diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py b/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
index e269ef4304f3..7c4cb15586c0 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
@@ -567,7 +567,11 @@ def join(self, other, on=None, how=None):
         if on is None or len(on) == 0:
             jdf = self._jdf.join(other._jdf)
         elif isinstance(on[0], basestring):
-            jdf = self._jdf.join(other._jdf, self._jseq(on))
+            if how is None:
+                jdf = self._jdf.join(other._jdf, self._jseq(on), "inner")
+            else:
+                assert isinstance(how, basestring), "how should be basestring"
+                jdf = self._jdf.join(other._jdf, self._jseq(on), how)
         else:
             assert isinstance(on[0], Column), "on should be Column or list of Column"
             if len(on) > 1:
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrame.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrame.scala
index 791c10c3d7ce..474ff9204082 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrame.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrame.scala
@@ -484,6 +484,26 @@ class DataFrame private[sql](
    * @since 1.4.0
    */
   def join(right: DataFrame, usingColumns: Seq[String]): DataFrame = {
+    join(right, usingColumns, "inner")
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Equi-join with another [[DataFrame]] using the given columns.
+   *
+   * Different from other join functions, the join columns will only appear once in the output,
+   * i.e. similar to SQL's `JOIN USING` syntax.
+   *
+   * Note that if you perform a self-join using this function without aliasing the input
+   * [[DataFrame]]s, you will NOT be able to reference any columns after the join, since
+   * there is no way to disambiguate which side of the join you would like to reference.
+   *
+   * @param right Right side of the join operation.
+   * @param usingColumns Names of the columns to join on. This columns must exist on both sides.
+   * @param joinType One of: `inner`, `outer`, `left_outer`, `right_outer`, `leftsemi`.
+   * @group dfops
+   * @since 1.6.0
+   */
+  def join(right: DataFrame, usingColumns: Seq[String], joinType: String): DataFrame = {
     // Analyze the self join. The assumption is that the analyzer will disambiguate left vs right
     // by creating a new instance for one of the branch.
     val joined = sqlContext.executePlan(
@@ -502,7 +522,7 @@ class DataFrame private[sql](
       Join(
         joined.left,
         joined.right,
-        joinType = Inner,
+        joinType = JoinType(joinType),
         condition)
     )
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameJoinSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameJoinSuite.scala
index e2716d7841d8..56ad71ea4f48 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameJoinSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameJoinSuite.scala
@@ -42,6 +42,19 @@ class DataFrameJoinSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSQLContext {
       Row(1, 2, "1", "2") :: Row(2, 3, "2", "3") :: Row(3, 4, "3", "4") :: Nil)
   }
 
+  test("join - join using multiple columns and specifying join type") {
+    val df = Seq(1, 2, 3).map(i => (i, i + 1, i.toString)).toDF("int", "int2", "str")
+    val df2 = Seq(1, 2, 3).map(i => (i, i + 1, (i + 1).toString)).toDF("int", "int2", "str")
+
+    checkAnswer(
+      df.join(df2, Seq("int", "str"), "left"),
+      Row(1, 2, "1", null) :: Row(2, 3, "2", null) :: Row(3, 4, "3", null) :: Nil)
+
+    checkAnswer(
+      df.join(df2, Seq("int", "str"), "right"),
+      Row(null, null, null, 2) :: Row(null, null, null, 3) :: Row(null, null, null, 4) :: Nil)
+  }
+
   test("join - join using self join") {
     val df = Seq(1, 2, 3).map(i => (i, i.toString)).toDF("int", "str")