diff --git a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/ColumnReaderBase.java b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/ColumnReaderBase.java
index 98bb56eb38..87418409f4 100644
--- a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/ColumnReaderBase.java
+++ b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/ColumnReaderBase.java
@@ -728,7 +728,6 @@ private void initDataReader(Encoding dataEncoding, ByteBufferInputStream in, int
     }
 
     if (CorruptDeltaByteArrays.requiresSequentialReads(writerVersion, dataEncoding)
-        && previousReader != null
         && dataColumn instanceof RequiresPreviousReader) {
       // previous reader can only be set if reading sequentially
       ((RequiresPreviousReader) dataColumn).setPreviousReader(previousReader);
diff --git a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/values/deltastrings/DeltaByteArrayReader.java b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/values/deltastrings/DeltaByteArrayReader.java
index 2ef156683c..4af28313d6 100644
--- a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/values/deltastrings/DeltaByteArrayReader.java
+++ b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/column/values/deltastrings/DeltaByteArrayReader.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public Binary readBytes() {
    */
   @Override
   public void setPreviousReader(ValuesReader reader) {
-    if (reader != null) {
+    if (reader instanceof DeltaByteArrayReader) {
       this.previous = ((DeltaByteArrayReader) reader).previous;
     }
   }
diff --git a/parquet-column/src/test/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/TestCorruptDeltaByteArrays.java b/parquet-column/src/test/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/TestCorruptDeltaByteArrays.java
index 4bfce8eea7..105376bfea 100644
--- a/parquet-column/src/test/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/TestCorruptDeltaByteArrays.java
+++ b/parquet-column/src/test/java/org/apache/parquet/column/impl/TestCorruptDeltaByteArrays.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
@@ -42,15 +43,17 @@
 import org.apache.parquet.column.values.ValuesWriter;
 import org.apache.parquet.column.values.deltastrings.DeltaByteArrayReader;
 import org.apache.parquet.column.values.deltastrings.DeltaByteArrayWriter;
+import org.apache.parquet.column.values.dictionary.DictionaryValuesReader;
 import org.apache.parquet.io.api.Binary;
 import org.apache.parquet.io.api.PrimitiveConverter;
 import org.apache.parquet.schema.PrimitiveType;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
 
 public class TestCorruptDeltaByteArrays {
   @Test
-  public void testCorruptDeltaByteArrayVerisons() {
+  public void testCorruptDeltaByteArrayVersions() {
     assertTrue(CorruptDeltaByteArrays.requiresSequentialReads(
         "parquet-mr version 1.6.0 (build abcd)", Encoding.DELTA_BYTE_ARRAY));
     assertTrue(CorruptDeltaByteArrays.requiresSequentialReads((String) null, Encoding.DELTA_BYTE_ARRAY));
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ public void testCorruptDeltaByteArrayVerisons() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testEncodingRequiresSequentailRead() {
+  public void testEncodingRequiresSequentialRead() {
     ParsedVersion impala = new ParsedVersion("impala", "1.2.0", "abcd");
     assertFalse(CorruptDeltaByteArrays.requiresSequentialReads(impala, Encoding.DELTA_BYTE_ARRAY));
     ParsedVersion broken = new ParsedVersion("parquet-mr", "1.8.0-SNAPSHOT", "abcd");
@@ -262,6 +265,43 @@ public void addBinary(Binary value) {
     Assert.assertEquals(values, actualValues);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testPreviousReaderSetting() {
+    Binary previous = Binary.fromString("<<<PREVIOUS>>>");
+    DeltaByteArrayReader previousReader = new DeltaByteArrayReader();
+    setPrevious(previousReader, previous);
+
+    DeltaByteArrayReader reader = new DeltaByteArrayReader();
+    reader.setPreviousReader(previousReader);
+    assertSame(previous, getPrevious(reader));
+
+    reader.setPreviousReader(null);
+    assertSame("The previous field should have not changed", previous, getPrevious(reader));
+
+    reader.setPreviousReader(Mockito.mock(DictionaryValuesReader.class));
+    assertSame("The previous field should have not changed", previous, getPrevious(reader));
+  }
+
+  private Binary getPrevious(DeltaByteArrayReader reader) {
+    try {
+      Field previousField = reader.getClass().getDeclaredField("previous");
+      previousField.setAccessible(true);
+      return (Binary) previousField.get(reader);
+    } catch (NoSuchFieldException | IllegalAccessException e) {
+      throw new AssertionError("Unable to get the private field \"previous\" of the reader" + reader, e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void setPrevious(DeltaByteArrayReader reader, Binary previous) {
+    try {
+      Field previousField = reader.getClass().getDeclaredField("previous");
+      previousField.setAccessible(true);
+      previousField.set(reader, previous);
+    } catch (NoSuchFieldException | IllegalAccessException e) {
+      throw new AssertionError("Unable to set the private field \"previous\" of the reader" + reader, e);
+    }
+  }
+
   public void corruptWriter(DeltaByteArrayWriter writer, String data) throws Exception {
     Field previous = writer.getClass().getDeclaredField("previous");
     previous.setAccessible(true);