diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
index 4190312bf5f..f5964104157 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/DistributedFileSystem.java
@@ -3873,7 +3873,8 @@ public class DistributedFileSystem extends FileSystem
       throws IOException {
     // qualify the path to make sure that it refers to the current FS.
     final Path p = makeQualified(path);
-    if (DfsPathCapabilities.hasPathCapability(p, capability)) {
+    if (DfsPathCapabilities.hasPathCapability(p, capability)
+        && supportsSymlinks()) {
       return true;
     }
     // this switch is for features which are in the DFS client but not
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/web/WebHdfsFileSystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/web/WebHdfsFileSystem.java
index 3fba7ed6f22..d2ed92526e3 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/web/WebHdfsFileSystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/web/WebHdfsFileSystem.java
@@ -2206,7 +2206,8 @@ public class WebHdfsFileSystem extends FileSystem
       throws IOException {
     // qualify the path to make sure that it refers to the current FS.
     final Path p = makeQualified(path);
-    if (DfsPathCapabilities.hasPathCapability(p, capability)) {
+    if (DfsPathCapabilities.hasPathCapability(p, capability)
+        && supportsSymlinks()) {
       return true;
     }
     return super.hasPathCapability(p, capability);
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/client/TestDfsPathCapabilities.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/client/TestDfsPathCapabilities.java
index 3feaf7c4d47..4645c43e2d6 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/client/TestDfsPathCapabilities.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/client/TestDfsPathCapabilities.java
@@ -21,46 +21,71 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DistributedFileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.HdfsConfiguration;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.web.WebHdfsFileSystem;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.mockito.Mockito;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import static org.apache.hadoop.fs.CommonPathCapabilities.FS_SYMLINKS;
 
 public class TestDfsPathCapabilities {
+  public static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(TestDfsPathCapabilities.class);
+
+  static FileSystem getFileSystem(String url) throws Exception {
+    final HdfsConfiguration conf = new HdfsConfiguration();
+    conf.set(FileSystem.FS_DEFAULT_NAME_KEY, url);
+    final FileSystem fs = FileSystem.get(conf);
+    Assert.assertTrue(fs.supportsSymlinks());
+    return fs;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Test if {@link DistributedFileSystem#hasPathCapability(Path, String)}
    * returns correct result for FS_SYMLINKS.
    */
   @Test
-  public void testFS_SYMLINKS() throws Exception {
-    final HdfsConfiguration conf = new HdfsConfiguration();
-    conf.set(FileSystem.FS_DEFAULT_NAME_KEY, "hdfs://localhost/");
-    final FileSystem fs = FileSystem.get(conf);
-    Assert.assertTrue(fs instanceof DistributedFileSystem);
-    final DistributedFileSystem dfs = Mockito.spy((DistributedFileSystem) fs);
+  public void testSymlinks() throws Exception {
+    final DistributedFileSystem dfs = Mockito.spy(
+        (DistributedFileSystem) getFileSystem("hdfs://localhost/"));
+    final WebHdfsFileSystem webhdfs = Mockito.spy(
+        (WebHdfsFileSystem) getFileSystem("webhdfs://localhost/"));
+
+    final FileSystem[] fileSystems = {dfs, webhdfs};
     final Path path = new Path("/");
 
-    // Symlinks support disabled
-    Mockito.doReturn(false).when(dfs).supportsSymlinks();
-    Assert.assertFalse(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
-    Assert.assertFalse(dfs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+    for (FileSystem fs : fileSystems) {
+      LOG.info("fs is {}", fs.getClass().getSimpleName());
+      // Symlinks support disabled
+      Mockito.doReturn(false).when(fs).supportsSymlinks();
+      Assert.assertFalse(fs.supportsSymlinks());
+      Assert.assertFalse(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
+      Assert.assertFalse(fs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
 
-    // Symlinks support enabled
-    Mockito.doReturn(true).when(dfs).supportsSymlinks();
-    Assert.assertFalse(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
-    Assert.assertFalse(dfs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+      // Symlinks support enabled
+      Mockito.doReturn(true).when(fs).supportsSymlinks();
+      Assert.assertTrue(fs.supportsSymlinks());
+      Assert.assertFalse(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
+      Assert.assertFalse(fs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+    }
 
-    // Symlinks enabled
+    // Once it is enabled, it cannot be disabled.
     FileSystem.enableSymlinks();
-    Mockito.doReturn(true).when(dfs).supportsSymlinks();
-    Assert.assertTrue(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
-    Assert.assertTrue(dfs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
 
-    // Symlinks enabled but symlink-support is disabled
-    FileSystem.enableSymlinks();
-    Mockito.doReturn(false).when(dfs).supportsSymlinks();
-    Assert.assertTrue(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
-    Assert.assertTrue(dfs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+    for (FileSystem fs : fileSystems) {
+      LOG.info("fs is {}", fs.getClass().getSimpleName());
+      // Symlinks enabled
+      Mockito.doReturn(true).when(fs).supportsSymlinks();
+      Assert.assertTrue(fs.supportsSymlinks());
+      Assert.assertTrue(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
+      Assert.assertTrue(fs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+
+      // Symlinks enabled but symlink-support is disabled
+      Mockito.doReturn(false).when(fs).supportsSymlinks();
+      Assert.assertFalse(fs.supportsSymlinks());
+      Assert.assertTrue(FileSystem.areSymlinksEnabled());
+      Assert.assertFalse(fs.hasPathCapability(path, FS_SYMLINKS));
+    }
   }
 }