diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
index 01c4eb131a564..5db93b26f550e 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLEnv.scala
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ private[hive] object SparkSQLEnv extends Logging {
       metadataHive.setOut(new PrintStream(System.out, true, "UTF-8"))
       metadataHive.setInfo(new PrintStream(System.err, true, "UTF-8"))
       metadataHive.setError(new PrintStream(System.err, true, "UTF-8"))
-      sparkSession.conf.set("spark.sql.hive.version", HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLSessionManager.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLSessionManager.scala
index 7adaafe5ad5c1..00920c297d493 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLSessionManager.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLSessionManager.scala
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ private[hive] class SparkSQLSessionManager(hiveServer: HiveServer2, sqlContext:
     } else {
       sqlContext.newSession()
     }
-    ctx.setConf("spark.sql.hive.version", HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion)
     if (sessionConf != null && sessionConf.containsKey("use:database")) {
       ctx.sql(s"use ${sessionConf.get("use:database")}")
     }
diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suites.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suites.scala
index 4997d7f96afa2..b80596f55bdea 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suites.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/HiveThriftServer2Suites.scala
@@ -155,10 +155,10 @@ class HiveThriftBinaryServerSuite extends HiveThriftJdbcTest {
 
   test("Checks Hive version") {
     withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
-      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET spark.sql.hive.version")
+      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET spark.sql.hive.metastore.version")
       resultSet.next()
-      assert(resultSet.getString(1) === "spark.sql.hive.version")
-      assert(resultSet.getString(2) === HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion)
+      assert(resultSet.getString(1) === "spark.sql.hive.metastore.version")
+      assert(resultSet.getString(2) === HiveUtils.builtinHiveVersion)
     }
   }
 
@@ -521,20 +521,7 @@ class HiveThriftBinaryServerSuite extends HiveThriftJdbcTest {
         conf += resultSet.getString(1) -> resultSet.getString(2)
       }
 
-      assert(conf.get("spark.sql.hive.version") === Some("1.2.1"))
-    }
-  }
-
-  test("Checks Hive version via SET") {
-    withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
-      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET")
-
-      val conf = mutable.Map.empty[String, String]
-      while (resultSet.next()) {
-        conf += resultSet.getString(1) -> resultSet.getString(2)
-      }
-
-      assert(conf.get("spark.sql.hive.version") === Some("1.2.1"))
+      assert(conf.get("spark.sql.hive.metastore.version") === Some("1.2.1"))
     }
   }
 
@@ -721,10 +708,10 @@ class HiveThriftHttpServerSuite extends HiveThriftJdbcTest {
 
   test("Checks Hive version") {
     withJdbcStatement() { statement =>
-      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET spark.sql.hive.version")
+      val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SET spark.sql.hive.metastore.version")
       resultSet.next()
-      assert(resultSet.getString(1) === "spark.sql.hive.version")
-      assert(resultSet.getString(2) === HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion)
+      assert(resultSet.getString(1) === "spark.sql.hive.metastore.version")
+      assert(resultSet.getString(2) === HiveUtils.builtinHiveVersion)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveUtils.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveUtils.scala
index 80b9a3dc9605d..d8e08f1f6df50 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveUtils.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveUtils.scala
@@ -58,28 +58,23 @@ private[spark] object HiveUtils extends Logging {
   }
 
   /** The version of hive used internally by Spark SQL. */
-  val hiveExecutionVersion: String = "1.2.1"
+  val builtinHiveVersion: String = "1.2.1"
 
   val HIVE_METASTORE_VERSION = buildConf("spark.sql.hive.metastore.version")
     .doc("Version of the Hive metastore. Available options are " +
-        s"<code>0.12.0</code> through <code>$hiveExecutionVersion</code>.")
+        s"<code>0.12.0</code> through <code>2.1.1</code>.")
     .stringConf
-    .createWithDefault(hiveExecutionVersion)
-
-  val HIVE_EXECUTION_VERSION = buildConf("spark.sql.hive.version")
-    .doc("Version of Hive used internally by Spark SQL.")
-    .stringConf
-    .createWithDefault(hiveExecutionVersion)
+    .createWithDefault(builtinHiveVersion)
 
   val HIVE_METASTORE_JARS = buildConf("spark.sql.hive.metastore.jars")
     .doc(s"""
       | Location of the jars that should be used to instantiate the HiveMetastoreClient.
       | This property can be one of three options: "
       | 1. "builtin"
-      |   Use Hive ${hiveExecutionVersion}, which is bundled with the Spark assembly when
+      |   Use Hive ${builtinHiveVersion}, which is bundled with the Spark assembly when
       |   <code>-Phive</code> is enabled. When this option is chosen,
       |   <code>spark.sql.hive.metastore.version</code> must be either
-      |   <code>${hiveExecutionVersion}</code> or not defined.
+      |   <code>${builtinHiveVersion}</code> or not defined.
       | 2. "maven"
       |   Use Hive jars of specified version downloaded from Maven repositories.
       | 3. A classpath in the standard format for both Hive and Hadoop.
@@ -259,9 +254,9 @@ private[spark] object HiveUtils extends Logging {
   protected[hive] def newClientForExecution(
       conf: SparkConf,
       hadoopConf: Configuration): HiveClientImpl = {
-    logInfo(s"Initializing execution hive, version $hiveExecutionVersion")
+    logInfo(s"Initializing execution hive, version $builtinHiveVersion")
     val loader = new IsolatedClientLoader(
-      version = IsolatedClientLoader.hiveVersion(hiveExecutionVersion),
+      version = IsolatedClientLoader.hiveVersion(builtinHiveVersion),
       sparkConf = conf,
       execJars = Seq.empty,
       hadoopConf = hadoopConf,
@@ -297,12 +292,12 @@ private[spark] object HiveUtils extends Logging {
     val metaVersion = IsolatedClientLoader.hiveVersion(hiveMetastoreVersion)
 
     val isolatedLoader = if (hiveMetastoreJars == "builtin") {
-      if (hiveExecutionVersion != hiveMetastoreVersion) {
+      if (builtinHiveVersion != hiveMetastoreVersion) {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException(
           "Builtin jars can only be used when hive execution version == hive metastore version. " +
-            s"Execution: $hiveExecutionVersion != Metastore: $hiveMetastoreVersion. " +
+            s"Execution: $builtinHiveVersion != Metastore: $hiveMetastoreVersion. " +
             "Specify a vaild path to the correct hive jars using $HIVE_METASTORE_JARS " +
-            s"or change ${HIVE_METASTORE_VERSION.key} to $hiveExecutionVersion.")
+            s"or change ${HIVE_METASTORE_VERSION.key} to $builtinHiveVersion.")
       }
 
       // We recursively find all jars in the class loader chain,
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/VersionsSuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/VersionsSuite.scala
index edb9a9ffbaaf6..9ed39cc80f50d 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/VersionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/VersionsSuite.scala
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class VersionsSuite extends SparkFunSuite with Logging {
   }
 
   test("success sanity check") {
-    val badClient = buildClient(HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion, new Configuration())
+    val badClient = buildClient(HiveUtils.builtinHiveVersion, new Configuration())
     val db = new CatalogDatabase("default", "desc", new URI("loc"), Map())
     badClient.createDatabase(db, ignoreIfExists = true)
   }
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class VersionsSuite extends SparkFunSuite with Logging {
   test("hadoop configuration preserved") {
     val hadoopConf = new Configuration()
     hadoopConf.set("test", "success")
-    val client = buildClient(HiveUtils.hiveExecutionVersion, hadoopConf)
+    val client = buildClient(HiveUtils.builtinHiveVersion, hadoopConf)
     assert("success" === client.getConf("test", null))
   }