diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/Test.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/Test.java
index 011cdac1f86..3acb4b2df25 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/Test.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/shell/Test.java
@@ -91,8 +91,6 @@ class Test extends FsCommand {
 
   @Override
   protected void processNonexistentPath(PathData item) throws IOException {
-    // NOTE: errors for FNF is not how the shell works!
-    if (flag != 'e') displayError(new PathNotFoundException(item.toString()));
     exitCode = 1;
   }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index dad80b2300b..56b5e4dde98 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -592,6 +592,9 @@ Release 2.0.3-alpha - Unreleased
     HDFS-4139. fuse-dfs RO mode still allows file truncation.
     (Colin Patrick McCabe via eli)    
 
+    HDFS-4104. dfs -test -d prints inappropriate error on nonexistent directory
+    (Andy Isaacson via daryn)
+
 Release 2.0.2-alpha - 2012-09-07 
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/TestDFSShell.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/TestDFSShell.java
index f24444fb693..4b26e77d809 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/TestDFSShell.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/TestDFSShell.java
@@ -452,6 +452,15 @@ public class TestDFSShell {
       assertEquals(" no error ", 0, ret);
       assertTrue("empty path specified",
           (returned.lastIndexOf("empty string") == -1));
+      out.reset();
+      argv = new String[3];
+      argv[0] = "-test";
+      argv[1] = "-d";
+      argv[2] = "/no/such/dir";
+      ret = ToolRunner.run(shell, argv);
+      returned = out.toString();
+      assertEquals(" -test -d wrong result ", 1, ret);
+      assertTrue(returned.isEmpty());
     } finally {
       if (bak != null) {
         System.setErr(bak);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/testHDFSConf.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/testHDFSConf.xml
index 9d37df99b5d..b1a7764dbe5 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/testHDFSConf.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/resources/testHDFSConf.xml
@@ -6264,8 +6264,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `/dir0/file': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6280,8 +6280,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `file': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6296,8 +6296,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `/dir': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6312,8 +6312,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `dir0': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6328,8 +6328,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `hdfs:///dir0/file': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6344,8 +6344,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `hdfs:///dir': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6360,8 +6360,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `hdfs://\w+[-.a-z0-9]*:[0-9]+/dir0/file': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>
@@ -6376,8 +6376,8 @@
       </cleanup-commands>
       <comparators>
         <comparator>
-          <type>RegexpComparator</type>
-          <expected-output>^test: `hdfs://\w+[-.a-z0-9]*:[0-9]+/dir': No such file or directory</expected-output>
+          <type>ExactComparator</type>
+          <expected-output></expected-output>
         </comparator>
       </comparators>
     </test>