diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index a892c61ed5b..d9d83a4d911 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ Release 2.0.0 - UNRELEASED
     MAPREDUCE-4138. Reduce memory usage of counters due to non-static nested
     classes. (tomwhite)
 
+    MAPREDUCE-3883. Document yarn.nodemanager.delete.debug-delay-sec 
+    configuration property (Eugene Koontz via tgraves)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
index dd66a1e039c..6e8df109dd4 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
@@ -277,6 +277,26 @@
     <value>4</value>
   </property>
 
+  <property>
+    <description>
+      Number of seconds after an application finishes before the nodemanager's 
+      DeletionService will delete the application's localized file directory
+      and log directory.
+      
+      To diagnose Yarn application problems, set this property's value large
+      enough (for example, to 600 = 10 minutes) to permit examination of these
+      directories. After changing the property's value, you must restart the 
+      nodemanager in order for it to have an effect.
+
+      The roots of Yarn applications' work directories is configurable with
+      the yarn.nodemanager.local-dirs property (see below), and the roots
+      of the Yarn applications' log directories is configurable with the 
+      yarn.nodemanager.log-dirs property (see also below).
+    </description>
+    <name>yarn.nodemanager.delete.debug-delay-sec</name>
+    <value>0</value>
+  </property>
+
   <property>
     <description>Heartbeat interval to RM</description>
     <name>yarn.nodemanager.heartbeat.interval-ms</name>
@@ -290,7 +310,12 @@
   </property>
 
   <property>
-    <description>List of directories to store localized files in.</description>
+    <description>List of directories to store localized files in. An 
+      application's localized file directory will be found in:
+      ${yarn.nodemanager.local-dirs}/usercache/${user}/appcache/application_${appid}.
+      Individual containers' work directories, called container_${contid}, will
+      be subdirectories of this.
+   </description>
     <name>yarn.nodemanager.local-dirs</name>
     <value>/tmp/nm-local-dir</value>
   </property>
@@ -326,7 +351,13 @@
   </property>
 
   <property>
-    <description>Where to store container logs.</description>
+    <description>
+      Where to store container logs. An application's localized log directory 
+      will be found in ${yarn.nodemanager.log-dirs}/application_${appid}.
+      Individual containers' log directories will be below this, in directories 
+      named container_{$contid}. Each container directory will contain the files
+      stderr, stdin, and syslog generated by that container.
+    </description>
     <name>yarn.nodemanager.log-dirs</name>
     <value>/tmp/logs</value>
   </property>