diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/AppendOnlyMap.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/AppendOnlyMap.scala
index 7810119847..a32416afae 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/AppendOnlyMap.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/AppendOnlyMap.scala
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package org.apache.spark.util.collection
 
 import java.util
+import java.util.Comparator
 
 /**
  * A simple open hash table optimized for the append-only use case, where keys
@@ -240,7 +241,7 @@ class AppendOnlyMap[K, V](initialCapacity: Int = 64) extends Iterable[(K, V)] wi
   /** Return an iterator of the map in sorted order. This provides a way to sort the map without
     * using additional memory, at the expense of destroying the validity of the map.
     */
-  def destructiveSortedIterator(ordering: Ordering[(K, V)]): Iterator[(K, V)] = {
+  def destructiveSortedIterator(cmp: Comparator[(K, V)]): Iterator[(K, V)] = {
     var keyIndex, newIndex = 0
     // Pack KV pairs into the front of the underlying array
     while (keyIndex < capacity) {
@@ -252,9 +253,9 @@ class AppendOnlyMap[K, V](initialCapacity: Int = 64) extends Iterable[(K, V)] wi
     }
     assert(newIndex == curSize)
     // Sort by the given ordering
-    val rawOrdering = new Ordering[AnyRef] {
+    val rawOrdering = new Comparator[AnyRef] {
       def compare(x: AnyRef, y: AnyRef): Int = {
-        ordering.compare(x.asInstanceOf[(K, V)], y.asInstanceOf[(K, V)])
+        cmp.compare(x.asInstanceOf[(K, V)], y.asInstanceOf[(K, V)])
       }
     }
     util.Arrays.sort(data, 0, curSize, rawOrdering)
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalAppendOnlyMap.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalAppendOnlyMap.scala
index 1de545c05b..bbf96f71ce 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalAppendOnlyMap.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/collection/ExternalAppendOnlyMap.scala
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package org.apache.spark.util.collection
 
 import java.io._
+import java.util.Comparator
 
 import scala.collection.mutable.{ArrayBuffer, PriorityQueue}
 import scala.reflect.ClassTag
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
     val bufferPercent = System.getProperty("spark.shuffle.buffer.fraction", "0.8").toFloat
     bufferSize * bufferPercent
   }
-  private val ordering = new KeyGroupOrdering[K, G]
+  private val comparator = new KeyGroupComparator[K, G]
   private val ser = serializer.newInstance()
 
   def insert(key: K, value: V): Unit = {
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
   private def spill(): Unit = {
     val file = File.createTempFile("external_append_only_map", "")
     val out = ser.serializeStream(new FileOutputStream(file))
-    val it = currentMap.destructiveSortedIterator(ordering)
+    val it = currentMap.destructiveSortedIterator(comparator)
     while (it.hasNext) {
       val kv = it.next()
       out.writeObject(kv)
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
   // An iterator that sort-merges (K, G) pairs from memory and disk into (K, C) pairs
   private class ExternalIterator extends Iterator[(K, C)] {
     val mergeHeap = new PriorityQueue[KGITuple]
-    val inputStreams = oldMaps ++ Seq(currentMap.destructiveSortedIterator(ordering))
+    val inputStreams = oldMaps ++ Seq(currentMap.destructiveSortedIterator(comparator))
 
     // Invariant: size of mergeHeap == number of input streams
     inputStreams.foreach{ it =>
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
     }
 
     case class KGITuple(iterator: Iterator[(K, G)], pairs: ArrayBuffer[(K, G)])
-      extends Ordered[KGITuple] {
+      extends Comparable[KGITuple] {
 
       // Invariant: pairs are ordered by key hash
       def minHash: Int = {
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
         }
       }
 
-      def compare(other: KGITuple): Int = {
+      override def compareTo(other: KGITuple): Int = {
         // mutable.PriorityQueue dequeues the max, not the min
         -minHash.compareTo(other.minHash)
       }
@@ -299,7 +300,7 @@ private[spark] class SpillableAppendOnlyMap[K, V, G: ClassTag, C: ClassTag](
 }
 
 private[spark] object SpillableAppendOnlyMap {
-  private class KeyGroupOrdering[K, G] extends Ordering[(K, G)] {
+  private class KeyGroupComparator[K, G] extends Comparator[(K, G)] {
     def compare(kg1: (K, G), kg2: (K, G)): Int = {
       kg1._1.hashCode().compareTo(kg2._1.hashCode())
     }