cfs];
+----
+2