diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
index e2770030b11..3d5992716f4 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
@@ -69,13 +69,6 @@ public class RetryPolicies {
    */
   public static final RetryPolicy RETRY_FOREVER = new RetryForever();
 
-  /**
-   * <p>
-   * Keep failing over forever
-   * </p>
-   */
-  public static final RetryPolicy FAILOVER_FOREVER = new FailoverForever();
-
   /**
    * <p>
    * Keep trying a limited number of times, waiting a fixed time between attempts,
@@ -173,14 +166,6 @@ public class RetryPolicies {
       return RetryAction.RETRY;
     }
   }
-
-  static class FailoverForever implements RetryPolicy {
-    @Override
-    public RetryAction shouldRetry(Exception e, int retries, int failovers,
-        boolean isIdempotentOrAtMostOnce) throws Exception {
-      return RetryAction.FAILOVER_AND_RETRY;
-    }
-  }
   
   /**
    * Retry up to maxRetries.
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/TestRMFailover.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/TestRMFailover.java
index 8545a1a2839..fed26d7f5aa 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/TestRMFailover.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/TestRMFailover.java
@@ -86,9 +86,7 @@ public class TestRMFailover {
     setRpcAddressForRM(RM1_NODE_ID, RM1_PORT_BASE);
     setRpcAddressForRM(RM2_NODE_ID, RM2_PORT_BASE);
 
-    conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.CLIENT_FAILOVER_MAX_ATTEMPTS, 100);
     conf.setLong(YarnConfiguration.CLIENT_FAILOVER_SLEEPTIME_BASE_MS, 100L);
-    conf.setLong(YarnConfiguration.CLIENT_FAILOVER_SLEEPTIME_MAX_MS, 1000L);
     conf.setBoolean(YarnConfiguration.YARN_MINICLUSTER_FIXED_PORTS, true);
     conf.setBoolean(YarnConfiguration.YARN_MINICLUSTER_USE_RPC, true);
 
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/RMProxy.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/RMProxy.java
index 1651c13100c..913eb04613c 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/RMProxy.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/RMProxy.java
@@ -225,19 +225,17 @@ public class RMProxy<T> {
       int maxFailoverAttempts = conf.getInt(
           YarnConfiguration.CLIENT_FAILOVER_MAX_ATTEMPTS, -1);
 
-      RetryPolicy basePolicy = RetryPolicies.TRY_ONCE_THEN_FAIL;
       if (maxFailoverAttempts == -1) {
         if (waitForEver) {
-          basePolicy = RetryPolicies.FAILOVER_FOREVER;
+          maxFailoverAttempts = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
         } else {
-          basePolicy = new FailoverUptoMaximumTimePolicy(
-              System.currentTimeMillis() + rmConnectWaitMS);
+          maxFailoverAttempts = (int) (rmConnectWaitMS / failoverSleepBaseMs);
         }
-        maxFailoverAttempts = 0;
       }
 
-      return RetryPolicies.failoverOnNetworkException(basePolicy,
-          maxFailoverAttempts, failoverSleepBaseMs, failoverSleepMaxMs);
+      return RetryPolicies.failoverOnNetworkException(
+          RetryPolicies.TRY_ONCE_THEN_FAIL, maxFailoverAttempts,
+          failoverSleepBaseMs, failoverSleepMaxMs);
     }
 
     if (waitForEver) {