diff --git a/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala b/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
index 9296e79ccf006..bf541c2f454ba 100644
--- a/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
+++ b/yarn/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/Client.scala
@@ -17,11 +17,12 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.deploy.yarn
 
-import java.io.{ByteArrayInputStream, DataInputStream, File, FileOutputStream, IOException}
+import java.io.{ByteArrayInputStream, DataInputStream, File, FileOutputStream, IOException,
+  OutputStreamWriter}
 import java.net.{InetAddress, UnknownHostException, URI, URISyntaxException}
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import java.security.PrivilegedExceptionAction
-import java.util.UUID
+import java.util.{Properties, UUID}
 import java.util.zip.{ZipEntry, ZipOutputStream}
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ import scala.reflect.runtime.universe
 import scala.util.{Try, Success, Failure}
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets.UTF_8
 import com.google.common.base.Objects
 import com.google.common.io.Files
 
@@ -278,20 +280,6 @@ private[spark] class Client(
           "for alternatives.")
     }
 
-    // If we passed in a keytab, make sure we copy the keytab to the staging directory on
-    // HDFS, and setup the relevant environment vars, so the AM can login again.
-    if (loginFromKeytab) {
-      logInfo("To enable the AM to login from keytab, credentials are being copied over to the AM" +
-        " via the YARN Secure Distributed Cache.")
-      val localUri = new URI(args.keytab)
-      val localPath = getQualifiedLocalPath(localUri, hadoopConf)
-      val destinationPath = copyFileToRemote(dst, localPath, replication)
-      val destFs = FileSystem.get(destinationPath.toUri(), hadoopConf)
-      distCacheMgr.addResource(
-        destFs, hadoopConf, destinationPath, localResources, LocalResourceType.FILE,
-        sparkConf.get("spark.yarn.keytab"), statCache, appMasterOnly = true)
-    }
-
     def addDistributedUri(uri: URI): Boolean = {
       val uriStr = uri.toString()
       if (distributedUris.contains(uriStr)) {
@@ -303,6 +291,58 @@ private[spark] class Client(
       }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Distribute a file to the cluster.
+     *
+     * If the file's path is a "local:" URI, it's actually not distributed. Other files are copied
+     * to HDFS (if not already there) and added to the application's distributed cache.
+     *
+     * @param path URI of the file to distribute.
+     * @param resType Type of resource being distributed.
+     * @param destName Name of the file in the distributed cache.
+     * @param targetDir Subdirectory where to place the file.
+     * @param appMasterOnly Whether to distribute only to the AM.
+     * @return A 2-tuple. First item is whether the file is a "local:" URI. Second item is the
+     *         localized path for non-local paths, or the input `path` for local paths.
+     *         The localized path will be null if the URI has already been added to the cache.
+     */
+    def distribute(
+        path: String,
+        resType: LocalResourceType = LocalResourceType.FILE,
+        destName: Option[String] = None,
+        targetDir: Option[String] = None,
+        appMasterOnly: Boolean = false): (Boolean, String) = {
+      val localURI = new URI(path.trim())
+      if (localURI.getScheme != LOCAL_SCHEME) {
+        if (addDistributedUri(localURI)) {
+          val localPath = getQualifiedLocalPath(localURI, hadoopConf)
+          val linkname = targetDir.map(_ + "/").getOrElse("") +
+            destName.orElse(Option(localURI.getFragment())).getOrElse(localPath.getName())
+          val destPath = copyFileToRemote(dst, localPath, replication)
+          val destFs = FileSystem.get(destPath.toUri(), hadoopConf)
+          distCacheMgr.addResource(
+            destFs, hadoopConf, destPath, localResources, resType, linkname, statCache,
+            appMasterOnly = appMasterOnly)
+          (false, linkname)
+        } else {
+          (false, null)
+        }
+      } else {
+        (true, path.trim())
+      }
+    }
+
+    // If we passed in a keytab, make sure we copy the keytab to the staging directory on
+    // HDFS, and setup the relevant environment vars, so the AM can login again.
+    if (loginFromKeytab) {
+      logInfo("To enable the AM to login from keytab, credentials are being copied " +
+        "over to the AM via the YARN Secure Distributed Cache.")
+      val (_, localizedPath) = distribute(args.keytab,
+        destName = Some(sparkConf.get("spark.yarn.keytab")),
+        appMasterOnly = true)
+      require(localizedPath != null, "Keytab file already distributed.")
+    }
+
     /**
      * Copy the given main resource to the distributed cache if the scheme is not "local".
      * Otherwise, set the corresponding key in our SparkConf to handle it downstream.
@@ -315,33 +355,17 @@ private[spark] class Client(
       (SPARK_JAR, sparkJar(sparkConf), CONF_SPARK_JAR),
       (APP_JAR, args.userJar, CONF_SPARK_USER_JAR),
       ("log4j.properties", oldLog4jConf.orNull, null)
-    ).foreach { case (destName, _localPath, confKey) =>
-      val localPath: String = if (_localPath != null) _localPath.trim() else ""
-      if (!localPath.isEmpty()) {
-        val localURI = new URI(localPath)
-        if (localURI.getScheme != LOCAL_SCHEME) {
-          if (addDistributedUri(localURI)) {
-            val src = getQualifiedLocalPath(localURI, hadoopConf)
-            val destPath = copyFileToRemote(dst, src, replication)
-            val destFs = FileSystem.get(destPath.toUri(), hadoopConf)
-            distCacheMgr.addResource(destFs, hadoopConf, destPath,
-              localResources, LocalResourceType.FILE, destName, statCache)
-          }
-        } else if (confKey != null) {
+    ).foreach { case (destName, path, confKey) =>
+      if (path != null && !path.trim().isEmpty()) {
+        val (isLocal, localizedPath) = distribute(path, destName = Some(destName))
+        if (isLocal && confKey != null) {
+          require(localizedPath != null, s"Path $path already distributed.")
           // If the resource is intended for local use only, handle this downstream
           // by setting the appropriate property
-          sparkConf.set(confKey, localPath)
+          sparkConf.set(confKey, localizedPath)
         }
       }
     }
-
-    createConfArchive().foreach { file =>
-      require(addDistributedUri(file.toURI()))
-      val destPath = copyFileToRemote(dst, new Path(file.toURI()), replication)
-      distCacheMgr.addResource(fs, hadoopConf, destPath, localResources, LocalResourceType.ARCHIVE,
-        LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR, statCache, appMasterOnly = true)
-    }
-
     /**
      * Do the same for any additional resources passed in through ClientArguments.
      * Each resource category is represented by a 3-tuple of:
@@ -357,21 +381,10 @@ private[spark] class Client(
     ).foreach { case (flist, resType, addToClasspath) =>
       if (flist != null && !flist.isEmpty()) {
         flist.split(',').foreach { file =>
-          val localURI = new URI(file.trim())
-          if (localURI.getScheme != LOCAL_SCHEME) {
-            if (addDistributedUri(localURI)) {
-              val localPath = new Path(localURI)
-              val linkname = Option(localURI.getFragment()).getOrElse(localPath.getName())
-              val destPath = copyFileToRemote(dst, localPath, replication)
-              distCacheMgr.addResource(
-                fs, hadoopConf, destPath, localResources, resType, linkname, statCache)
-              if (addToClasspath) {
-                cachedSecondaryJarLinks += linkname
-              }
-            }
-          } else if (addToClasspath) {
-            // Resource is intended for local use only and should be added to the class path
-            cachedSecondaryJarLinks += file.trim()
+          val (_, localizedPath) = distribute(file, resType = resType)
+          require(localizedPath != null)
+          if (addToClasspath) {
+            cachedSecondaryJarLinks += localizedPath
           }
         }
       }
@@ -380,11 +393,22 @@ private[spark] class Client(
       sparkConf.set(CONF_SPARK_YARN_SECONDARY_JARS, cachedSecondaryJarLinks.mkString(","))
     }
 
+    if (isClusterMode && args.primaryPyFile != null) {
+      distribute(args.primaryPyFile, appMasterOnly = true)
+    }
+
+    // Distribute an archive with Hadoop and Spark configuration for the AM.
+    val (_, confLocalizedPath) = distribute(createConfArchive().getAbsolutePath(),
+      resType = LocalResourceType.ARCHIVE,
+      destName = Some(LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR),
+      appMasterOnly = true)
+    require(confLocalizedPath != null)
+
     localResources
   }
 
   /**
-   * Create an archive with the Hadoop config files for distribution.
+   * Create an archive with the config files for distribution.
    *
    * These are only used by the AM, since executors will use the configuration object broadcast by
    * the driver. The files are zipped and added to the job as an archive, so that YARN will explode
@@ -396,8 +420,11 @@ private[spark] class Client(
    *
    * Currently this makes a shallow copy of the conf directory. If there are cases where a
    * Hadoop config directory contains subdirectories, this code will have to be fixed.
+   *
+   * The archive also contains some Spark configuration. Namely, it saves the contents of
+   * SparkConf in a file to be loaded by the AM process.
    */
-  private def createConfArchive(): Option[File] = {
+  private def createConfArchive(): File = {
     val hadoopConfFiles = new HashMap[String, File]()
     Seq("HADOOP_CONF_DIR", "YARN_CONF_DIR").foreach { envKey =>
       sys.env.get(envKey).foreach { path =>
@@ -412,28 +439,32 @@ private[spark] class Client(
       }
     }
 
-    if (!hadoopConfFiles.isEmpty) {
-      val hadoopConfArchive = File.createTempFile(LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR, ".zip",
-        new File(Utils.getLocalDir(sparkConf)))
+    val confArchive = File.createTempFile(LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR, ".zip",
+      new File(Utils.getLocalDir(sparkConf)))
+    val confStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(confArchive))
 
-      val hadoopConfStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(hadoopConfArchive))
-      try {
-        hadoopConfStream.setLevel(0)
-        hadoopConfFiles.foreach { case (name, file) =>
-          if (file.canRead()) {
-            hadoopConfStream.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(name))
-            Files.copy(file, hadoopConfStream)
-            hadoopConfStream.closeEntry()
-          }
+    try {
+      confStream.setLevel(0)
+      hadoopConfFiles.foreach { case (name, file) =>
+        if (file.canRead()) {
+          confStream.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(name))
+          Files.copy(file, confStream)
+          confStream.closeEntry()
         }
-      } finally {
-        hadoopConfStream.close()
       }
 
-      Some(hadoopConfArchive)
-    } else {
-      None
+      // Save Spark configuration to a file in the archive.
+      val props = new Properties()
+      sparkConf.getAll.foreach { case (k, v) => props.setProperty(k, v) }
+      confStream.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(SPARK_CONF_FILE))
+      val writer = new OutputStreamWriter(confStream, UTF_8)
+      props.store(writer, "Spark configuration.")
+      writer.flush()
+      confStream.closeEntry()
+    } finally {
+      confStream.close()
     }
+    confArchive
   }
 
   /**
@@ -912,7 +943,10 @@ object Client extends Logging {
   val ENV_DIST_CLASSPATH = "SPARK_DIST_CLASSPATH"
 
   // Subdirectory where the user's hadoop config files will be placed.
-  val LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR = "__hadoop_conf__"
+  val LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR = "__hadoop_conf__"
+
+  // Name of the file in the conf archive containing Spark configuration.
+  val SPARK_CONF_FILE = "__spark_conf__.properties"
 
   /**
    * Find the user-defined Spark jar if configured, or return the jar containing this
@@ -1037,7 +1071,7 @@ object Client extends Logging {
     if (isAM) {
       addClasspathEntry(
         YarnSparkHadoopUtil.expandEnvironment(Environment.PWD) + Path.SEPARATOR +
-          LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR, env)
+          LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR, env)
     }
 
     if (sparkConf.getBoolean("spark.yarn.user.classpath.first", false)) {
diff --git a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ClientSuite.scala b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ClientSuite.scala
index 01d33c9ce9297..a49e5c69c6a19 100644
--- a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ClientSuite.scala
+++ b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/ClientSuite.scala
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class ClientSuite extends SparkFunSuite with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll {
         Environment.PWD.$()
       }
     cp should contain(pwdVar)
-    cp should contain (s"$pwdVar${Path.SEPARATOR}${Client.LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR}")
+    cp should contain (s"$pwdVar${Path.SEPARATOR}${Client.LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR}")
     cp should not contain (Client.SPARK_JAR)
     cp should not contain (Client.APP_JAR)
   }
diff --git a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/YarnClusterSuite.scala b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/YarnClusterSuite.scala
index 2e2aace728497..811d5231bf671 100644
--- a/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/YarnClusterSuite.scala
+++ b/yarn/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/yarn/YarnClusterSuite.scala
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class YarnClusterSuite extends SparkFunSuite with BeforeAndAfterAll with Matcher
     logInfo(s"RM address in configuration is ${config.get(YarnConfiguration.RM_ADDRESS)}")
 
     fakeSparkJar = File.createTempFile("sparkJar", null, tempDir)
-    hadoopConfDir = new File(tempDir, Client.LOCALIZED_HADOOP_CONF_DIR)
+    hadoopConfDir = new File(tempDir, Client.LOCALIZED_CONF_DIR)
     assert(hadoopConfDir.mkdir())
     File.createTempFile("token", ".txt", hadoopConfDir)
   }