diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index fdf65bbcda1..5ccffba2ad5 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ Release 2.6.2 - UNRELEASED
     YARN-4087. Followup fixes after YARN-2019 regarding RM behavior when
     state-store error occurs. (Jian He via xgong)
 
+    YARN-3554. Default value for maximum nodemanager connect wait time is too
+    high (Naganarasimha G R via jlowe)
+
 Release 2.6.1 - 2015-09-23
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
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 d7f24ac886f..ddcd7f6063e 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
@@ -1465,7 +1465,7 @@ public class YarnConfiguration extends Configuration {
   public static final String CLIENT_NM_CONNECT_MAX_WAIT_MS =
       YARN_PREFIX + "client.nodemanager-connect.max-wait-ms";
   public static final long DEFAULT_CLIENT_NM_CONNECT_MAX_WAIT_MS =
-      15 * 60 * 1000;
+      3 * 60 * 1000;
 
   /** Time interval between each attempt to connect to NM */
   public static final String CLIENT_NM_CONNECT_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS =
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 9b56d992acc..e794339f26f 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
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@
   <property>
     <description>Max time to wait to establish a connection to NM</description>
     <name>yarn.client.nodemanager-connect.max-wait-ms</name>
-    <value>900000</value>
+    <value>180000</value>
   </property>
 
   <property>