diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index ab18bd46bed..d2d1a12cf77 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ Release 2.0.3-alpha - Unreleased
     HDFS-3373. Change DFSClient input stream socket cache to global static and add
     a thread to cleanup expired cache entries. (John George via szetszwo)
 
+    HDFS-3896. Add descriptions for dfs.namenode.rpc-address and
+    dfs.namenode.servicerpc-address to hdfs-default.xml. (Jeff Lord via atm)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
   BUG FIXES 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
index afb6468d043..ae9f5008131 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/resources/hdfs-default.xml
@@ -40,12 +40,35 @@
   </description>
 </property>
 
+<property>
+  <name>dfs.namenode.rpc-address</name>
+  <value></value>
+  <description>
+    RPC address that handles all clients requests. In the case of HA/Federation where multiple namenodes exist,
+    the name service id is added to the name e.g. dfs.namenode.rpc-address.ns1
+    dfs.namenode.rpc-address.EXAMPLENAMESERVICE
+    The value of this property will take the form of hdfs://nn-host1:rpc-port.
+  </description>
+</property>
+
+<property>
+  <name>dfs.namenode.servicerpc-address</name>
+  <value></value>
+  <description>
+    RPC address for HDFS Services communication. BackupNode, Datanodes and all other services should be
+    connecting to this address if it is configured. In the case of HA/Federation where multiple namenodes exist,
+    the name service id is added to the name e.g. dfs.namenode.servicerpc-address.ns1
+    dfs.namenode.rpc-address.EXAMPLENAMESERVICE
+    The value of this property will take the form of hdfs://nn-host1:rpc-port.
+    If the value of this property is unset the value of dfs.namenode.rpc-address will be used as the default.
+  </description>
+</property>
+
 <property>
   <name>dfs.namenode.secondary.http-address</name>
   <value>0.0.0.0:50090</value>
   <description>
     The secondary namenode http server address and port.
-    If the port is 0 then the server will start on a free port.
   </description>
 </property>
 
@@ -54,7 +77,6 @@
   <value>0.0.0.0:50010</value>
   <description>
     The datanode server address and port for data transfer.
-    If the port is 0 then the server will start on a free port.
   </description>
 </property>
 
@@ -63,7 +85,6 @@
   <value>0.0.0.0:50075</value>
   <description>
     The datanode http server address and port.
-    If the port is 0 then the server will start on a free port.
   </description>
 </property>
 
@@ -72,7 +93,6 @@
   <value>0.0.0.0:50020</value>
   <description>
     The datanode ipc server address and port.
-    If the port is 0 then the server will start on a free port.
   </description>
 </property>
 
@@ -87,7 +107,6 @@
   <value>0.0.0.0:50070</value>
   <description>
     The address and the base port where the dfs namenode web ui will listen on.
-    If the port is 0 then the server will start on a free port.
   </description>
 </property>