diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index 8d3a37abfc2..2212e6c2e49 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -534,6 +534,9 @@ Release 2.4.0 - UNRELEASED
     YARN-1863. Fixed test failure in TestRMFailover after YARN-1859. (Xuan Gong
     via vinodkv)
 
+    YARN-1854. Fixed test failure in TestRMHA#testStartAndTransitions. (Rohith
+    Sharma KS via vinodkv)
+
 Release 2.3.1 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestRMHA.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestRMHA.java
index 62ce51e46a6..a01d488340b 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestRMHA.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestRMHA.java
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.conf.HAUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.event.Dispatcher;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.event.EventHandler;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.YarnRuntimeException;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.server.resourcemanager.rmapp.RMApp;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.server.resourcemanager.rmapp.attempt.RMAppAttempt;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.server.resourcemanager.rmapp.attempt.RMAppAttemptState;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.server.resourcemanager.scheduler.QueueMetrics;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -49,6 +52,8 @@ public class TestRMHA {
   private Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(TestRMHA.class);
   private final Configuration configuration = new YarnConfiguration();
   private MockRM rm = null;
+  private RMApp app = null;
+  private RMAppAttempt attempt = null;
   private static final String STATE_ERR =
       "ResourceManager is in wrong HA state";
 
@@ -103,7 +108,9 @@ public class TestRMHA {
     try {
       rm.getNewAppId();
       rm.registerNode("127.0.0.1:0", 2048);
-      rm.submitApp(1024);
+      app = rm.submitApp(1024);
+      attempt = app.getCurrentAppAttempt();
+      rm.waitForState(attempt.getAppAttemptId(), RMAppAttemptState.SCHEDULED);
     } catch (Exception e) {
       fail("Unable to perform Active RM functions");
       LOG.error("ActiveRM check failed", e);
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ public class TestRMHA {
    * become Active
    */
   @Test (timeout = 30000)
-  public void testStartAndTransitions() throws IOException {
+  public void testStartAndTransitions() throws Exception {
     configuration.setBoolean(YarnConfiguration.AUTO_FAILOVER_ENABLED, false);
     Configuration conf = new YarnConfiguration(configuration);
     rm = new MockRM(conf);
@@ -377,19 +384,34 @@ public class TestRMHA {
   
   private void verifyClusterMetrics(int activeNodes, int appsSubmitted,
       int appsPending, int containersPending, int availableMB,
-      int activeApplications) {
+      int activeApplications) throws Exception {
+    int timeoutSecs = 0;
     QueueMetrics metrics = rm.getResourceScheduler().getRootQueueMetrics();
-    // verify queue metrics
-    assertMetric("appsSubmitted", appsSubmitted, metrics.getAppsSubmitted());
-    assertMetric("appsPending", appsPending, metrics.getAppsPending());
-    assertMetric("containersPending", containersPending,
-        metrics.getPendingContainers());
-    assertMetric("availableMB", availableMB, metrics.getAvailableMB());
-    assertMetric("activeApplications", activeApplications,
-        metrics.getActiveApps());
-    // verify node metric
     ClusterMetrics clusterMetrics = ClusterMetrics.getMetrics();
-    assertMetric("activeNodes", activeNodes, clusterMetrics.getNumActiveNMs());
+    boolean isAllMetricAssertionDone = false;
+    String message = null;
+    while (timeoutSecs++ < 5) {
+      try {
+        // verify queue metrics
+        assertMetric("appsSubmitted", appsSubmitted, metrics.getAppsSubmitted());
+        assertMetric("appsPending", appsPending, metrics.getAppsPending());
+        assertMetric("containersPending", containersPending,
+            metrics.getPendingContainers());
+        assertMetric("availableMB", availableMB, metrics.getAvailableMB());
+        assertMetric("activeApplications", activeApplications,
+            metrics.getActiveApps());
+        // verify node metric
+        assertMetric("activeNodes", activeNodes,
+            clusterMetrics.getNumActiveNMs());
+        isAllMetricAssertionDone = true;
+        break;
+      } catch (AssertionError e) {
+        message = e.getMessage();
+        System.out.println("Waiting for metrics assertion to complete");
+        Thread.sleep(1000);
+      }
+    }
+    assertTrue(message, isAllMetricAssertionDone);
   }
 
   private void assertMetric(String metricName, int expected, int actual) {