diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index fc2acf7b6b3..efbe0a3ed6c 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1789,6 +1789,9 @@ Release 0.23.0 - Unreleased
     MAPREDUCE-3254. Fixed streaming to set the job.jar by using the right
     JobConf ctor. (acmurthy) 
 
+    MAPREDUCE-3264. mapreduce.job.user.name needs to be set automatically.
+    (acmurthy via mahadev)
+
 Release 0.22.0 - Unreleased
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
index d562bdf0f46..ccb3b46aa7f 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/resources/mapred-default.xml
@@ -1224,4 +1224,12 @@
     mapreduce.job.end-notification.max.retry.interval</description>
 </property>
 
+<property>
+  <name>mapreduce.job.user.name</name>
+  <value>${user.name}</value>
+  <description>The user name for the job submitter, configurable only in
+  non-secure mode. In secure mode Kerberos authentication is necessary.
+  </description>
+</property>
+
 </configuration>