diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
index be3d60d73c69d..efef6b0ba2113 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
@@ -368,8 +368,12 @@ private static boolean isAuthenticationMethodEnabled(AuthenticationMethod method
   
   private static final boolean windows =
       System.getProperty("os.name").startsWith("Windows");
+
+  // s390x for zLinux (64 bit)
   private static final boolean is64Bit =
-      System.getProperty("os.arch").contains("64");
+      System.getProperty("os.arch").contains("64") || 
+      System.getProperty("os.arch").contains("s390x");
+      
   private static final boolean aix = System.getProperty("os.name").equals("AIX");
 
   /* Return the OS login module class name */