diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/NodeCLI.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/NodeCLI.java
index f51fee929cf..288a5d2c50d 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/NodeCLI.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/NodeCLI.java
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ public class NodeCLI extends YarnCLI {
         "based on node state, all -all to list all nodes, " +
         "-showDetails to display more details about each node.");
     Option nodeStateOpt = new Option(NODE_STATE_CMD, true,
-        "Works with -list to filter nodes based on input comma-separated list of node states.");
+        "Works with -list to filter nodes based on input comma-separated " +
+        "list of node states. " + getAllValidNodeStates());
     nodeStateOpt.setValueSeparator(',');
     nodeStateOpt.setArgs(Option.UNLIMITED_VALUES);
     nodeStateOpt.setArgName("States");
@@ -89,6 +90,14 @@ public class NodeCLI extends YarnCLI {
     opts.addOption(showDetailsOpt);
     opts.getOption(STATUS_CMD).setArgName("NodeId");
 
+    if (args != null && args.length > 0) {
+      for (int i = args.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+        if (args[i].equalsIgnoreCase("-" + NODE_ALL)) {
+          args[i] = "-" + NODE_ALL;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     int exitCode = -1;
     CommandLine cliParser = null;
     try {
@@ -116,8 +125,15 @@ public class NodeCLI extends YarnCLI {
         if (types != null) {
           for (String type : types) {
             if (!type.trim().isEmpty()) {
-              nodeStates.add(NodeState.valueOf(
-                  org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils.toUpperCase(type.trim())));
+              try {
+                nodeStates.add(NodeState.valueOf(
+                    org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils.toUpperCase(
+                            type.trim())));
+              } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+                sysout.println("The node state " + type + " is invalid.");
+                sysout.println(getAllValidNodeStates());
+                return exitCode;
+              }
             }
           }
         }
@@ -320,4 +336,14 @@ public class NodeCLI extends YarnCLI {
     nodeReportStr.close();
     sysout.println(baos.toString("UTF-8"));
   }
+
+  private String getAllValidNodeStates() {
+    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+    sb.append("The valid node state can be one of the following: ");
+    for (NodeState state : NodeState.values()) {
+      sb.append(state).append(",");
+    }
+    String output = sb.toString();
+    return output.substring(0, output.length() - 1) + ".";
+  }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
index 3783aac659e..380f3db42c9 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     NodeState[] states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    int result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "NEW" });
+    int result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "NEW"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1088,7 +1088,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "RUNNING" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "RUNNING"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1106,13 +1106,13 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     verify(sysOut, times(2)).write(any(byte[].class), anyInt(), anyInt());
 
     sysOutStream.reset();
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     Assert.assertEquals(nodesReportStr, sysOutStream.toString());
     verify(sysOut, times(3)).write(any(byte[].class), anyInt(), anyInt());
 
     sysOutStream.reset();
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "-showDetails" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-showDetails"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
     pw = new PrintWriter(baos);
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "UNHEALTHY" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "UNHEALTHY"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1167,7 +1167,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "DECOMMISSIONED" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "DECOMMISSIONED"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1188,7 +1188,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "REBOOTED" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "REBOOTED"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1209,7 +1209,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", "LOST" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states", "LOST"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1233,8 +1233,8 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--states", 
-                                        "NEW,RUNNING,LOST,REBOOTED" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-states",
+                                        "NEW,RUNNING,LOST,REBOOTED"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     states = nodeStates.toArray(new NodeState[0]);
     when(client.getNodeReports(states))
         .thenReturn(getNodeReports(nodeReports, nodeStates));
-    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "--all" });
+    result = cli.run(new String[] {"-list", "-All"});
     assertEquals(0, result);
     verify(client).getNodeReports(states);
     baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
@@ -1291,6 +1291,10 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     nodesReportStr = baos.toString("UTF-8");
     Assert.assertEquals(nodesReportStr, sysOutStream.toString());
     verify(sysOut, times(10)).write(any(byte[].class), anyInt(), anyInt());
+
+    sysOutStream.reset();
+    result = cli.run(new String[] { "-list", "-states", "InvalidState"});
+    assertEquals(-1, result);
   }
 
   private List<NodeReport> getNodeReports(
@@ -1881,7 +1885,10 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     pw.println("                    details about each node.");
     pw.println(" -showDetails       Works with -list to show more details about each node.");
     pw.println(" -states <States>   Works with -list to filter nodes based on input");
-    pw.println("                    comma-separated list of node states.");
+    pw.println("                    comma-separated list of node states. The valid node");
+    pw.println("                    state can be one of the following:");
+    pw.println("                    NEW,RUNNING,UNHEALTHY,DECOMMISSIONED,LOST,REBOOTED,DEC");
+    pw.println("                    OMMISSIONING,SHUTDOWN.");
     pw.println(" -status <NodeId>   Prints the status report of the node.");
     pw.close();
     String nodesHelpStr = baos.toString("UTF-8");