diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index be144837d0a..83835e83bb0 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ Release 2.0.3-alpha - Unreleased
     YARN-253. Fixed container-launch to not fail when there are no local
     resources to localize. (Tom White via vinodkv)
 
+    YARN-330. Fix flakey test: TestNodeManagerShutdown#testKillContainersOnShutdown.
+    (Sandy Ryza via hitesh)
+
 Release 2.0.2-alpha - 2012-09-07 
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/TestNodeManagerShutdown.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/TestNodeManagerShutdown.java
index c5b48819641..f42261765fb 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/TestNodeManagerShutdown.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/nodemanager/TestNodeManagerShutdown.java
@@ -138,7 +138,14 @@ public void testKillContainersOnShutdown() throws IOException {
         containerManager.getContainerStatus(request).getStatus();
     Assert.assertEquals(ContainerState.RUNNING, containerStatus.getState());
     
-    try {Thread.sleep(5000);} catch (InterruptedException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();} 
+    final int MAX_TRIES=20;
+    int numTries = 0;
+    while (!processStartFile.exists() && numTries < MAX_TRIES) {
+      try {
+        Thread.sleep(500);
+      } catch (InterruptedException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
+      numTries++;
+    }
     
     nm.stop();
     
@@ -202,7 +209,7 @@ private File createUnhaltingScriptFile() throws IOException {
     fileWriter.write("trap \"echo $hello >> " + processStartFile + "\" SIGTERM\n");
     fileWriter.write("echo \"Writing pid to start file\"\n");
     fileWriter.write("echo $$ >> " + processStartFile + "\n");
-    fileWriter.write("while true; do\nsleep 1s;\ndone\n");
+    fileWriter.write("while true; do\ndate >> /dev/null;\n done\n");
 
     fileWriter.close();
     return scriptFile;