diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
index baee7a216a7c..4b8fbead8f3b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/executor/Executor.scala
@@ -97,10 +97,6 @@ private[spark] class Executor(
   private val urlClassLoader = createClassLoader()
   private val replClassLoader = addReplClassLoaderIfNeeded(urlClassLoader)
 
-  // Akka's message frame size. If task result is bigger than this, we use the block manager
-  // to send the result back.
-  private val akkaFrameSize = AkkaUtils.maxFrameSizeBytes(conf)
-
   // Start worker thread pool
   val threadPool = Utils.newDaemonCachedThreadPool("Executor task launch worker")
 
@@ -212,7 +208,12 @@ private[spark] class Executor(
         val serializedDirectResult = ser.serialize(directResult)
         logInfo("Serialized size of result for " + taskId + " is " + serializedDirectResult.limit)
         val serializedResult = {
-          if (serializedDirectResult.limit >= akkaFrameSize - 1024) {
+          // TODO: [SPARK-1112] We use the min frame size to determine whether to use Akka to send
+          // the task result or block manager. Since this is via the backend, whose actor system is
+          // initialized before receiving the Spark conf, and hence it does not know
+          // `spark.akka.frameSize`. A temporary solution is using the min frame size.
+          // [SPARK-2156] We subtract 200K to leave some space for other data in the Akka message.
+          if (serializedDirectResult.limit >= AkkaUtils.minFrameSizeBytes - 200 * 1024) {
             logInfo("Storing result for " + taskId + " in local BlockManager")
             val blockId = TaskResultBlockId(taskId)
             env.blockManager.putBytes(
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AkkaUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AkkaUtils.scala
index a8d12bb2a016..7c1ce7542bcc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AkkaUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/AkkaUtils.scala
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ private[spark] object AkkaUtils extends Logging {
 
   /** Returns the configured max frame size for Akka messages in bytes. */
   def maxFrameSizeBytes(conf: SparkConf): Int = {
-    conf.getInt("spark.akka.frameSize", 10) * 1024 * 1024
+    math.max(conf.getInt("spark.akka.frameSize", 0) * 1024 * 1024, minFrameSizeBytes)
   }
+
+  /** The minimum value of the max frame size for Akka messages in bytes. */
+  val minFrameSizeBytes = 10 * 1024 * 1024
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/MapOutputTrackerSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/MapOutputTrackerSuite.scala
index 95ba273f16a7..c7918730969c 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/MapOutputTrackerSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/MapOutputTrackerSuite.scala
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@ class MapOutputTrackerSuite extends FunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
 
   test("remote fetch exceeds akka frame size") {
     val newConf = new SparkConf
-    newConf.set("spark.akka.frameSize", "1")
     newConf.set("spark.akka.askTimeout", "1") // Fail fast
 
     val masterTracker = new MapOutputTrackerMaster(conf)
@@ -188,14 +187,18 @@ class MapOutputTrackerSuite extends FunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
       new MapOutputTrackerMasterActor(masterTracker, newConf))(actorSystem)
     val masterActor = actorRef.underlyingActor
 
-    // Frame size should be ~1.1MB, and MapOutputTrackerMasterActor should throw exception.
-    // Note that the size is hand-selected here because map output statuses are compressed before
-    // being sent.
-    masterTracker.registerShuffle(20, 100)
-    (0 until 100).foreach { i =>
-      masterTracker.registerMapOutput(20, i, new MapStatus(
-        BlockManagerId("999", "mps", 1000, 0), Array.fill[Byte](4000000)(0)))
+    // Frame size should be 2 * AkkaUtils.minFrameSizeBytes, and MapOutputTrackerMasterActor should
+    // throw exception.
+    val shuffleId = 20
+    val numMaps = 2
+    val data = new Array[Byte](AkkaUtils.minFrameSizeBytes)
+    val random = new java.util.Random(0)
+    random.nextBytes(data) // Make it hard to compress.
+    masterTracker.registerShuffle(shuffleId, numMaps)
+    (0 until numMaps).foreach { i =>
+      masterTracker.registerMapOutput(shuffleId, i, new MapStatus(
+        BlockManagerId("999", "mps", 1000, 0), data))
     }
-    intercept[SparkException] { masterActor.receive(GetMapOutputStatuses(20)) }
+    intercept[SparkException] { masterActor.receive(GetMapOutputStatuses(shuffleId)) }
   }
 }