diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DFSConfigKeys.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DFSConfigKeys.java
index 5331df8c71e63..f2fec0712e111 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DFSConfigKeys.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DFSConfigKeys.java
@@ -813,6 +813,10 @@ public class DFSConfigKeys extends CommonConfigurationKeys {
   public static final int DFS_HA_ZKFC_PORT_DEFAULT = 8019;
   public static final String DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_HTTP_TIMEOUT_KEY = "dfs.ha.zkfc.nn.http.timeout.ms";
   public static final int DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_HTTP_TIMEOUT_KEY_DEFAULT = 20000;
+  public static final String DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_KEY =
+      "dfs.ha.zkfc.nn.safemode-as-unhealthy";
+  public static final boolean DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_DEFAULT =
+      false;
 
   // Security-related configs
   public static final String DFS_ENCRYPT_DATA_TRANSFER_KEY = "dfs.encrypt.data.transfer";
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
index 1826bcec069f0..dc4d11b128063 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_NAMENODE_HEARTBEAT_RECHECK_INTERVAL_KEY;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_NAMENODE_HEARTBEAT_RECHECK_INTERVAL_DEFAULT;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.FS_PROTECTED_DIRECTORIES;
+import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_KEY;
+import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_DEFAULT;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.util.ExitUtil.terminate;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.util.ToolRunner.confirmPrompt;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.CommonConfigurationKeys.IPC_BACKOFF_ENABLE;
@@ -369,6 +371,7 @@ public long getProtocolVersion(String protocol,
   private final HAContext haContext;
   protected final boolean allowStaleStandbyReads;
   private AtomicBoolean started = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+  private final boolean safemodeAsUnhealthyToZkfc;
 
   private final static int HEALTH_MONITOR_WARN_THRESHOLD_MS = 5000;
   
@@ -965,6 +968,9 @@ protected NameNode(Configuration conf, NamenodeRole role)
       this.stopAtException(e);
       throw e;
     }
+    safemodeAsUnhealthyToZkfc = conf.getBoolean(
+        DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_KEY,
+        DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_DEFAULT);
     this.started.set(true);
   }
 
@@ -1766,6 +1772,10 @@ synchronized void monitorHealth()
       throw new HealthCheckFailedException(
           "The NameNode has no resources available");
     }
+    if (safemodeAsUnhealthyToZkfc && isInSafeMode()) {
+      throw new HealthCheckFailedException("The NameNode is configured to " +
+          "report UNHEALTHY to ZKFC in Safemode.");
+    }
   }
   
   synchronized void transitionToActive() 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
index 4b9cf4a890082..7233e2ffc37f6 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
@@ -3005,6 +3005,17 @@
   </description>
 </property>
 
+<property>
+  <name>dfs.ha.zkfc.nn.safemode-as-unhealthy</name>
+  <value>false</value>
+  <description>
+    Whether to report SERVICE_UNHEALTHY to ZKFC while namenode is in safemode,
+    when it is set to true, the namenode in safemode will not become active, and
+    only namenodes that not in safemode and ready to fully serve will become
+    active.
+  </description>
+</property>
+
 <property>
   <name>dfs.namenode.quota.init-threads</name>
   <value>4</value>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestNNHealthCheck.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestNNHealthCheck.java
index e0f794f285db0..d36191bf27997 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestNNHealthCheck.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestNNHealthCheck.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.CommonConfigurationKeys.HA_HM_RPC_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.CommonConfigurationKeys.HA_HM_RPC_TIMEOUT_KEY;
+import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_KEY;
 import static org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys.DFS_NAMENODE_LIFELINE_RPC_ADDRESS_KEY;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.MiniDFSCluster;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.MiniDFSNNTopology;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.HdfsConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.MockNameNodeResourceChecker;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.tools.NNHAServiceTarget;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ipc.RemoteException;
@@ -76,6 +78,38 @@ public void testNNHealthCheckWithLifelineAddress() throws IOException {
     doNNHealthCheckTest();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testNNHealthCheckWithSafemodeAsUnhealthy() throws IOException {
+    conf.setBoolean(DFS_HA_ZKFC_NN_SAFEMODE_AS_UNHEALTHY_TO_ZKFC_KEY, true);
+
+    // now bring up just the NameNode.
+    cluster = new MiniDFSCluster.Builder(conf).numDataNodes(0)
+        .nnTopology(MiniDFSNNTopology.simpleHATopology()).build();
+    cluster.waitActive();
+
+    // manually set safemode.
+    cluster.getFileSystem(0)
+        .setSafeMode(HdfsConstants.SafeModeAction.SAFEMODE_ENTER);
+
+    NNHAServiceTarget haTarget = new NNHAServiceTarget(conf,
+        DFSUtil.getNamenodeNameServiceId(conf), "nn1");
+    final String expectedTargetString = haTarget.getAddress().toString();
+
+    assertTrue("Expected haTarget " + haTarget + " containing " +
+        expectedTargetString,
+        haTarget.toString().contains(expectedTargetString));
+    HAServiceProtocol rpc = haTarget.getHealthMonitorProxy(conf, 5000);
+
+    try {
+      // Should throw error - NN is unhealthy.
+      rpc.monitorHealth();
+      fail("Should not have succeeded in calling monitorHealth");
+    } catch (Exception hcfe) {
+      GenericTestUtils.assertExceptionContains("The NameNode is configured" +
+          " to report UNHEALTHY to ZKFC in Safemode.", hcfe);
+    }
+  }
+
   private void doNNHealthCheckTest() throws IOException {
     MockNameNodeResourceChecker mockResourceChecker =
         new MockNameNodeResourceChecker(conf);