diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index 65dca26149a..b4ca510dfa8 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ Release 2.4.1 - UNRELEASED
     YARN-1701. Improved default paths of the timeline store and the generic
     history store. (Tsuyoshi Ozawa via zjshen)
 
+    YARN-1962. Changed Timeline Service client configuration to be off by default
+    given the non-readiness of the feature yet. (Mohammad Kamrul Islam via
+    vinodkv)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
index 0a11948fc23..fe3c1e11517 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
@@ -1105,7 +1105,7 @@ public class YarnConfiguration extends Configuration {
   /** The setting that controls whether timeline service is enabled or not. */
   public static final String TIMELINE_SERVICE_ENABLED =
       TIMELINE_SERVICE_PREFIX + "enabled";
-  public static final boolean DEFAULT_TIMELINE_SERVICE_ENABLED = true;
+  public static final boolean DEFAULT_TIMELINE_SERVICE_ENABLED = false;
 
   /** host:port address for timeline service RPC APIs. */
   public static final String TIMELINE_SERVICE_ADDRESS =
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/api/impl/TestTimelineClient.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/api/impl/TestTimelineClient.java
index 8f61a05b27e..3c5272a56b3 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/api/impl/TestTimelineClient.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/api/impl/TestTimelineClient.java
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ public class TestTimelineClient {
 
   @Before
   public void setup() {
-    client = createTimelineClient(new YarnConfiguration());
+    YarnConfiguration conf = new YarnConfiguration();
+    conf.setBoolean(YarnConfiguration.TIMELINE_SERVICE_ENABLED, true);
+    client = createTimelineClient(conf);
   }
 
   @After
@@ -127,6 +129,25 @@ public class TestTimelineClient {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testPostEntitiesTimelineServiceDefaultNotEnabled()
+      throws Exception {
+    YarnConfiguration conf = new YarnConfiguration();
+    // Unset the timeline service's enabled properties.
+    // Make sure default value is pickup up
+    conf.unset(YarnConfiguration.TIMELINE_SERVICE_ENABLED);
+    TimelineClientImpl client = createTimelineClient(conf);
+    mockClientResponse(client, ClientResponse.Status.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
+        false, false);
+    try {
+      TimelinePutResponse response = client.putEntities(generateEntity());
+      Assert.assertEquals(0, response.getErrors().size());
+    } catch (YarnException e) {
+      Assert
+          .fail("putEntities should already return before throwing the exception");
+    }
+  }
+
   private static ClientResponse mockClientResponse(TimelineClientImpl client,
       ClientResponse.Status status, boolean hasError, boolean hasRuntimeError) {
     ClientResponse response = mock(ClientResponse.class);
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
index ef50aeaf6d2..9aaeea09d98 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
@@ -1112,7 +1112,7 @@
     If enabled, clients will put entities and events to the timeline server.
     </description>
     <name>yarn.timeline-service.enabled</name>
-    <value>true</value>
+    <value>false</value>
   </property>
 
   <property>