diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/ContainerLauncherImpl.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/ContainerLauncherImpl.java
index d09b3cb1e56..d184d9be64b 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/ContainerLauncherImpl.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/ContainerLauncherImpl.java
@@ -379,27 +379,38 @@ class EventProcessor implements Runnable {
 
     @Override
     public void run() {
-      LOG.info("Processing the event " + event.toString());
+      LOG.info("Processing the event {}", event);
 
       // Load ContainerManager tokens before creating a connection.
       // TODO: Do it only once per NodeManager.
       ContainerId containerID = event.getContainerID();
 
-      Container c = getContainer(event);
       switch(event.getType()) {
 
       case CONTAINER_REMOTE_LAUNCH:
         ContainerRemoteLaunchEvent launchEvent
             = (ContainerRemoteLaunchEvent) event;
-        c.launch(launchEvent);
+        getContainer(event).launch(launchEvent);
         break;
 
       case CONTAINER_REMOTE_CLEANUP:
-        c.kill(event.getDumpContainerThreads());
+        // If the container failed to launch earlier (due to dead node for example),
+        // it has been marked as FAILED and removed from containers during
+        // CONTAINER_REMOTE_LAUNCH event handling.
+        // Skip kill() such container during CONTAINER_REMOTE_CLEANUP as
+        // it is not necessary and could cost 15 minutes delay if the node is dead.
+        if (!containers.containsKey(containerID)) {
+          LOG.info("Skip cleanup of already-removed container {}", containerID);
+          // send killed event to task attempt regardless like in kill().
+          context.getEventHandler().handle(new TaskAttemptEvent(event.getTaskAttemptID(),
+              TaskAttemptEventType.TA_CONTAINER_CLEANED));
+          return;
+        }
+        getContainer(event).kill(event.getDumpContainerThreads());
         break;
 
       case CONTAINER_COMPLETED:
-        c.done();
+        getContainer(event).done();
         break;
 
       }
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/TestContainerLauncherImpl.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/TestContainerLauncherImpl.java
index 2057cc80ff0..88ba8943ceb 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/TestContainerLauncherImpl.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-app/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/v2/app/launcher/TestContainerLauncherImpl.java
@@ -209,14 +209,11 @@ public void testHandle() throws Exception {
       ut.waitForPoolToIdle();
       
       verify(mockCM).startContainers(any(StartContainersRequest.class));
-      
+
       LOG.info("inserting cleanup event");
-      ContainerLauncherEvent mockCleanupEvent = 
-        mock(ContainerLauncherEvent.class);
-      when(mockCleanupEvent.getType())
-        .thenReturn(EventType.CONTAINER_REMOTE_CLEANUP);
-      when(mockCleanupEvent.getContainerID())
-        .thenReturn(contId);
+      ContainerLauncherEvent mockCleanupEvent = mock(ContainerLauncherEvent.class);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent.getType()).thenReturn(EventType.CONTAINER_REMOTE_CLEANUP);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent.getContainerID()).thenReturn(contId);
       when(mockCleanupEvent.getTaskAttemptID()).thenReturn(taskAttemptId);
       when(mockCleanupEvent.getContainerMgrAddress()).thenReturn(cmAddress);
       ut.handle(mockCleanupEvent);
@@ -283,8 +280,21 @@ public void testOutOfOrder() throws Exception {
       ut.handle(mockLaunchEvent);
       
       ut.waitForPoolToIdle();
-      
-      verify(mockCM, never()).startContainers(any(StartContainersRequest.class));
+
+      verify(mockCM).startContainers(any(StartContainersRequest.class));
+
+      LOG.info("inserting cleanup event");
+      ContainerLauncherEvent mockCleanupEvent2 = mock(ContainerLauncherEvent.class);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent2.getType()).thenReturn(EventType.CONTAINER_REMOTE_CLEANUP);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent2.getContainerID()).thenReturn(contId);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent2.getTaskAttemptID()).thenReturn(taskAttemptId);
+      when(mockCleanupEvent2.getContainerMgrAddress()).thenReturn(cmAddress);
+      ut.handle(mockCleanupEvent2);
+
+      ut.waitForPoolToIdle();
+
+      // Verifies stopContainers is called on existing container
+      verify(mockCM).stopContainers(any(StopContainersRequest.class));
     } finally {
       ut.stop();
     }