diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 70339c9c241..b6d404c3018 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ Release 2.5.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     HDFS-6287. Add vecsum test of libhdfs read access times (cmccabe)
 
+    HDFS-5683. Better audit log messages for caching operations.
+    (Abhiraj Butala via wang)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-6214. Webhdfs has poor throughput for files >2GB (daryn)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
index 591890a2b60..2d4d3fd0909 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
@@ -7437,6 +7437,7 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
       cacheManager.waitForRescanIfNeeded();
     }
     writeLock();
+    String effectiveDirectiveStr = null;
     Long result = null;
     try {
       checkOperation(OperationCategory.WRITE);
@@ -7448,11 +7449,12 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
         throw new IOException("addDirective: you cannot specify an ID " +
             "for this operation.");
       }
-      CacheDirectiveInfo effectiveDirective = 
+      CacheDirectiveInfo effectiveDirective =
           cacheManager.addDirective(directive, pc, flags);
       getEditLog().logAddCacheDirectiveInfo(effectiveDirective,
           cacheEntry != null);
       result = effectiveDirective.getId();
+      effectiveDirectiveStr = effectiveDirective.toString();
       success = true;
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
@@ -7460,7 +7462,7 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
         getEditLog().logSync();
       }
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "addCacheDirective", null, null, null);
+        logAuditEvent(success, "addCacheDirective", effectiveDirectiveStr, null, null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success, result);
     }
@@ -7497,7 +7499,8 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
         getEditLog().logSync();
       }
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "modifyCacheDirective", null, null, null);
+        String idStr = "{id: " + directive.getId().toString() + "}";
+        logAuditEvent(success, "modifyCacheDirective", idStr, directive.toString(), null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success);
     }
@@ -7525,7 +7528,8 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "removeCacheDirective", null, null,
+        String idStr = "{id: " + id.toString() + "}";
+        logAuditEvent(success, "removeCacheDirective", idStr, null,
             null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success);
@@ -7550,7 +7554,7 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     } finally {
       readUnlock();
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "listCacheDirectives", null, null,
+        logAuditEvent(success, "listCacheDirectives", filter.toString(), null,
             null);
       }
     }
@@ -7567,6 +7571,7 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     }
     writeLock();
     boolean success = false;
+    String poolInfoStr = null;
     try {
       checkOperation(OperationCategory.WRITE);
       if (isInSafeMode()) {
@@ -7577,12 +7582,13 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
         pc.checkSuperuserPrivilege();
       }
       CachePoolInfo info = cacheManager.addCachePool(req);
+      poolInfoStr = info.toString();
       getEditLog().logAddCachePool(info, cacheEntry != null);
       success = true;
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "addCachePool", req.getPoolName(), null, null);
+        logAuditEvent(success, "addCachePool", poolInfoStr, null, null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success);
     }
@@ -7615,7 +7621,8 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "modifyCachePool", req.getPoolName(), null, null);
+        String poolNameStr = "{poolName: " + req.getPoolName() + "}";
+        logAuditEvent(success, "modifyCachePool", poolNameStr, req.toString(), null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success);
     }
@@ -7648,7 +7655,8 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
       if (isAuditEnabled() && isExternalInvocation()) {
-        logAuditEvent(success, "removeCachePool", cachePoolName, null, null);
+        String poolNameStr = "{poolName: " + cachePoolName + "}";
+        logAuditEvent(success, "removeCachePool", poolNameStr, null, null);
       }
       RetryCache.setState(cacheEntry, success);
     }