diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Client.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Client.java
index bc751f20f2d..929b1e328cf 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Client.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ipc/Client.java
@@ -794,6 +794,7 @@ public class Client {
           //for serializing the
           //data to be written
           d = new DataOutputBuffer();
+          d.writeInt(0); // placeholder for data length
           RpcPayloadHeader header = new RpcPayloadHeader(
               call.rpcKind, RpcPayloadOperation.RPC_FINAL_PAYLOAD, call.id);
           header.write(d);