diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index a398763615b..3c597c2831a 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ Release 2.0.0 - UNRELEASED
     HADOOP-8086. KerberosName silently sets defaultRealm to "" if the 
     Kerberos config is not found, it should log a WARN (tucu)
 
+    HADOOP-8280. Move VersionUtil/TestVersionUtil and GenericTestUtils from
+    HDFS into Common. (Ahmed Radwan via atm)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
similarity index 99%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
index 59aa5e128ed..dd68c4d74b1 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/VersionUtil.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/VersionUtil.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+package org.apache.hadoop.util;
 
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
similarity index 100%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/test/GenericTestUtils.java
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
similarity index 98%
rename from hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java
rename to hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
index c2537fd515a..a300cd25fb7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestVersionUtil.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/TestVersionUtil.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+package org.apache.hadoop.util;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
index f5d09b1fef2..f018f53e731 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/BPServiceActor.java
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.ReceivedDeletedBlockInfo;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageBlockReport;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReceivedDeletedBlocks;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReport;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util.VersionUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ipc.RemoteException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionUtil;
 
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
index c1b182c92b8..165fd56530c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNodeRpcServer.java
@@ -109,7 +109,6 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageBlockReport;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReceivedDeletedBlocks;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.StorageReport;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.protocol.UpgradeCommand;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util.VersionUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.EnumSetWritable;
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ipc.ProtobufRpcEngine;
@@ -125,6 +124,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.security.authorize.ProxyUsers;
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.SecretManager.InvalidToken;
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.token.Token;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.VersionUtil;
 
 import com.google.protobuf.BlockingService;