diff --git a/bagel/pom.xml b/bagel/pom.xml
index 6155ab5f20155..146cb1ff245cd 100644
--- a/bagel/pom.xml
+++ b/bagel/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project Bagel</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/core/pom.xml b/core/pom.xml
index d3a81d564c2e8..66c1f7bece40d 100644
--- a/core/pom.xml
+++ b/core/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
     <name>Spark Project Core</name>
     <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+    <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+         a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+    <profiles>
+      <profile>
+        <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+        <dependencies>
+           <dependency>
+             <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+             <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+           </dependency>
+        </dependencies>
+      </profile>
+    </profiles>
+
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
diff --git a/docs/building-with-maven.md b/docs/building-with-maven.md
index 40cac8eb4f0db..ded12926885b9 100644
--- a/docs/building-with-maven.md
+++ b/docs/building-with-maven.md
@@ -76,7 +76,3 @@ The maven build includes support for building a Debian package containing the as
     $ mvn -Pdeb -DskipTests clean package
 
 The debian package can then be found under assembly/target. We added the short commit hash to the file name so that we can distinguish individual packages built for SNAPSHOT versions.
-
-## A note about Hadoop version 0.23.x
-
-For building spark with hadoop 0.23.x and also yarn, you will have to manually add a dependency on avro (org.apache.avro, avro, 1.7.4).
diff --git a/examples/pom.xml b/examples/pom.xml
index 12a11821a4947..f9ddce83a9b3d 100644
--- a/examples/pom.xml
+++ b/examples/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project Examples</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <repositories>
     <repository>
       <id>apache-repo</id>
diff --git a/external/flume/pom.xml b/external/flume/pom.xml
index a0e8b84514ef6..ba7167ea949ed 100644
--- a/external/flume/pom.xml
+++ b/external/flume/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project External Flume</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/external/kafka/pom.xml b/external/kafka/pom.xml
index fb37cd79884c8..e161e7be42a6e 100644
--- a/external/kafka/pom.xml
+++ b/external/kafka/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project External Kafka</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/external/mqtt/pom.xml b/external/mqtt/pom.xml
index cfa1870e982fe..1e5b14ae817ff 100644
--- a/external/mqtt/pom.xml
+++ b/external/mqtt/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project External MQTT</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <repositories>
     <repository>
       <id>mqtt-repo</id>
diff --git a/external/twitter/pom.xml b/external/twitter/pom.xml
index 077f88dc59bab..e4680ad9cf2fe 100644
--- a/external/twitter/pom.xml
+++ b/external/twitter/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project External Twitter</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/external/zeromq/pom.xml b/external/zeromq/pom.xml
index 4c68294b7b5af..bbdc45bcc8aa6 100644
--- a/external/zeromq/pom.xml
+++ b/external/zeromq/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project External ZeroMQ</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/graphx/pom.xml b/graphx/pom.xml
index 4823ed1d4eaec..4947c91773ebb 100644
--- a/graphx/pom.xml
+++ b/graphx/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project GraphX</name>
   <url>http://spark-project.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/mllib/pom.xml b/mllib/pom.xml
index 9a61d7c3e46c0..3e2991981cf89 100644
--- a/mllib/pom.xml
+++ b/mllib/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project ML Library</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 21060ee69c041..cebecfac3d43e 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -430,6 +430,21 @@
           </exclusion>
         </exclusions>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+        <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+        <version>1.7.4</version>
+        <exclusions>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>org.jboss.netty</groupId>
+            <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
+            <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
+        </exclusions>
+      </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>net.java.dev.jets3t</groupId>
         <artifactId>jets3t</artifactId>
diff --git a/repl/pom.xml b/repl/pom.xml
index 4c5f9720c802a..277c31215e04b 100644
--- a/repl/pom.xml
+++ b/repl/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project REPL</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+       a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <properties>
     <deb.install.path>/usr/share/spark</deb.install.path>
     <deb.user>root</deb.user>
diff --git a/streaming/pom.xml b/streaming/pom.xml
index acc1d23c7dc20..d96153b13a332 100644
--- a/streaming/pom.xml
+++ b/streaming/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project Streaming</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <repositories>
     <repository>
       <id>apache-repo</id>
diff --git a/tools/pom.xml b/tools/pom.xml
index a27f0db6e5628..d8b9c5516c97b 100644
--- a/tools/pom.xml
+++ b/tools/pom.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,20 @@
   <name>Spark Project Tools</name>
   <url>http://spark.incubator.apache.org/</url>
 
+  <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+       a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
diff --git a/yarn/alpha/pom.xml b/yarn/alpha/pom.xml
index b026128980cb8..7f8c6e53d9079 100644
--- a/yarn/alpha/pom.xml
+++ b/yarn/alpha/pom.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@
     <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
   </parent>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
   <artifactId>spark-yarn-alpha_2.10</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
diff --git a/yarn/pom.xml b/yarn/pom.xml
index c0e133dd603b1..80e234ccee64b 100644
--- a/yarn/pom.xml
+++ b/yarn/pom.xml
@@ -52,14 +52,6 @@
       <artifactId>hadoop-client</artifactId>
       <version>${yarn.version}</version>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
-      <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
-      <artifactId>avro-ipc</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.scalatest</groupId>
       <artifactId>scalatest_${scala.binary.version}</artifactId>
@@ -78,6 +70,15 @@
       <modules>
         <module>alpha</module>
       </modules>
+
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
     </profile>
 
     <profile>
diff --git a/yarn/stable/pom.xml b/yarn/stable/pom.xml
index 7c312206d16d3..96b3e758d31e1 100644
--- a/yarn/stable/pom.xml
+++ b/yarn/stable/pom.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@
     <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
   </parent>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <!-- SPARK-1121: SPARK-1121: Adds an explicit dependency on Avro to work around
+           a Hadoop 0.23.X issue -->
+      <id>yarn-alpha</id>
+      <dependencies>
+         <dependency>
+           <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+           <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+         </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <groupId>org.apache.spark</groupId>
   <artifactId>spark-yarn_2.10</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>