diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AFileSystem.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AFileSystem.java
index 999186f8cd5ae5..73d94c8691db09 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AFileSystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AFileSystem.java
@@ -1718,7 +1718,7 @@ protected S3AReadOpContext createReadContext(
         prefetchBlockCount)
         .withAuditSpan(auditSpan);
     openFileHelper.applyDefaultOptions(roc);
-    return roc.build();
+    return roc;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -2247,8 +2247,8 @@ public S3ObjectAttributes createObjectAttributes(
 
     @Override
     public S3AReadOpContext createReadContext(final FileStatus fileStatus) {
-      return S3AFileSystem.this.createReadContext(fileStatus,
-          auditSpan);
+      return S3AFileSystem.this.createReadContext(fileStatus, auditSpan)
+          .build();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -5222,6 +5222,7 @@ private FSDataInputStream select(final Path source,
         fileStatus,
         auditSpan);
     fileInformation.applyOptions(readContext);
+    readContext.build();
 
     if (changePolicy.getSource() != ChangeDetectionPolicy.Source.None
         && fileStatus.getEtag() != null) {
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AReadOpContext.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AReadOpContext.java
index 55351f0c81396f..7eec44500938a0 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AReadOpContext.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/S3AReadOpContext.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 package org.apache.hadoop.fs.s3a;
 
+import java.util.Optional;
+
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileStatus;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Preconditions;
 
 import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
+import static java.util.Optional.empty;
 
 /**
  * Read-specific operation context struct.
@@ -84,6 +87,16 @@ public class S3AReadOpContext extends S3AOpContext {
   // Size of prefetch queue (in number of blocks).
   private final int prefetchBlockCount;
 
+  /**
+   * Where does the read start from, if known.
+   */
+  private Optional<Long> splitStart = empty();
+
+  /**
+   * What is the split end, if known?
+   */
+  private Optional<Long> splitEnd = empty();
+
   /**
    * Instantiate.
    * @param path path of read
@@ -283,6 +296,40 @@ public int getPrefetchBlockCount() {
     return this.prefetchBlockCount;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Where does the read start from, if known.
+   */
+  public Optional<Long> getSplitStart() {
+    return splitStart;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Set split start.
+   * @param value new value -must not be null
+   * @return the builder
+   */
+  public S3AReadOpContext withSplitStart(final Optional<Long> value) {
+    splitStart = requireNonNull(value);
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Set split end.
+   * @param value new value -must not be null
+   * @return the builder
+   */
+  public S3AReadOpContext withSplitEnd(final Optional<Long> value) {
+    splitEnd = requireNonNull(value);
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * What is the split end, if known?
+   */
+  public Optional<Long> getSplitEnd() {
+    return splitEnd;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String toString() {
     final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/OpenFileSupport.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/OpenFileSupport.java
index 4703d635672457..488bfb24b400de 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/OpenFileSupport.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/OpenFileSupport.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.s3a.select.InternalSelectConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.s3a.select.SelectConstants;
 
+import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
+import static java.util.Optional.empty;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.Options.OpenFileOptions.FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_BUFFER_SIZE;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.Options.OpenFileOptions.FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_LENGTH;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.Options.OpenFileOptions.FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_READ_POLICY;
@@ -249,16 +252,16 @@ public OpenFileInformation prepareToOpenFile(
     }
     FSBuilderSupport builderSupport = new FSBuilderSupport(options);
     // determine start and end of file.
-    long splitStart = builderSupport.getPositiveLong(FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_SPLIT_START, 0);
+    Optional<Long> splitStart = getOptionalLong(options,FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_SPLIT_START);
 
     // split end
-    long splitEnd = builderSupport.getLong(
-        FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_SPLIT_END, LENGTH_UNKNOWN);
-
-    if (splitStart > 0 && splitStart > splitEnd) {
-      LOG.warn("Split start {} is greater than split end {}, resetting",
+    Optional<Long> splitEnd = getOptionalLong(options, FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_SPLIT_END);
+    // if there's a mismatch between start and end, set both to empty
+    if (splitEnd.isPresent() && splitEnd.get() < splitStart.orElse(0L)) {
+      LOG.debug("Split start {} is greater than split end {}, resetting",
           splitStart, splitEnd);
-      splitStart = 0;
+      splitStart = empty();
+      splitEnd = empty();
     }
 
     // read end is the open file value
@@ -336,8 +339,8 @@ public OpenFileInformation openSimpleFile(final int bufferSize) {
         .withFileLength(LENGTH_UNKNOWN)
         .withInputPolicy(defaultInputPolicy)
         .withReadAheadRange(defaultReadAhead)
-        .withSplitStart(0)
-        .withSplitEnd(LENGTH_UNKNOWN)
+        .withSplitStart(empty())
+        .withSplitEnd(empty())
         .build();
   }
 
@@ -352,6 +355,25 @@ public String toString() {
         '}';
   }
 
+
+  /**
+   * Get a long value with resilience to unparseable values.
+   * @param options configuration to parse
+   * @param key key to log
+   * @return long value or empty()
+   */
+  public Optional<Long> getOptionalLong(final Configuration options, String key) {
+    final String v = options.getTrimmed(key, "");
+    if (v.isEmpty()) {
+      return empty();
+    }
+    try {
+      return Optional.of(Long.parseLong(v));
+    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+      return empty();
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * The information on a file needed to open it.
    */
@@ -379,15 +401,14 @@ public static final class OpenFileInformation {
     private int bufferSize;
 
     /**
-     * Where does the read start from. 0 unless known.
+     * Where does the read start from, if known.
      */
-    private long splitStart;
+    private Optional<Long> splitStart = empty();
 
     /**
-     * What is the split end?
-     * Negative if not known.
+     * What is the split end, if known?
      */
-    private long splitEnd = -1;
+    private Optional<Long> splitEnd = empty();
 
     /**
      * What is the file length?
@@ -443,11 +464,17 @@ public int getBufferSize() {
       return bufferSize;
     }
 
-    public long getSplitStart() {
+    /**
+     * Where does the read start from, if known.
+     */
+    public Optional<Long> getSplitStart() {
       return splitStart;
     }
 
-    public long getSplitEnd() {
+    /**
+     * What is the split end, if known?
+     */
+    public Optional<Long> getSplitEnd() {
       return splitEnd;
     }
 
@@ -546,25 +573,26 @@ public OpenFileInformation withBufferSize(final int value) {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Set builder value.
-     * @param value new value
+     * Set split start.
+     * @param value new value -must not be null
      * @return the builder
      */
-    public OpenFileInformation withSplitStart(final long value) {
-      splitStart = value;
+    public OpenFileInformation withSplitStart(final Optional<Long> value) {
+      splitStart = requireNonNull(value);
       return this;
     }
 
     /**
-     * Set builder value.
-     * @param value new value
+     * Set split end.
+     * @param value new value -must not be null
      * @return the builder
      */
-    public OpenFileInformation withSplitEnd(final long value) {
-      splitEnd = value;
+    public OpenFileInformation withSplitEnd(final Optional<Long> value) {
+      splitEnd = requireNonNull(value);
       return this;
     }
 
+
     /**
      * Set builder value.
      * @param value new value
@@ -596,7 +624,9 @@ public S3AReadOpContext applyOptions(S3AReadOpContext roc) {
           .withInputPolicy(inputPolicy)
           .withChangeDetectionPolicy(changePolicy)
           .withAsyncDrainThreshold(asyncDrainThreshold)
-          .withReadahead(readAheadRange);
+          .withReadahead(readAheadRange)
+          .withSplitStart(splitStart)
+          .withSplitEnd(splitEnd);
     }
 
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/TestS3AInputStreamRetry.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/TestS3AInputStreamRetry.java
index c62bf5daca3a4a..f15ef6e934f832 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/TestS3AInputStreamRetry.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/TestS3AInputStreamRetry.java
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ private S3AInputStream getMockedS3AInputStream() {
 
     S3AReadOpContext s3AReadOpContext = fs.createReadContext(
         s3AFileStatus,
-        NoopSpan.INSTANCE);
+        NoopSpan.INSTANCE)
+        .build();
 
     return new S3AInputStream(
         s3AReadOpContext,
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/TestOpenFileSupport.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/TestOpenFileSupport.java
index 17f210dd586e89..0f066a814824f8 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/TestOpenFileSupport.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-aws/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/s3a/impl/TestOpenFileSupport.java
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ public void testFileLength() throws Throwable {
   public void testSplitEndSetsLength() throws Throwable {
     long bigFile = 2L ^ 34;
     assertOpenFile(FS_OPTION_OPENFILE_SPLIT_END, Long.toString(bigFile))
-        .matches(p -> p.getSplitEnd() == bigFile, "split end")
+        .matches(p -> p.getSplitEnd().get() == bigFile, "split end")
         .matches(p -> p.getFileLength() == -1, "file length")
         .matches(p -> p.getStatus() == null, "status");
   }
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@ public void testSplitEndAndLength() throws Throwable {
         new OpenFileParameters()
             .withMandatoryKeys(s)
             .withOptions(conf)))
-        .matches(p -> p.getSplitStart() == 0, "split start")
-        .matches(p -> p.getSplitEnd() == splitEnd, "split end")
+        .matches(p -> !p.getSplitStart().isPresent(), "split start")
+        .matches(p -> !p.getSplitEnd().isPresent(), "split end")
         .matches(p -> p.getStatus().getLen() == len, "file length");
   }