diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index c85adc18b1e..ed171223283 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -283,6 +283,9 @@ Release 2.0.0 - UNRELEASED
 
     HDFS-3070. HDFS balancer doesn't ensure that hdfs-site.xml is loaded. (atm)
 
+    HDFS-2995. start-dfs.sh should only start the 2NN for namenodes
+    with dfs.namenode.secondary.http-address configured. (eli)
+
   BREAKDOWN OF HDFS-1623 SUBTASKS
 
     HDFS-2179. Add fencing framework and mechanisms for NameNode HA. (todd)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/start-dfs.sh b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/start-dfs.sh
index d267e4cd7c3..72d9e9057ad 100755
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/start-dfs.sh
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/start-dfs.sh
@@ -76,11 +76,13 @@ fi
 
 SECONDARY_NAMENODES=$($HADOOP_PREFIX/bin/hdfs getconf -secondarynamenodes 2>&-)
 
-echo "Starting secondary namenodes [$SECONDARY_NAMENODES]"
+if [ -n "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" ]; then
+  echo "Starting secondary namenodes [$SECONDARY_NAMENODES]"
 
-"$HADOOP_PREFIX/sbin/hadoop-daemons.sh" \
-    --config "$HADOOP_CONF_DIR" \
-    --hostnames "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" \
-    --script "$bin/hdfs" start secondarynamenode
+  "$HADOOP_PREFIX/sbin/hadoop-daemons.sh" \
+      --config "$HADOOP_CONF_DIR" \
+      --hostnames "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" \
+      --script "$bin/hdfs" start secondarynamenode
+fi
 
 # eof
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/stop-dfs.sh b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/stop-dfs.sh
index 33967513c4c..dff41526f95 100755
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/stop-dfs.sh
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/bin/stop-dfs.sh
@@ -52,11 +52,13 @@ fi
 
 SECONDARY_NAMENODES=$($HADOOP_PREFIX/bin/hdfs getconf -secondarynamenodes 2>&-)
 
-echo "Stopping secondary namenodes [$SECONDARY_NAMENODES]"
+if [ -n "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" ]; then
+  echo "Stopping secondary namenodes [$SECONDARY_NAMENODES]"
 
-"$HADOOP_PREFIX/sbin/hadoop-daemons.sh" \
-    --config "$HADOOP_CONF_DIR" \
-    --hostnames "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" \
-    --script "$bin/hdfs" stop secondarynamenode
+  "$HADOOP_PREFIX/sbin/hadoop-daemons.sh" \
+      --config "$HADOOP_CONF_DIR" \
+      --hostnames "$SECONDARY_NAMENODES" \
+      --script "$bin/hdfs" stop secondarynamenode
+fi
 
 # eof