diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 7c5c63930ed..74eb1606956 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -765,6 +765,9 @@ Release 2.7.0 - UNRELEASED
     HDFS-7575. Upgrade should generate a unique storage ID for each
     volume. (Arpit Agarwal)
 
+    HDFS-3519. Checkpoint upload may interfere with a concurrent saveNamespace.
+    (Ming Ma via cnauroth)
+
 Release 2.6.1 - UNRELEASED
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
index 8ac6926850e..3b5d2c39cc6 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSImage.java
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@ import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
@@ -97,6 +99,15 @@ public class FSImage implements Closeable {
 
   protected NNStorageRetentionManager archivalManager;
 
+  /* Used to make sure there are no concurrent checkpoints for a given txid
+   * The checkpoint here could be one of the following operations.
+   * a. checkpoint when NN is in standby.
+   * b. admin saveNameSpace operation.
+   * c. download checkpoint file from any remote checkpointer.
+  */
+  private final Set<Long> currentlyCheckpointing =
+      Collections.<Long>synchronizedSet(new HashSet<Long>());
+
   /**
    * Construct an FSImage
    * @param conf Configuration
@@ -1058,18 +1069,26 @@ public class FSImage implements Closeable {
       editLog.endCurrentLogSegment(true);
     }
     long imageTxId = getLastAppliedOrWrittenTxId();
+    if (!addToCheckpointing(imageTxId)) {
+      throw new IOException(
+          "FS image is being downloaded from another NN at txid " + imageTxId);
+    }
     try {
-      saveFSImageInAllDirs(source, nnf, imageTxId, canceler);
-      storage.writeAll();
-    } finally {
-      if (editLogWasOpen) {
-        editLog.startLogSegmentAndWriteHeaderTxn(imageTxId + 1);
-        // Take this opportunity to note the current transaction.
-        // Even if the namespace save was cancelled, this marker
-        // is only used to determine what transaction ID is required
-        // for startup. So, it doesn't hurt to update it unnecessarily.
-        storage.writeTransactionIdFileToStorage(imageTxId + 1);
+      try {
+        saveFSImageInAllDirs(source, nnf, imageTxId, canceler);
+        storage.writeAll();
+      } finally {
+        if (editLogWasOpen) {
+          editLog.startLogSegmentAndWriteHeaderTxn(imageTxId + 1);
+          // Take this opportunity to note the current transaction.
+          // Even if the namespace save was cancelled, this marker
+          // is only used to determine what transaction ID is required
+          // for startup. So, it doesn't hurt to update it unnecessarily.
+          storage.writeTransactionIdFileToStorage(imageTxId + 1);
+        }
       }
+    } finally {
+      removeFromCheckpointing(imageTxId);
     }
   }
 
@@ -1078,7 +1097,22 @@ public class FSImage implements Closeable {
    */
   protected synchronized void saveFSImageInAllDirs(FSNamesystem source, long txid)
       throws IOException {
-    saveFSImageInAllDirs(source, NameNodeFile.IMAGE, txid, null);
+    if (!addToCheckpointing(txid)) {
+      throw new IOException(("FS image is being downloaded from another NN"));
+    }
+    try {
+      saveFSImageInAllDirs(source, NameNodeFile.IMAGE, txid, null);
+    } finally {
+      removeFromCheckpointing(txid);
+    }
+  }
+
+  public boolean addToCheckpointing(long txid) {
+    return currentlyCheckpointing.add(txid);
+  }
+
+  public void removeFromCheckpointing(long txid) {
+    currentlyCheckpointing.remove(txid);
   }
 
   private synchronized void saveFSImageInAllDirs(FSNamesystem source,
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ImageServlet.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ImageServlet.java
index d10aacc7768..702c8f14db1 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ImageServlet.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ImageServlet.java
@@ -81,9 +81,6 @@ public class ImageServlet extends HttpServlet {
   private static final String LATEST_FSIMAGE_VALUE = "latest";
   private static final String IMAGE_FILE_TYPE = "imageFile";
 
-  private static final Set<Long> currentlyDownloadingCheckpoints =
-    Collections.synchronizedSet(new HashSet<Long>());
-  
   @Override
   public void doGet(final HttpServletRequest request,
       final HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
@@ -467,17 +464,20 @@ public class ImageServlet extends HttpServlet {
 
               final NameNodeFile nnf = parsedParams.getNameNodeFile();
 
-              if (!currentlyDownloadingCheckpoints.add(txid)) {
+              if (!nnImage.addToCheckpointing(txid)) {
                 response.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_CONFLICT,
-                    "Another checkpointer is already in the process of uploading a"
-                        + " checkpoint made at transaction ID " + txid);
+                    "Either current namenode is checkpointing or another"
+                        + " checkpointer is already in the process of "
+                        + "uploading a checkpoint made at transaction ID "
+                        + txid);
                 return null;
               }
               try {
                 if (nnImage.getStorage().findImageFile(nnf, txid) != null) {
                   response.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_CONFLICT,
-                      "Another checkpointer already uploaded an checkpoint "
-                          + "for txid " + txid);
+                      "Either current namenode has checkpointed or "
+                          + "another checkpointer already uploaded an "
+                          + "checkpoint for txid " + txid);
                   return null;
                 }
 
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ public class ImageServlet extends HttpServlet {
                   stream.close();
                 }
               } finally {
-                currentlyDownloadingCheckpoints.remove(txid);
+                nnImage.removeFromCheckpointing(txid);
               }
               return null;
             }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestStandbyCheckpoints.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestStandbyCheckpoints.java
index 1d75c30e3da..33af0e21979 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestStandbyCheckpoints.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/TestStandbyCheckpoints.java
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ public class TestStandbyCheckpoints {
         throws IOException {
       CompressionOutputStream ret = super.createOutputStream(out);
       CompressionOutputStream spy = Mockito.spy(ret);
-      Mockito.doAnswer(new GenericTestUtils.SleepAnswer(2))
+      Mockito.doAnswer(new GenericTestUtils.SleepAnswer(5))
         .when(spy).write(Mockito.<byte[]>any(), Mockito.anyInt(), Mockito.anyInt());
       return spy;
     }