diff --git a/db/db_iter.cc b/db/db_iter.cc
index b6f771fd1..bfe7c7213 100644
--- a/db/db_iter.cc
+++ b/db/db_iter.cc
@@ -811,12 +811,19 @@ bool DBIter::FindValueForCurrentKey() {
                 ikey, RangeDelPositioningMode::kBackwardTraversal)) {
           last_key_entry_type = kTypeRangeDeletion;
           PERF_COUNTER_ADD(internal_delete_skipped_count, 1);
-        } else {
-          assert(iter_.iter()->IsValuePinned());
+        } else if (iter_.iter()->IsValuePinned()) {
           pinned_value_ = iter_.value();
+        } else {
+          valid_ = false;
+          status_ = Status::NotSupported(
+              "Backward iteration not supported if underlying iterator's value "
+              "cannot be pinned.");
         }
         merge_context_.Clear();
         last_not_merge_type = last_key_entry_type;
+        if (!status_.ok()) {
+          return false;
+        }
         break;
       case kTypeDeletion:
       case kTypeSingleDeletion:
diff --git a/db/db_iterator_test.cc b/db/db_iterator_test.cc
index 8d2b0a7c0..12beaa4af 100644
--- a/db/db_iterator_test.cc
+++ b/db/db_iterator_test.cc
@@ -3021,6 +3021,44 @@ TEST_F(DBIteratorWithReadCallbackTest, ReadCallback) {
   delete iter;
 }
 
+TEST_F(DBIteratorTest, BackwardIterationOnInplaceUpdateMemtable) {
+  Options options = CurrentOptions();
+  options.create_if_missing = true;
+  options.inplace_update_support = false;
+  options.env = env_;
+  DestroyAndReopen(options);
+  constexpr int kNumKeys = 10;
+
+  // Write kNumKeys to WAL.
+  for (int i = 0; i < kNumKeys; ++i) {
+    ASSERT_OK(Put(Key(i), "val"));
+  }
+  ReadOptions read_opts;
+  read_opts.total_order_seek = true;
+  {
+    std::unique_ptr<Iterator> iter(db_->NewIterator(read_opts));
+    int count = 0;
+    for (iter->SeekToLast(); iter->Valid(); iter->Prev()) {
+      ++count;
+    }
+    ASSERT_EQ(kNumKeys, count);
+  }
+
+  // Reopen and rebuild the memtable from WAL.
+  options.create_if_missing = false;
+  options.avoid_flush_during_recovery = true;
+  options.inplace_update_support = true;
+  options.allow_concurrent_memtable_write = false;
+  Reopen(options);
+  {
+    std::unique_ptr<Iterator> iter(db_->NewIterator(read_opts));
+    iter->SeekToLast();
+    // Backward iteration not supported due to inplace_update_support = true.
+    ASSERT_TRUE(iter->status().IsNotSupported());
+    ASSERT_FALSE(iter->Valid());
+  }
+}
+
 }  // namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
diff --git a/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h b/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
index c76c60416..bcbd73d3e 100644
--- a/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
+++ b/include/rocksdb/advanced_options.h
@@ -237,6 +237,7 @@ struct AdvancedColumnFamilyOptions {
   // achieve point-in-time consistency using snapshot or iterator (assuming
   // concurrent updates). Hence iterator and multi-get will return results
   // which are not consistent as of any point-in-time.
+  // Backward iteration on memtables will not work either.
   // If inplace_callback function is not set,
   //   Put(key, new_value) will update inplace the existing_value iff
   //   * key exists in current memtable