diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/CallQueueManager.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/CallQueueManager.java
index d1bd1807b03..e73ef5371a8 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/CallQueueManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/CallQueueManager.java
@@ -221,12 +221,21 @@ public class CallQueueManager<E extends Schedulable>
     } else if (shouldBackOff(e)) {
       throwBackoff();
     } else {
-      add(e);
+      // No need to re-check backoff criteria since they were just checked
+      addInternal(e, false);
     }
   }
 
   @Override
   public boolean add(E e) {
+    return addInternal(e, true);
+  }
+
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  boolean addInternal(E e, boolean checkBackoff) {
+    if (checkBackoff && isClientBackoffEnabled() && shouldBackOff(e)) {
+      throwBackoff();
+    }
     try {
       return putRef.get().add(e);
     } catch (CallQueueOverflowException ex) {
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Server.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Server.java
index 1d5292c5f14..154877bf327 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Server.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Server.java
@@ -661,6 +661,7 @@ public abstract class Server {
         CommonConfigurationKeys.IPC_SERVER_HANDLER_QUEUE_SIZE_DEFAULT);
     callQueue.swapQueue(getSchedulerClass(prefix, conf),
         getQueueClass(prefix, conf), maxQueueSize, prefix, conf);
+    callQueue.setClientBackoffEnabled(getClientBackoffEnable(prefix, conf));
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestCallQueueManager.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestCallQueueManager.java
index a5a0b0008cb..2b739966d84 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestCallQueueManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestCallQueueManager.java
@@ -434,5 +434,18 @@ public class TestCallQueueManager {
     }
     verify(queue, times(0)).put(call);
     verify(queue, times(0)).add(call);
+
+    // backoff is enabled, add + scheduler backoff = overflow exception.
+    reset(queue);
+    cqm.setClientBackoffEnabled(true);
+    doReturn(Boolean.TRUE).when(cqm).shouldBackOff(call);
+    try {
+      cqm.add(call);
+      fail("didn't fail");
+    } catch (Exception ex) {
+      assertTrue(ex.toString(), ex instanceof CallQueueOverflowException);
+    }
+    verify(queue, times(0)).put(call);
+    verify(queue, times(0)).add(call);
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestRPC.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestRPC.java
index d08c4b4c33a..2f15d2752f7 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestRPC.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/TestRPC.java
@@ -1135,7 +1135,8 @@ public class TestRPC extends TestRpcBase {
                 return null;
               }
             }));
-        verify(spy, timeout(500).times(i + 1)).add(Mockito.<Call>anyObject());
+        verify(spy, timeout(500).times(i + 1)).addInternal(
+            Mockito.<Call>anyObject(), Mockito.eq(false));
       }
       try {
         proxy.sleep(null, newSleepRequest(100));
@@ -1206,7 +1207,8 @@ public class TestRPC extends TestRpcBase {
                 return null;
               }
             }));
-        verify(spy, timeout(500).times(i + 1)).add(Mockito.<Call>anyObject());
+        verify(spy, timeout(500).times(i + 1)).addInternal(
+            Mockito.<Call>anyObject(), Mockito.eq(false));
       }
       // Start another sleep RPC call and verify the call is backed off due to
       // avg response time(3s) exceeds threshold (2s).