diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 8b5f2181fab..70f7da5b2f4 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ Release 2.8.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     HADOOP-12055. Deprecate usage of NativeIO#link. (Andrew Wang via cnauroth)
 
+    HADOOP-11971. Move test utilities for tracing from hadoop-hdfs to
+    hadoop-common. (Masatake Iwasaki via aajisaka)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HADOOP-11785. Reduce the number of listStatus operation in distcp
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/SetSpanReceiver.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/SetSpanReceiver.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e242b7461aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/SetSpanReceiver.java
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.tracing;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
+import org.apache.hadoop.test.GenericTestUtils;
+import org.apache.htrace.Span;
+import org.apache.htrace.SpanReceiver;
+import org.apache.htrace.HTraceConfiguration;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+
+/**
+ * Span receiver that puts all spans into a single set.
+ * This is useful for testing.
+ * <p/>
+ * We're not using HTrace's POJOReceiver here so as that doesn't
+ * push all the metrics to a static place, and would make testing
+ * SpanReceiverHost harder.
+ */
+public class SetSpanReceiver implements SpanReceiver {
+
+  public SetSpanReceiver(HTraceConfiguration conf) {
+  }
+
+  public void receiveSpan(Span span) {
+    SetHolder.spans.put(span.getSpanId(), span);
+  }
+
+  public void close() {
+  }
+
+  public static void clear() {
+    SetHolder.spans.clear();
+  }
+
+  public static int size() {
+    return SetHolder.spans.size();
+  }
+
+  public static Collection<Span> getSpans() {
+    return SetHolder.spans.values();
+  }
+
+  public static Map<String, List<Span>> getMap() {
+    return SetHolder.getMap();
+  }
+
+  public static class SetHolder {
+    public static ConcurrentHashMap<Long, Span> spans =
+        new ConcurrentHashMap<Long, Span>();
+
+    public static Map<String, List<Span>> getMap() {
+      Map<String, List<Span>> map = new HashMap<String, List<Span>>();
+
+      for (Span s : spans.values()) {
+        List<Span> l = map.get(s.getDescription());
+        if (l == null) {
+          l = new LinkedList<Span>();
+          map.put(s.getDescription(), l);
+        }
+        l.add(s);
+      }
+      return map;
+    }
+  }
+
+  static void assertSpanNamesFound(final String[] expectedSpanNames) {
+    try {
+      GenericTestUtils.waitFor(new Supplier<Boolean>() {
+        @Override
+        public Boolean get() {
+          Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.getMap();
+          for (String spanName : expectedSpanNames) {
+            if (!map.containsKey(spanName)) {
+              return false;
+            }
+          }
+          return true;
+        }
+      }, 100, 1000);
+    } catch (TimeoutException e) {
+      Assert.fail("timed out to get expected spans: " + e.getMessage());
+    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+      Assert.fail("interrupted while waiting spans: " + e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracing.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracing.java
index 7fb8ac5cbaa..58b3659606d 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracing.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracing.java
@@ -25,11 +25,8 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DFSConfigKeys;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.DistributedFileSystem;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.MiniDFSCluster;
-import org.apache.hadoop.test.GenericTestUtils;
-import org.apache.htrace.HTraceConfiguration;
 import org.apache.htrace.Sampler;
 import org.apache.htrace.Span;
-import org.apache.htrace.SpanReceiver;
 import org.apache.htrace.Trace;
 import org.apache.htrace.TraceScope;
 import org.junit.After;
@@ -37,17 +34,10 @@
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 import org.junit.Test;
-
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
-
-import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
 
 public class TestTracing {
 
@@ -60,9 +50,9 @@ public void testTracing() throws Exception {
     // write and read without tracing started
     String fileName = "testTracingDisabled.dat";
     writeTestFile(fileName);
-    Assert.assertTrue(SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.size() == 0);
+    Assert.assertTrue(SetSpanReceiver.size() == 0);
     readTestFile(fileName);
-    Assert.assertTrue(SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.size() == 0);
+    Assert.assertTrue(SetSpanReceiver.size() == 0);
 
     writeWithTracing();
     readWithTracing();
@@ -91,10 +81,10 @@ public void writeWithTracing() throws Exception {
       "org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.ClientProtocol.addBlock",
       "ClientNamenodeProtocol#addBlock"
     };
-    assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
+    SetSpanReceiver.assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
 
     // The trace should last about the same amount of time as the test
-    Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.getMap();
+    Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.getMap();
     Span s = map.get("testWriteTraceHooks").get(0);
     Assert.assertNotNull(s);
     long spanStart = s.getStartTimeMillis();
@@ -127,7 +117,7 @@ public void writeWithTracing() throws Exception {
            .get(0).getTimelineAnnotations()
            .get(0).getMessage());
 
-    SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.spans.clear();
+    SetSpanReceiver.clear();
   }
 
   public void readWithTracing() throws Exception {
@@ -145,10 +135,10 @@ public void readWithTracing() throws Exception {
       "ClientNamenodeProtocol#getBlockLocations",
       "OpReadBlockProto"
     };
-    assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
+    SetSpanReceiver.assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
 
     // The trace should last about the same amount of time as the test
-    Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.getMap();
+    Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.getMap();
     Span s = map.get("testReadTraceHooks").get(0);
     Assert.assertNotNull(s);
 
@@ -159,10 +149,10 @@ public void readWithTracing() throws Exception {
 
     // There should only be one trace id as it should all be homed in the
     // top trace.
-    for (Span span : SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.spans.values()) {
+    for (Span span : SetSpanReceiver.getSpans()) {
       Assert.assertEquals(ts.getSpan().getTraceId(), span.getTraceId());
     }
-    SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.spans.clear();
+    SetSpanReceiver.clear();
   }
 
   private void writeTestFile(String testFileName) throws Exception {
@@ -211,7 +201,7 @@ public void startCluster() throws IOException {
         .build();
     cluster.waitActive();
     dfs = cluster.getFileSystem();
-    SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.spans.clear();
+    SetSpanReceiver.clear();
   }
 
   @After
@@ -219,68 +209,4 @@ public void shutDown() throws IOException {
     cluster.shutdown();
   }
 
-  static void assertSpanNamesFound(final String[] expectedSpanNames) {
-    try {
-      GenericTestUtils.waitFor(new Supplier<Boolean>() {
-        @Override
-        public Boolean get() {
-          Map<String, List<Span>> map = SetSpanReceiver.SetHolder.getMap();
-          for (String spanName : expectedSpanNames) {
-            if (!map.containsKey(spanName)) {
-              return false;
-            }
-          }
-          return true;
-        }
-      }, 100, 1000);
-    } catch (TimeoutException e) {
-      Assert.fail("timed out to get expected spans: " + e.getMessage());
-    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-      Assert.fail("interrupted while waiting spans: " + e.getMessage());
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Span receiver that puts all spans into a single set.
-   * This is useful for testing.
-   * <p/>
-   * We're not using HTrace's POJOReceiver here so as that doesn't
-   * push all the metrics to a static place, and would make testing
-   * SpanReceiverHost harder.
-   */
-  public static class SetSpanReceiver implements SpanReceiver {
-
-    public SetSpanReceiver(HTraceConfiguration conf) {
-    }
-
-    public void receiveSpan(Span span) {
-      SetHolder.spans.put(span.getSpanId(), span);
-    }
-
-    public void close() {
-    }
-
-    public static class SetHolder {
-      public static ConcurrentHashMap<Long, Span> spans = 
-          new ConcurrentHashMap<Long, Span>();
-          
-      public static int size() {
-        return spans.size();
-      }
-
-      public static Map<String, List<Span>> getMap() {
-        Map<String, List<Span>> map = new HashMap<String, List<Span>>();
-
-        for (Span s : spans.values()) {
-          List<Span> l = map.get(s.getDescription());
-          if (l == null) {
-            l = new LinkedList<Span>();
-            map.put(s.getDescription(), l);
-          }
-          l.add(s);
-        }
-        return map;
-      }
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracingShortCircuitLocalRead.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracingShortCircuitLocalRead.java
index 09ab35038ae..0804a057975 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracingShortCircuitLocalRead.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tracing/TestTracingShortCircuitLocalRead.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public void testShortCircuitTraceHooks() throws IOException {
     conf = new Configuration();
     conf.set(DFSConfigKeys.DFS_CLIENT_HTRACE_PREFIX +
         SpanReceiverHost.SPAN_RECEIVERS_CONF_SUFFIX,
-        TestTracing.SetSpanReceiver.class.getName());
+        SetSpanReceiver.class.getName());
     conf.setLong("dfs.blocksize", 100 * 1024);
     conf.setBoolean(HdfsClientConfigKeys.Read.ShortCircuit.KEY, true);
     conf.setBoolean(HdfsClientConfigKeys.Read.ShortCircuit.SKIP_CHECKSUM_KEY, false);
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public void testShortCircuitTraceHooks() throws IOException {
         "OpRequestShortCircuitAccessProto",
         "ShortCircuitShmRequestProto"
       };
-      TestTracing.assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
+      SetSpanReceiver.assertSpanNamesFound(expectedSpanNames);
     } finally {
       dfs.close();
       cluster.shutdown();