diff --git a/ft/comparator.h b/ft/comparator.h
index b21d0b9d845..555e260df6a 100644
--- a/ft/comparator.h
+++ b/ft/comparator.h
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ namespace toku {
             _fake_db->cmp_descriptor = desc;
         }
 
+        bool valid() const {
+            return _cmp != nullptr;
+        }
+
         int operator()(const DBT *a, const DBT *b) const {
             // TODO: add an unlikely() compiler note for this branch
             if (toku_dbt_is_infinite(a) || toku_dbt_is_infinite(b)) {
diff --git a/ft/ft_node-serialize.cc b/ft/ft_node-serialize.cc
index 74d672304f9..04e890f0c88 100644
--- a/ft/ft_node-serialize.cc
+++ b/ft/ft_node-serialize.cc
@@ -876,13 +876,23 @@ static void
 deserialize_child_buffer_v26(NONLEAF_CHILDINFO bnc, struct rbuf *rbuf, const toku::comparator &cmp) {
     int r;
     int n_in_this_buffer = rbuf_int(rbuf);
-    int32_t *fresh_offsets = NULL, *stale_offsets = NULL;
-    int32_t *broadcast_offsets = NULL;
+    int32_t *fresh_offsets = nullptr, *stale_offsets = nullptr;
+    int32_t *broadcast_offsets = nullptr;
     int nfresh = 0, nstale = 0;
     int nbroadcast_offsets = 0;
-    XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, stale_offsets);
-    XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, fresh_offsets);
-    XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, broadcast_offsets);
+
+    // Only sort buffers if we have a valid comparison function. In certain scenarios,
+    // like deserialie_ft_versioned() or tokuftdump, we'll need to deserialize ftnodes
+    // for simple inspection and don't actually require that the message buffers are
+    // properly sorted. This is very ugly, but correct.
+    const bool sort_buffers = cmp.valid();
+
+    if (sort_buffers) {
+        XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, stale_offsets);
+        XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, fresh_offsets);
+        XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, broadcast_offsets);
+    }
+
     bnc->msg_buffer.resize(rbuf->size + 64);
     for (int i = 0; i < n_in_this_buffer; i++) {
         bytevec key; ITEMLEN keylen;
@@ -896,21 +906,24 @@ deserialize_child_buffer_v26(NONLEAF_CHILDINFO bnc, struct rbuf *rbuf, const tok
         xids_create_from_buffer(rbuf, &xids);
         rbuf_bytes(rbuf, &key, &keylen); /* Returns a pointer into the rbuf. */
         rbuf_bytes(rbuf, &val, &vallen);
-        int32_t *dest;
-        if (ft_msg_type_applies_once(type)) {
-            if (is_fresh) {
-                dest = &fresh_offsets[nfresh];
-                nfresh++;
+        int32_t *dest = nullptr;
+        if (sort_buffers) {
+            if (ft_msg_type_applies_once(type)) {
+                if (is_fresh) {
+                    dest = &fresh_offsets[nfresh];
+                    nfresh++;
+                } else {
+                    dest = &stale_offsets[nstale];
+                    nstale++;
+                }
+            } else if (ft_msg_type_applies_all(type) || ft_msg_type_does_nothing(type)) {
+                dest = &broadcast_offsets[nbroadcast_offsets];
+                nbroadcast_offsets++;
             } else {
-                dest = &stale_offsets[nstale];
-                nstale++;
+                abort();
             }
-        } else if (ft_msg_type_applies_all(type) || ft_msg_type_does_nothing(type)) {
-            dest = &broadcast_offsets[nbroadcast_offsets];
-            nbroadcast_offsets++;
-        } else {
-            abort();
         }
+
         // TODO: Function to parse stuff out of an rbuf into an FT_MSG
         DBT k, v;
         FT_MSG_S msg = {
@@ -922,17 +935,19 @@ deserialize_child_buffer_v26(NONLEAF_CHILDINFO bnc, struct rbuf *rbuf, const tok
     }
     invariant(rbuf->ndone == rbuf->size);
 
-    struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra extra(cmp, &bnc->msg_buffer);
-    r = toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp>::mergesort_r(fresh_offsets, nfresh, extra);
-    assert_zero(r);
-    bnc->fresh_message_tree.destroy();
-    bnc->fresh_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&fresh_offsets, nfresh, n_in_this_buffer);
-    r = toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp>::mergesort_r(stale_offsets, nstale, extra);
-    assert_zero(r);
-    bnc->stale_message_tree.destroy();
-    bnc->stale_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&stale_offsets, nstale, n_in_this_buffer);
-    bnc->broadcast_list.destroy();
-    bnc->broadcast_list.create_steal_sorted_array(&broadcast_offsets, nbroadcast_offsets, n_in_this_buffer);
+    if (sort_buffers) {
+        struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra extra(cmp, &bnc->msg_buffer);
+        r = toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp>::mergesort_r(fresh_offsets, nfresh, extra);
+        assert_zero(r);
+        bnc->fresh_message_tree.destroy();
+        bnc->fresh_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&fresh_offsets, nfresh, n_in_this_buffer);
+        r = toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp>::mergesort_r(stale_offsets, nstale, extra);
+        assert_zero(r);
+        bnc->stale_message_tree.destroy();
+        bnc->stale_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&stale_offsets, nstale, n_in_this_buffer);
+        bnc->broadcast_list.destroy();
+        bnc->broadcast_list.create_steal_sorted_array(&broadcast_offsets, nbroadcast_offsets, n_in_this_buffer);
+    }
 }
 
 // effect: deserialize a single message from rbuf and enqueue the result into the given message buffer
@@ -1750,19 +1765,27 @@ deserialize_and_upgrade_internal_node(FTNODE node,
     MSN highest_msn;
     highest_msn.msn = 0;
 
+    // Only sort buffers if we have a valid comparison function. In certain scenarios,
+    // like deserialie_ft_versioned() or tokuftdump, we'll need to deserialize ftnodes
+    // for simple inspection and don't actually require that the message buffers are
+    // properly sorted. This is very ugly, but correct.
+    const bool sort_buffers = bfe->ft->cmp.valid();
+
     // Deserialize de-compressed buffers.
     for (int i = 0; i < node->n_children; ++i) {
         NONLEAF_CHILDINFO bnc = BNC(node, i);
         int n_in_this_buffer = rbuf_int(rb);          // 22. node count
 
-        int32_t *fresh_offsets = NULL;
-        int32_t *broadcast_offsets = NULL;
+        int32_t *fresh_offsets = nullptr;
+        int32_t *broadcast_offsets = nullptr;
         int nfresh = 0;
         int nbroadcast_offsets = 0;
 
         // We skip 'stale' offsets for upgraded nodes.
-        XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, fresh_offsets);
-        XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, broadcast_offsets);
+        if (sort_buffers) {
+            XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, fresh_offsets);
+            XMALLOC_N(n_in_this_buffer, broadcast_offsets);
+        }
 
         // Atomically decrement the header's MSN count by the number
         // of messages in the buffer.
@@ -1785,15 +1808,17 @@ deserialize_and_upgrade_internal_node(FTNODE node,
             rbuf_bytes(rb, &val, &vallen);             // 26. value
 
             // <CER> can we factor this out?
-            int32_t *dest;
-            if (ft_msg_type_applies_once(type)) {
-                dest = &fresh_offsets[nfresh];
-                nfresh++;
-            } else if (ft_msg_type_applies_all(type) || ft_msg_type_does_nothing(type)) {
-                dest = &broadcast_offsets[nbroadcast_offsets];
-                nbroadcast_offsets++;
-            } else {
-                abort();
+            int32_t *dest = nullptr;
+            if (sort_buffers) {
+                if (ft_msg_type_applies_once(type)) {
+                    dest = &fresh_offsets[nfresh];
+                    nfresh++;
+                } else if (ft_msg_type_applies_all(type) || ft_msg_type_does_nothing(type)) {
+                    dest = &broadcast_offsets[nbroadcast_offsets];
+                    nbroadcast_offsets++;
+                } else {
+                    abort();
+                }
             }
 
             // Increment our MSN, the last message should have the
@@ -1809,14 +1834,16 @@ deserialize_and_upgrade_internal_node(FTNODE node,
             xids_destroy(&xids);
         }
 
-        struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra extra(bfe->ft->cmp, &bnc->msg_buffer);
-        typedef toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp> key_msn_sort;
-        r = key_msn_sort::mergesort_r(fresh_offsets, nfresh, extra);
-        assert_zero(r);
-        bnc->fresh_message_tree.destroy();
-        bnc->fresh_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&fresh_offsets, nfresh, n_in_this_buffer);
-        bnc->broadcast_list.destroy();
-        bnc->broadcast_list.create_steal_sorted_array(&broadcast_offsets, nbroadcast_offsets, n_in_this_buffer);
+        if (sort_buffers) {
+            struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra extra(bfe->ft->cmp, &bnc->msg_buffer);
+            typedef toku::sort<int32_t, const struct toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp_extra, toku_msg_buffer_key_msn_cmp> key_msn_sort;
+            r = key_msn_sort::mergesort_r(fresh_offsets, nfresh, extra);
+            assert_zero(r);
+            bnc->fresh_message_tree.destroy();
+            bnc->fresh_message_tree.create_steal_sorted_array(&fresh_offsets, nfresh, n_in_this_buffer);
+            bnc->broadcast_list.destroy();
+            bnc->broadcast_list.create_steal_sorted_array(&broadcast_offsets, nbroadcast_offsets, n_in_this_buffer);
+        }
     }
 
     // Assign the highest msn from our upgrade message buffers