diff --git a/bin/spark-class b/bin/spark-class
index 3f6beca5becf0..ce5bebe5929ea 100755
--- a/bin/spark-class
+++ b/bin/spark-class
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ FWDIR="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
 # Export this as SPARK_HOME
 export SPARK_HOME="$FWDIR"
 
+# Load utility functions
+. "$SPARK_HOME/bin/utils.sh"
+
 . $FWDIR/bin/load-spark-env.sh
 
 if [ -z "$1" ]; then
@@ -75,8 +78,10 @@ case "$1" in
 
   # Spark submit uses SPARK_SUBMIT_OPTS and SPARK_JAVA_OPTS
     'org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkSubmit')
-    OUR_JAVA_OPTS="$SPARK_JAVA_OPTS $SPARK_SUBMIT_OPTS \
-      -Djava.library.path=$SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH"
+    OUR_JAVA_OPTS="$SPARK_JAVA_OPTS $SPARK_SUBMIT_OPTS"
+    if [ -n "$SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH" ]; then
+      OUR_JAVA_OPTS="$OUR_JAVA_OPTS -Djava.library.path=$SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH"
+    fi
     OUR_JAVA_MEM=${SPARK_DRIVER_MEMORY:-$DEFAULT_MEM}
     ;;
 
@@ -101,11 +106,16 @@ fi
 # Set JAVA_OPTS to be able to load native libraries and to set heap size
 JAVA_OPTS="-XX:MaxPermSize=128m $OUR_JAVA_OPTS"
 JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Xms$OUR_JAVA_MEM -Xmx$OUR_JAVA_MEM"
+
 # Load extra JAVA_OPTS from conf/java-opts, if it exists
 if [ -e "$FWDIR/conf/java-opts" ] ; then
   JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS `cat $FWDIR/conf/java-opts`"
 fi
-export JAVA_OPTS
+
+# Split JAVA_OPTS properly to handle whitespace, double quotes and backslashes
+# This exports the split java options into SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS
+split_java_options "$JAVA_OPTS"
+
 # Attention: when changing the way the JAVA_OPTS are assembled, the change must be reflected in CommandUtils.scala!
 
 TOOLS_DIR="$FWDIR"/tools
@@ -147,9 +157,12 @@ fi
 export CLASSPATH
 
 if [ "$SPARK_PRINT_LAUNCH_COMMAND" == "1" ]; then
+  # Put quotes around system properties in case they contain spaces
+  # This exports the resulting list of java opts into QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS
+  quote_java_property "${SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS[@]}"
   echo -n "Spark Command: " 1>&2
-  echo "$RUNNER" -cp "$CLASSPATH" $JAVA_OPTS "$@" 1>&2
+  echo "$RUNNER" -cp "$CLASSPATH" "${QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS[@]}" "$@" 1>&2
   echo -e "========================================\n" 1>&2
 fi
 
-exec "$RUNNER" -cp "$CLASSPATH" $JAVA_OPTS "$@"
+exec "$RUNNER" -cp "$CLASSPATH" "${SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS[@]}" "$@"
diff --git a/bin/spark-submit b/bin/spark-submit
index 9e7cecedd0325..1a815becae9b0 100755
--- a/bin/spark-submit
+++ b/bin/spark-submit
@@ -20,11 +20,16 @@
 export SPARK_HOME="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
 ORIG_ARGS=("$@")
 
+# Load utility functions
+. "$SPARK_HOME/bin/utils.sh"
+
 while (($#)); do
   if [ "$1" = "--deploy-mode" ]; then
     DEPLOY_MODE=$2
   elif [ "$1" = "--driver-memory" ]; then
     DRIVER_MEMORY=$2
+  elif [ "$1" = "--properties-file" ]; then
+    PROPERTIES_FILE=$2
   elif [ "$1" = "--driver-library-path" ]; then
     export SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH=$2
   elif [ "$1" = "--driver-class-path" ]; then
@@ -36,9 +41,66 @@ while (($#)); do
 done
 
 DEPLOY_MODE=${DEPLOY_MODE:-"client"}
+DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_FILE="$SPARK_HOME/conf/spark-defaults.conf"
+PROPERTIES_FILE=${PROPERTIES_FILE:-"$DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_FILE"}
+
+unset DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTIONS
+unset EXECUTOR_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTIONS
+
+# A few Spark configs must be parsed early on before launching the JVM:
+#
+#   [spark.driver.extra*]
+#     These configs encode java options, class paths, and library paths
+#     needed to launch the JVM if we are running Spark in client mode
+#
+#   [spark.*.extraJavaOptions]
+#     The escaped characters in these configs must be preserved for
+#     splitting the arguments in Java later. For these configs, we
+#     export the raw values as environment variables.
+#
+if [[ -f "$PROPERTIES_FILE" ]]; then
+  echo "Using properties file $PROPERTIES_FILE." 1>&2
+  # This exports the value of the given key into JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE
+  parse_java_property "spark.driver.memory"
+  DRIVER_MEMORY_CONF="$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE"
+  parse_java_property "spark.driver.extraLibraryPath"
+  DRIVER_EXTRA_LIBRARY_PATH="$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE"
+  parse_java_property "spark.driver.extraClassPath"
+  DRIVER_EXTRA_CLASSPATH="$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE"
+  parse_java_property "spark.driver.extraJavaOptions"
+  DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE"
+  parse_java_property "spark.executor.extraJavaOptions"
+  EXECUTOR_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE"
+  if [[ -n "DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS" ]]; then
+    export DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "EXECUTOR_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS" ]]; then
+    export EXECUTOR_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS
+  fi
+elif [[ "$PROPERTIES_FILE" != "$DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_FILE" ]]; then
+  echo "Warning: properties file $PROPERTIES_FILE does not exist." 1>&2
+fi
 
-if [ -n "$DRIVER_MEMORY" ] && [ $DEPLOY_MODE == "client" ]; then
-  export SPARK_DRIVER_MEMORY=$DRIVER_MEMORY
+# For client mode, the driver will be launched in the JVM that launches
+# SparkSubmit, so we need to handle the class paths, java options, and
+# memory pre-emptively in bash. Otherwise, it will be too late by the
+# time the JVM has started.
+
+if [[ $DEPLOY_MODE == "client" ]]; then
+  if [[ -n "$DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS" ]]; then
+    export SPARK_SUBMIT_OPTS="$SPARK_SUBMIT_OPTS $DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS"
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$DRIVER_EXTRA_CLASSPATH" ]]; then
+    export SPARK_SUBMIT_CLASSPATH="$SPARK_SUBMIT_CLASSPATH:$DRIVER_EXTRA_CLASSPATH"
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$DRIVER_EXTRA_LIBRARY_PATH" ]]; then
+    export SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH="$SPARK_SUBMIT_LIBRARY_PATH:$DRIVER_EXTRA_LIBRARY_PATH"
+  fi
+  # Favor command line memory over config memory
+  DRIVER_MEMORY=${DRIVER_MEMORY:-"$DRIVER_MEMORY_CONF"}
+  if [[ -n "$DRIVER_MEMORY" ]]; then
+    export SPARK_DRIVER_MEMORY=$DRIVER_MEMORY
+  fi
 fi
 
 exec $SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-class org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkSubmit "${ORIG_ARGS[@]}"
diff --git a/bin/utils.sh b/bin/utils.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..5280b9c40e929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/utils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+# * ---------------------------------------------------- *
+# |  Utility functions for launching Spark applications  |
+# * ---------------------------------------------------- *
+
+# Parse the value of a config from a java properties file according to the specifications in
+# http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/Properties.html#load(java.io.Reader).
+# This accepts the name of the config as an argument, and expects the path of the property
+# file to be found in PROPERTIES_FILE. The value is returned through JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE.
+parse_java_property() {
+  JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE=""  # return value
+  config_buffer=""        # buffer for collecting parts of a config value
+  multi_line=0            # whether this config is spanning multiple lines
+  while read -r line; do
+    # Strip leading and trailing whitespace
+    line=$(echo "$line" | sed "s/^[[:space:]]\(.*\)[[:space:]]*$/\1/")
+    contains_config=$(echo "$line" | grep -e "^$1")
+    if [[ -n "$contains_config" || "$multi_line" == 1 ]]; then
+      has_more_lines=$(echo "$line" | grep -e "\\\\$")
+      if [[ -n "$has_more_lines" ]]; then
+        # Strip trailing backslash
+        line=$(echo "$line" | sed "s/\\\\$//")
+        config_buffer="$config_buffer $line"
+        multi_line=1
+      else
+        JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE="$config_buffer $line"
+        break
+      fi
+    fi
+  done < "$PROPERTIES_FILE"
+
+  # Actually extract the value of the config
+  JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE=$( \
+    echo "$JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE" | \
+    sed "s/$1//" | \
+    sed "s/^[[:space:]]*[:=]\{0,1\}//" | \
+    sed "s/^[[:space:]]*\(.*\)[[:space:]]*$/\1/g" \
+  )
+  export JAVA_PROPERTY_VALUE
+}
+
+# Properly split java options, dealing with whitespace, double quotes and backslashes.
+# This accepts a string and returns the resulting list through SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS.
+split_java_options() {
+  SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS=()  # return value
+  option_buffer=""    # buffer for collecting parts of an option
+  opened_quotes=0     # whether we are expecting a closing double quotes
+  for word in $1; do
+    contains_quote=$(echo "$word" | sed "s/\\\\\"//g" | grep "\"")
+    if [[ -n "$contains_quote" ]]; then
+      # Flip the bit
+      opened_quotes=$(((opened_quotes + 1) % 2))
+    fi
+    if [[ $opened_quotes == 0 ]]; then
+      # Remove all non-escaped quotes around the value
+      SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS+=("$(
+        echo "$option_buffer $word" | \
+        sed "s/^[[:space:]]*//" | \
+        sed "s/\([^\\]\)\"/\1/g" | \
+        sed "s/\\\\\([\\\"]\)/\1/g"
+      )")
+      option_buffer=""
+    else
+      # We are expecting a closing double quote, so keep buffering
+      option_buffer="$option_buffer $word"
+    fi
+  done
+  # Something is wrong if we ended with open double quotes
+  if [[ $opened_quotes == 1 ]]; then
+    echo -e "Java options parse error! Expecting closing double quotes:" 1>&2
+    echo -e "  ${SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS[@]}" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  export SPLIT_JAVA_OPTS
+}
+
+# Put double quotes around each of the given java options that is a system property.
+# This accepts a list and returns the quoted list through QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS
+quote_java_property() {
+  QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS=()
+  for opt in "$@"; do
+    is_system_property=$(echo "$opt" | grep -e "^-D")
+    if [[ -n "$is_system_property" ]]; then
+      QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS+=(\"$opt\")
+    else
+      QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS+=("$opt")
+    fi
+  done
+  export QUOTED_JAVA_OPTS
+}
+
diff --git a/conf/spark-defaults.conf.template b/conf/spark-defaults.conf.template
index 2779342769c14..ad7273d830c16 100644
--- a/conf/spark-defaults.conf.template
+++ b/conf/spark-defaults.conf.template
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 # This is useful for setting default environmental settings.
 
 # Example:
-# spark.master            spark://master:7077
-# spark.eventLog.enabled  true
-# spark.eventLog.dir      hdfs://namenode:8021/directory
-# spark.serializer        org.apache.spark.serializer.KryoSerializer
+# spark.master                     spark://master:7077
+# spark.eventLog.enabled           true
+# spark.eventLog.dir               hdfs://namenode:8021/directory
+# spark.serializer                 org.apache.spark.serializer.KryoSerializer
+# spark.executor.extraJavaOptions  -XX:+PrintGCDetail -Dnumbers="one \"two\" three"
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
index 318509a67a36f..f8cdbc3c392b5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
@@ -195,18 +195,21 @@ object SparkSubmit {
       OptionAssigner(args.jars, YARN, CLUSTER, clOption = "--addJars"),
 
       // Other options
-      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraClassPath, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
-        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraClassPath"),
-      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraJavaOptions, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
-        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraJavaOptions"),
-      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraLibraryPath, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
-        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraLibraryPath"),
       OptionAssigner(args.executorMemory, STANDALONE | MESOS | YARN, ALL_DEPLOY_MODES,
         sysProp = "spark.executor.memory"),
       OptionAssigner(args.totalExecutorCores, STANDALONE | MESOS, ALL_DEPLOY_MODES,
         sysProp = "spark.cores.max"),
       OptionAssigner(args.files, LOCAL | STANDALONE | MESOS, ALL_DEPLOY_MODES,
-        sysProp = "spark.files")
+        sysProp = "spark.files"),
+
+      // Only process driver specific options for cluster mode here,
+      // because they have already been processed in bash for client mode
+      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraClassPath, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
+        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraClassPath"),
+      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraJavaOptions, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
+        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraJavaOptions"),
+      OptionAssigner(args.driverExtraLibraryPath, STANDALONE | YARN, CLUSTER,
+        sysProp = "spark.driver.extraLibraryPath")
     )
 
     // In client mode, launch the application main class directly
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmitArguments.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmitArguments.scala
index 087dd4d633db0..614089272c1e8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmitArguments.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmitArguments.scala
@@ -76,6 +76,15 @@ private[spark] class SparkSubmitArguments(args: Seq[String]) {
         }
       }
     }
+    // For spark.*.extraJavaOptions, we cannot rely on the Java properties loader because it
+    // un-escapes certain characters (" and \) needed to split the string into java options.
+    // For these configs, use the equivalent environment variables instead.
+    sys.env.get("DRIVER_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS").foreach { opts =>
+      defaultProperties("spark.driver.extraJavaOptions") = opts
+    }
+    sys.env.get("EXECUTOR_EXTRA_JAVA_OPTS").foreach { opts =>
+      defaultProperties("spark.executor.extraJavaOptions") = opts
+    }
     defaultProperties
   }