diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
index 67db12f2d0b..9b615cd86e9 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -740,6 +740,9 @@ Release 2.1.0-beta - 2013-07-02
     YARN-853. Fixed CapacityScheduler's maximum-am-resource-percent to properly
     work beyond refreshing queues. (Devaraj K via vinodkv)
 
+    YARN-873. YARNClient.getApplicationReport(unknownAppId) returns a null
+    report (Xuan Gong via bikas)
+
   BREAKDOWN OF HADOOP-8562/YARN-191 SUBTASKS AND RELATED JIRAS
 
     YARN-158. Yarn creating package-info.java must not depend on sh.
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/exceptions/ApplicationNotFoundException.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/exceptions/ApplicationNotFoundException.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8f9a9e25715
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/exceptions/ApplicationNotFoundException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/**
+ * 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.yarn.exceptions;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.ApplicationClientProtocol;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.protocolrecords.GetApplicationReportRequest;
+
+/**
+ * This exception is thrown on
+ * {@link ApplicationClientProtocol#getApplicationReport(GetApplicationReportRequest)} API
+ * when the Application doesn't exist in RM
+ */
+public class ApplicationNotFoundException extends YarnException{
+
+  private static final long serialVersionUID = 8694408L;
+
+  public ApplicationNotFoundException(Throwable cause) {
+    super(cause);
+  }
+
+  public ApplicationNotFoundException(String message) {
+    super(message);
+  }
+
+  public ApplicationNotFoundException(String message,
+      Throwable cause) {
+    super(message, cause);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
index 7d03dcfdd90..45b64bc41c8 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/client/cli/TestYarnCLI.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.NodeState;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.Resource;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.YarnApplicationState;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.client.api.YarnClient;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.ApplicationNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.util.Records;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -108,6 +109,23 @@ public class TestYarnCLI {
     verify(sysOut, times(1)).println(isA(String.class));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetApplicationReportException() throws Exception {
+    ApplicationCLI cli = createAndGetAppCLI();
+    ApplicationId applicationId = ApplicationId.newInstance(1234, 5);
+    when(client.getApplicationReport(any(ApplicationId.class))).thenThrow(
+        new ApplicationNotFoundException("Application with id '"
+            + applicationId + "' doesn't exist in RM."));
+    try {
+      cli.run(new String[] { "-status", applicationId.toString() });
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (Exception ex) {
+      Assert.assertTrue(ex instanceof ApplicationNotFoundException);
+      Assert.assertEquals("Application with id '" + applicationId
+          + "' doesn't exist in RM.", ex.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testGetApplications() throws Exception {
     ApplicationCLI cli = createAndGetAppCLI();
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ClientRMService.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ClientRMService.java
index 882ad5178ac..1f7a8477d6e 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ClientRMService.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/ClientRMService.java
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.QueueInfo;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.Resource;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.api.records.YarnClusterMetrics;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.conf.YarnConfiguration;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.ApplicationNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.YarnException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.factories.RecordFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.factory.providers.RecordFactoryProvider;
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ public class ClientRMService extends AbstractService implements
   
   /**
    * It gives response which includes application report if the application
-   * present otherwise gives response with application report as null.
+   * present otherwise throws ApplicationNotFoundException.
    */
   @Override
   public GetApplicationReportResponse getApplicationReport(
@@ -235,10 +236,10 @@ public class ClientRMService extends AbstractService implements
 
     RMApp application = this.rmContext.getRMApps().get(applicationId);
     if (application == null) {
-      // If the RM doesn't have the application, provide the response with
-      // application report as null and let the clients to handle.
-      return recordFactory
-          .newRecordInstance(GetApplicationReportResponse.class);
+      // If the RM doesn't have the application, throw
+      // ApplicationNotFoundException and let client to handle.
+      throw new ApplicationNotFoundException("Application with id '"
+          + applicationId + "' doesn't exist in RM.");
     }
 
     boolean allowAccess = checkAccess(callerUGI, application.getUser(),
diff --git a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestClientRMService.java b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestClientRMService.java
index cd2e86c5fbe..4817f45e0eb 100644
--- a/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestClientRMService.java
+++ b/hadoop-yarn-project/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-server/hadoop-yarn-server-resourcemanager/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/yarn/server/resourcemanager/TestClientRMService.java
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.conf.YarnConfiguration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.event.Dispatcher;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.event.Event;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.event.EventHandler;
+import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.ApplicationNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.exceptions.YarnException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.factories.RecordFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.yarn.factory.providers.RecordFactoryProvider;
@@ -186,10 +187,14 @@ public class TestClientRMService {
     GetApplicationReportRequest request = recordFactory
         .newRecordInstance(GetApplicationReportRequest.class);
     request.setApplicationId(ApplicationId.newInstance(0, 0));
-    GetApplicationReportResponse applicationReport = rmService
-        .getApplicationReport(request);
-    Assert.assertNull("It should return null as application report for absent application.",
-        applicationReport.getApplicationReport());
+    try {
+      rmService.getApplicationReport(request);
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (ApplicationNotFoundException ex) {
+      Assert.assertEquals(ex.getMessage(),
+          "Application with id '" + request.getApplicationId()
+              + "' doesn't exist in RM.");
+    }
   }
   
   @Test