diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/types/dataTypes.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/types/dataTypes.scala
index 70c6d06cf253..49520b7678e9 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/types/dataTypes.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/types/dataTypes.scala
@@ -308,13 +308,9 @@ case class StructField(name: String, dataType: DataType, nullable: Boolean) {
 object StructType {
   protected[sql] def fromAttributes(attributes: Seq[Attribute]): StructType =
     StructType(attributes.map(a => StructField(a.name, a.dataType, a.nullable)))
-
-  private def validateFields(fields: Seq[StructField]): Boolean =
-    fields.map(field => field.name).distinct.size == fields.size
 }
 
 case class StructType(fields: Seq[StructField]) extends DataType {
-  require(StructType.validateFields(fields), "Found fields with the same name.")
 
   /**
    * Returns all field names in a [[Seq]].
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveUdfSuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveUdfSuite.scala
index b6b8592344ef..cc125d539c3c 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveUdfSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveUdfSuite.scala
@@ -17,47 +17,68 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.execution
 
-import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHive
-import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
-import org.apache.spark.SparkContext._
+import java.io.{DataOutput, DataInput}
 import java.util
-import org.apache.hadoop.fs.{FileSystem, Path}
+import java.util.Properties
+
+import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
+
+import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.{SerDeStats, AbstractSerDe}
-import org.apache.hadoop.io.{NullWritable, Writable}
+import org.apache.hadoop.io.Writable
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.objectinspector.{ObjectInspectorFactory, ObjectInspector}
-import java.util.Properties
+
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.objectinspector.primitive.PrimitiveObjectInspectorFactory
-import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
-import java.io.{DataOutput, DataInput}
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.udf.generic.GenericUDF
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.udf.generic.GenericUDF.DeferredObject
 
+import org.apache.spark.sql.Row
+import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHive
+import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHive._
+
+case class Fields(f1: Int, f2: Int, f3: Int, f4: Int, f5: Int)
+
 /**
  * A test suite for Hive custom UDFs.
  */
 class HiveUdfSuite extends HiveComparisonTest {
 
-  TestHive.sql(
-    """
+  test("spark sql udf test that returns a struct") {
+    registerFunction("getStruct", (_: Int) => Fields(1, 2, 3, 4, 5))
+    assert(sql(
+      """
+        |SELECT getStruct(1).f1,
+        |       getStruct(1).f2,
+        |       getStruct(1).f3,
+        |       getStruct(1).f4,
+        |       getStruct(1).f5 FROM src LIMIT 1
+      """.stripMargin).first() === Row(1, 2, 3, 4, 5))
+  }
+
+  test("hive struct udf") {
+    sql(
+      """
       |CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE hiveUdfTestTable (
       |   pair STRUCT<id: INT, value: INT>
       |)
       |PARTITIONED BY (partition STRING)
       |ROW FORMAT SERDE '%s'
       |STORED AS SEQUENCEFILE
-    """.stripMargin.format(classOf[PairSerDe].getName)
-  )
-
-  TestHive.sql(
-    "ALTER TABLE hiveUdfTestTable ADD IF NOT EXISTS PARTITION(partition='testUdf') LOCATION '%s'"
-      .format(this.getClass.getClassLoader.getResource("data/files/testUdf").getFile)
-  )
-
-  TestHive.sql("CREATE TEMPORARY FUNCTION testUdf AS '%s'".format(classOf[PairUdf].getName))
-
-  TestHive.sql("SELECT testUdf(pair) FROM hiveUdfTestTable")
-
-  TestHive.sql("DROP TEMPORARY FUNCTION IF EXISTS testUdf")
+    """.
+        stripMargin.format(classOf[PairSerDe].getName))
+
+    val location = Utils.getSparkClassLoader.getResource("data/files/testUdf").getFile
+    sql(s"""
+      ALTER TABLE hiveUdfTestTable
+      ADD IF NOT EXISTS PARTITION(partition='testUdf')
+      LOCATION '$location'""")
+
+    sql(s"CREATE TEMPORARY FUNCTION testUdf AS '${classOf[PairUdf].getName}'")
+    sql("SELECT testUdf(pair) FROM hiveUdfTestTable")
+    sql("DROP TEMPORARY FUNCTION IF EXISTS testUdf")
+  }
 }
 
 class TestPair(x: Int, y: Int) extends Writable with Serializable {