diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
index 67d1841e7d0..418c79316ae 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/conf/YarnConfiguration.java
@@ -502,12 +502,19 @@ public class YarnConfiguration extends Configuration {
   public static final int DEFAULT_RM_ADMIN_CLIENT_THREAD_COUNT = 1;
   
   /**
-   * The maximum number of application attempts.
-   * It's a global setting for all application masters.
+   * The maximum number of application attempts for
+   * an application, if unset by user.
    */
   public static final String RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS =
     RM_PREFIX + "am.max-attempts";
   public static final int DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 2;
+
+  /**
+   * The maximum number of application attempts.
+   * It's a global setting for all application masters.
+   */
+  public static final String GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS =
+      RM_PREFIX + "am.global.max-attempts";
   
   /** The keytab for the resource manager.*/
   public static final String RM_KEYTAB = 
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
index 49b3bb293a3..bf4a916ec90 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-common/src/main/resources/yarn-default.xml
@@ -327,11 +327,10 @@
   </property>
 
   <property>
-    <description>The maximum number of application attempts. It's a global
-    setting for all application masters. Each application master can specify
-    its individual maximum number of application attempts via the API, but the
-    individual number cannot be more than the global upper bound. If it is,
-    the resourcemanager will override it. The default number is set to 2, to
+    <description>The default maximum number of application attempts, if unset by
+    the user. Each application master can specify its individual maximum number of application
+    attempts via the API, but the individual number cannot be more than the global upper bound in
+    yarn.resourcemanager.am.global.max-attempts. The default number is set to 2, to
     allow at least one retry for AM.</description>
     <name>yarn.resourcemanager.am.max-attempts</name>
     <value>2</value>
@@ -4534,4 +4533,18 @@
     <name>yarn.webapp.enable-rest-app-submissions</name>
     <value>true</value>
   </property>
+
+   <property>
+    <description>
+      The maximum number of application attempts. It's a global
+      setting for all application masters. Each application master can specify
+      its individual maximum number of application attempts via the API, but the
+      individual number cannot be more than the global upper bound. If it is,
+      the resourcemanager will override it. The default number value is set to
+      yarn.resourcemanager.am.max-attempts.
+    </description>
+    <name>yarn.resourcemanager.am.global.max-attempts</name>
+    <value></value>
+  </property>
+
 </configuration>
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ResourceManager.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ResourceManager.java
index e71d3c78d4f..48cbd8f6fc5 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ResourceManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ResourceManager.java
@@ -613,12 +613,20 @@ public class ResourceManager extends CompositeService
   // sanity check for configurations
   protected static void validateConfigs(Configuration conf) {
     // validate max-attempts
-    int globalMaxAppAttempts =
-        conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+    int rmMaxAppAttempts = conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
         YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS);
+    if (rmMaxAppAttempts <= 0) {
+      throw new YarnRuntimeException("Invalid rm am max attempts configuration"
+          + ", " + YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS
+          + "=" + rmMaxAppAttempts + ", it should be a positive integer.");
+    }
+    int globalMaxAppAttempts = conf.getInt(
+        YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+        conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+            YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS));
     if (globalMaxAppAttempts <= 0) {
       throw new YarnRuntimeException("Invalid global max attempts configuration"
-          + ", " + YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS
+          + ", " + YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS
           + "=" + globalMaxAppAttempts + ", it should be a positive integer.");
     }
 
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/rmapp/RMAppImpl.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/rmapp/RMAppImpl.java
index 8223fe2778e..83188671f82 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/rmapp/RMAppImpl.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/rmapp/RMAppImpl.java
@@ -453,11 +453,20 @@ public class RMAppImpl implements RMApp, Recoverable {
       this.applicationPriority = Priority.newInstance(0);
     }
 
-    int globalMaxAppAttempts = conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+    int globalMaxAppAttempts = conf.getInt(
+        YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+        conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+            YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS));
+    int rmMaxAppAttempts = conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
         YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS);
     int individualMaxAppAttempts = submissionContext.getMaxAppAttempts();
-    if (individualMaxAppAttempts <= 0 ||
-        individualMaxAppAttempts > globalMaxAppAttempts) {
+    if (individualMaxAppAttempts <= 0) {
+      this.maxAppAttempts = rmMaxAppAttempts;
+      LOG.warn("The specific max attempts: " + individualMaxAppAttempts
+          + " for application: " + applicationId.getId()
+          + " is invalid, because it is less than or equal to zero."
+          + " Use the rm max attempts instead.");
+    } else if (individualMaxAppAttempts > globalMaxAppAttempts) {
       this.maxAppAttempts = globalMaxAppAttempts;
       LOG.warn("The specific max attempts: " + individualMaxAppAttempts
           + " for application: " + applicationId.getId()
@@ -1211,8 +1220,9 @@ public class RMAppImpl implements RMApp, Recoverable {
               + " failed due to " + failedEvent.getDiagnosticMsg()
               + ". Failing the application.";
     } else if (this.isNumAttemptsBeyondThreshold) {
-      int globalLimit = conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
-          YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS);
+      int globalLimit = conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+          conf.getInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+              YarnConfiguration.DEFAULT_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS));
       msg = String.format(
         "Application %s failed %d times%s%s due to %s. Failing the application.",
           getApplicationId(),
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestAppManager.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestAppManager.java
index 3e749003c69..77eb7cb8cb4 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestAppManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestAppManager.java
@@ -980,17 +980,20 @@ public class TestAppManager extends AppManagerTestBase{
   @Test (timeout = 30000)
   public void testRMAppSubmitMaxAppAttempts() throws Exception {
     int[] globalMaxAppAttempts = new int[] { 10, 1 };
+    int[] rmAmMaxAttempts = new int[] { 8, 1 };
     int[][] individualMaxAppAttempts = new int[][]{
         new int[]{ 9, 10, 11, 0 },
         new int[]{ 1, 10, 0, -1 }};
     int[][] expectedNums = new int[][]{
-        new int[]{ 9, 10, 10, 10 },
+        new int[]{ 9, 10, 10, 8 },
         new int[]{ 1, 1, 1, 1 }};
     for (int i = 0; i < globalMaxAppAttempts.length; ++i) {
       for (int j = 0; j < individualMaxAppAttempts.length; ++j) {
         ResourceScheduler scheduler = mockResourceScheduler();
         Configuration conf = new Configuration();
-        conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, globalMaxAppAttempts[i]);
+        conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+            globalMaxAppAttempts[i]);
+        conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, rmAmMaxAttempts[i]);
         ApplicationMasterService masterService =
             new ApplicationMasterService(rmContext, scheduler);
         TestRMAppManager appMonitor = new TestRMAppManager(rmContext,
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestResourceManager.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestResourceManager.java
index b9ff5882530..411b8482170 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestResourceManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestResourceManager.java
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ public class TestResourceManager {
   @Test (timeout = 30000)
   public void testResourceManagerInitConfigValidation() throws Exception {
     Configuration conf = new YarnConfiguration();
-    conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, -1);
+    conf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.GLOBAL_RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, -1);
     try {
       resourceManager = new MockRM(conf);
       fail("Exception is expected because the global max attempts" +
@@ -247,6 +247,17 @@ public class TestResourceManager {
       if (!e.getMessage().startsWith(
               "Invalid global max attempts configuration")) throw e;
     }
+    Configuration yarnConf = new YarnConfiguration();
+    yarnConf.setInt(YarnConfiguration.RM_AM_MAX_ATTEMPTS, -1);
+    try {
+      resourceManager = new MockRM(yarnConf);
+      fail("Exception is expected because AM max attempts" +
+          " is negative.");
+    } catch (YarnRuntimeException e) {
+      // Exception is expected.
+      if (!e.getMessage().startsWith(
+              "Invalid rm am max attempts configuration")) throw e;
+    }
   }
 
   @Test