diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice-hbase-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/TestHBaseTimelineStorage.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice-hbase-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/TestHBaseTimelineStorage.java
index aebd936ff22..68135a01a61 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice-hbase-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/TestHBaseTimelineStorage.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice-hbase-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/TestHBaseTimelineStorage.java
@@ -482,6 +482,63 @@ private static void matchMetrics(Map<Long, Number> m1, Map<Long, Number> m2) {
     }
   }
 
+
+  @Test
+  public void testWriteNullApplicationToHBase() throws Exception {
+    TimelineEntities te = new TimelineEntities();
+    ApplicationEntity entity = new ApplicationEntity();
+    String appId = "application_1000178881110_2002";
+    entity.setId(appId);
+    long cTime = 1425016501000L;
+    entity.setCreatedTime(cTime);
+
+    // add the info map in Timeline Entity
+    Map<String, Object> infoMap = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+    infoMap.put("infoMapKey1", "infoMapValue1");
+    infoMap.put("infoMapKey2", 10);
+    entity.addInfo(infoMap);
+
+    te.addEntity(entity);
+    HBaseTimelineWriterImpl hbi = null;
+    try {
+      Configuration c1 = util.getConfiguration();
+      hbi = new HBaseTimelineWriterImpl(c1);
+      hbi.init(c1);
+      hbi.start();
+      String cluster = "cluster_check_null_application";
+      String user = "user1check_null_application";
+      //set the flow name to null
+      String flow = null;
+      String flowVersion = "AB7822C10F1111";
+      long runid = 1002345678919L;
+      hbi.write(cluster, user, flow, flowVersion, runid, appId, te);
+      hbi.stop();
+
+      // retrieve the row
+      Scan scan = new Scan();
+      scan.setStartRow(Bytes.toBytes(cluster));
+      Connection conn = ConnectionFactory.createConnection(c1);
+      ResultScanner resultScanner = new ApplicationTable()
+          .getResultScanner(c1, conn, scan);
+
+      assertTrue(resultScanner != null);
+      // try to iterate over results
+      int count = 0;
+      for (Result rr = resultScanner.next(); rr != null;
+          rr = resultScanner.next()) {
+         count++;
+      }
+      // there should be no rows written
+      // no exceptions thrown during write
+      assertEquals(0, count);
+    } finally {
+      if (hbi != null) {
+        hbi.stop();
+        hbi.close();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testWriteApplicationToHBase() throws Exception {
     TimelineEntities te = new TimelineEntities();
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/HBaseTimelineWriterImpl.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/HBaseTimelineWriterImpl.java
index 172f982b50a..fe4671fda95 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/HBaseTimelineWriterImpl.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-timelineservice/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/timelineservice/storage/HBaseTimelineWriterImpl.java
@@ -118,6 +118,15 @@ public TimelineWriteResponse write(String clusterId, String userId,
       TimelineEntities data) throws IOException {
 
     TimelineWriteResponse putStatus = new TimelineWriteResponse();
+    // defensive coding to avoid NPE during row key construction
+    if ((flowName == null) || (appId == null) || (clusterId == null)
+        || (userId == null)) {
+      LOG.warn("Found null for one of: flowName=" + flowName + " appId=" + appId
+          + " userId=" + userId + " clusterId=" + clusterId
+          + " . Not proceeding with writing to hbase");
+      return putStatus;
+    }
+
     for (TimelineEntity te : data.getEntities()) {
 
       // a set can have at most 1 null