diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index 23032be53ad..4da20a6fb80 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -198,6 +198,9 @@ Release 2.4.0 - UNRELEASED
     YARN-1661. Fixed DS ApplicationMaster to write the correct exit log. (Vinod
     Kumar Vavilapalli via zjshen)
 
+    YARN-1672. YarnConfiguration is missing a default for 
+    yarn.nodemanager.log.retain-seconds (Naren Koneru via kasha)
+
 Release 2.3.0 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
index 269809dda33..5322ccd5de6 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
@@ -629,6 +629,7 @@ public class YarnConfiguration extends Configuration {
    */
   public static final String NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS = NM_PREFIX
       + "log.retain-seconds";
+  public static final long DEFAULT_NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS = 3 * 60 * 60;
 
   /**
    * Number of threads used in log cleanup. Only applicable if Log aggregation
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/NonAggregatingLogHandler.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/NonAggregatingLogHandler.java
index a9aacb58c2a..40173e1be21 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/NonAggregatingLogHandler.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/NonAggregatingLogHandler.java
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@ public NonAggregatingLogHandler(Dispatcher dispatcher,
   protected void serviceInit(Configuration conf) throws Exception {
     // Default 3 hours.
     this.deleteDelaySeconds =
-        conf.getLong(YarnConfiguration.NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS, 3 * 60 * 60);
+        conf.getLong(YarnConfiguration.NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS,
+                YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS);
     sched = createScheduledThreadPoolExecutor(conf);
     super.serviceInit(conf);
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/TestNonAggregatingLogHandler.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/TestNonAggregatingLogHandler.java
index 298157bcd4a..300ca286bab 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/TestNonAggregatingLogHandler.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/containermanager/loghandler/TestNonAggregatingLogHandler.java
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ public void testDelayedDelete() {
     conf.set(YarnConfiguration.NM_LOG_DIRS, localLogDirsString);
     conf.setBoolean(YarnConfiguration.LOG_AGGREGATION_ENABLED, false);
 
-    conf.setLong(YarnConfiguration.NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS, 10800l);
+    conf.setLong(YarnConfiguration.NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS,
+            YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_NM_LOG_RETAIN_SECONDS);
 
     DrainDispatcher dispatcher = createDispatcher(conf);
     EventHandler<ApplicationEvent> appEventHandler = mock(EventHandler.class);