diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-3077.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-3077.txt
index 919510092ee..38ad79e6a8d 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-3077.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-3077.txt
@@ -68,3 +68,5 @@ HDFS-3914. QJM: acceptRecovery should abort current segment (todd)
 HDFS-3915. QJM: Failover fails with auth error in secure cluster (todd)
 
 HDFS-3906. QJM: quorum timeout on failover with large log segment (todd)
+
+HDFS-3840. JournalNodes log JournalNotFormattedException backtrace error before being formatted (todd)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLogger.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLogger.java
index 19206e6dbcc..99b9d6b287d 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLogger.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLogger.java
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ public ListenableFuture<Void> finalizeLogSegment(
    */
   public ListenableFuture<Void> format(NamespaceInfo nsInfo);
 
+  /**
+   * @return whether or not the remote node has any valid data.
+   */
+  public ListenableFuture<Boolean> isFormatted();
+  
   /**
    * @return the state of the last epoch on the target node.
    */
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLoggerSet.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLoggerSet.java
index 8cd6304adde..40df91c00e5 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLoggerSet.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/AsyncLoggerSet.java
@@ -216,29 +216,7 @@ public QuorumCall<AsyncLogger, GetJournalStateResponseProto> getJournalState() {
   public QuorumCall<AsyncLogger, Boolean> isFormatted() {
     Map<AsyncLogger, ListenableFuture<Boolean>> calls = Maps.newHashMap();
     for (AsyncLogger logger : loggers) {
-      final SettableFuture<Boolean> ret = SettableFuture.create();
-      ListenableFuture<GetJournalStateResponseProto> jstate =
-          logger.getJournalState();
-      Futures.addCallback(jstate, new FutureCallback<GetJournalStateResponseProto>() {
-        @Override
-        public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
-          if (t instanceof RemoteException) {
-            t = ((RemoteException)t).unwrapRemoteException();
-          }
-          if (t instanceof JournalNotFormattedException) {
-            ret.set(false);
-          } else {
-            ret.setException(t);
-          }
-        }
-
-        @Override
-        public void onSuccess(GetJournalStateResponseProto jstate) {
-          ret.set(true);
-        }
-      });
-      
-      calls.put(logger, ret);
+      calls.put(logger, logger.isFormatted());
     }
     return QuorumCall.create(calls);
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/IPCLoggerChannel.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/IPCLoggerChannel.java
index f627b8a2e9f..2186d86ba5b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/IPCLoggerChannel.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/client/IPCLoggerChannel.java
@@ -293,6 +293,16 @@ public void run() {
     }
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public ListenableFuture<Boolean> isFormatted() {
+    return executor.submit(new Callable<Boolean>() {
+      @Override
+      public Boolean call() throws IOException {
+        return getProxy().isFormatted(journalId);
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
   @Override
   public ListenableFuture<GetJournalStateResponseProto> getJournalState() {
     return executor.submit(new Callable<GetJournalStateResponseProto>() {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocol/QJournalProtocol.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocol/QJournalProtocol.java
index a6527f19a96..769d0848bd1 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocol/QJournalProtocol.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocol/QJournalProtocol.java
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@
 public interface QJournalProtocol {
   public static final long versionID = 1L;
 
+  /**
+   * @return true if the given journal has been formatted and
+   * contains valid data.
+   */
+  public boolean isFormatted(String journalId) throws IOException;
+
   /**
    * Get the current state of the journal, including the most recent
    * epoch number and the HTTP port.
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
index b689a3da17c..a232331b0b3 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.GetJournalStateResponseProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.HeartbeatRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.HeartbeatResponseProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.IsFormattedRequestProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.IsFormattedResponseProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.JournalIdProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.JournalRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.JournalResponseProto;
@@ -67,6 +69,22 @@ public QJournalProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB(QJournalProtocol impl) {
     this.impl = impl;
   }
 
+  
+  @Override
+  public IsFormattedResponseProto isFormatted(RpcController controller,
+      IsFormattedRequestProto request) throws ServiceException {
+    try {
+      boolean ret = impl.isFormatted(
+          convert(request.getJid()));
+      return IsFormattedResponseProto.newBuilder()
+          .setIsFormatted(ret)
+          .build();
+    } catch (IOException ioe) {
+      throw new ServiceException(ioe);
+    }
+  }
+
+
   @Override
   public GetJournalStateResponseProto getJournalState(RpcController controller,
       GetJournalStateRequestProto request) throws ServiceException {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolTranslatorPB.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolTranslatorPB.java
index d5177e00bfc..290a62aa1d2 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolTranslatorPB.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/protocolPB/QJournalProtocolTranslatorPB.java
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.GetJournalStateRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.GetJournalStateResponseProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.HeartbeatRequestProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.IsFormattedRequestProto;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.IsFormattedResponseProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.JournalIdProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.JournalRequestProto;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.qjournal.protocol.QJournalProtocolProtos.NewEpochRequestProto;
@@ -78,6 +80,20 @@ public void close() {
   }
 
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isFormatted(String journalId) throws IOException {
+    try {
+      IsFormattedRequestProto req = IsFormattedRequestProto.newBuilder()
+          .setJid(convertJournalId(journalId))
+          .build();
+      IsFormattedResponseProto resp = rpcProxy.isFormatted(
+          NULL_CONTROLLER, req);
+      return resp.getIsFormatted();
+    } catch (ServiceException e) {
+      throw ProtobufHelper.getRemoteException(e);
+    }
+  }
+
   @Override
   public GetJournalStateResponseProto getJournalState(String jid)
       throws IOException {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/Journal.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/Journal.java
index 6e75bbc22f2..dd11d3a323f 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/Journal.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/Journal.java
@@ -402,10 +402,14 @@ private synchronized void checkWriteRequest(RequestInfo reqInfo) throws IOExcept
     }
   }
   
+  public synchronized boolean isFormatted() {
+    return storage.isFormatted();
+  }
+
   private void checkFormatted() throws JournalNotFormattedException {
-    if (!storage.isFormatted()) {
-      throw new JournalNotFormattedException("Journal " + storage +
-          " not formatted");
+    if (!isFormatted()) {
+      throw new JournalNotFormattedException("Journal " +
+          storage.getSingularStorageDir() + " not formatted");
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/JournalNodeRpcServer.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/JournalNodeRpcServer.java
index 3ff9df83fe3..02d9df0c236 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/JournalNodeRpcServer.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/JournalNodeRpcServer.java
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ static InetSocketAddress getAddress(Configuration conf) {
         DFSConfigKeys.DFS_JOURNALNODE_RPC_ADDRESS_KEY);
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isFormatted(String journalId) throws IOException {
+    return jn.getOrCreateJournal(journalId).isFormatted();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public GetJournalStateResponseProto getJournalState(String journalId)
         throws IOException {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/QJournalProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/QJournalProtocol.proto
index 8a6bd0d5085..9c448ce3c8c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/QJournalProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/proto/QJournalProtocol.proto
@@ -116,6 +116,17 @@ message PurgeLogsRequestProto {
 message PurgeLogsResponseProto {
 }
 
+/**
+ * isFormatted()
+ */
+message IsFormattedRequestProto {
+  required JournalIdProto jid = 1;
+}
+
+message IsFormattedResponseProto {
+  required bool isFormatted = 1;
+}
+
 /**
  * getJournalState()
  */
@@ -210,6 +221,8 @@ message AcceptRecoveryResponseProto {
  * See the request and response for details of rpc call.
  */
 service QJournalProtocolService {
+  rpc isFormatted(IsFormattedRequestProto) returns (IsFormattedResponseProto);
+
   rpc getJournalState(GetJournalStateRequestProto) returns (GetJournalStateResponseProto);
 
   rpc newEpoch(NewEpochRequestProto) returns (NewEpochResponseProto);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/TestJournal.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/TestJournal.java
index 05cca1c0a25..aaf1f883cd9 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/TestJournal.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/qjournal/server/TestJournal.java
@@ -156,10 +156,13 @@ public void testFormatResetsCachedValues() throws Exception {
 
     assertEquals(12345L, journal.getLastPromisedEpoch());
     assertEquals(12345L, journal.getLastWriterEpoch());
-
+    assertTrue(journal.isFormatted());
+    
     journal.format(FAKE_NSINFO_2);
+    
     assertEquals(0, journal.getLastPromisedEpoch());
     assertEquals(0, journal.getLastWriterEpoch());
+    assertTrue(journal.isFormatted());
   }
   
   /**