diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 3a466c4d658..01b5df86628 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -269,6 +269,9 @@ Release 2.0.1-alpha - UNRELEASED
     HADOOP-8431. Running distcp wo args throws IllegalArgumentException.
     (Sandy Ryza via eli)
 
+    HADOOP-8775. MR2 distcp permits non-positive value to -bandwidth option
+    which causes job never to complete. (Sandy Ryza via atm)
+
   BREAKDOWN OF HDFS-3042 SUBTASKS
 
     HADOOP-8220. ZKFailoverController doesn't handle failure to become active
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/OptionsParser.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/OptionsParser.java
index fe78b70448a..79487e59b90 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/OptionsParser.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/OptionsParser.java
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ public class OptionsParser {
       try {
         Integer mapBandwidth = Integer.parseInt(
             getVal(command, DistCpOptionSwitch.BANDWIDTH.getSwitch()).trim());
+        if (mapBandwidth.intValue() <= 0) {
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Bandwidth specified is not positive: " +
+              mapBandwidth);
+        }
         option.setMapBandwidth(mapBandwidth);
       } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("Bandwidth specified is invalid: " +
diff --git a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestOptionsParser.java b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestOptionsParser.java
index 14c409e8b26..5ab345c7246 100644
--- a/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestOptionsParser.java
+++ b/hadoop-tools/hadoop-distcp/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/tools/TestOptionsParser.java
@@ -110,6 +110,24 @@ public class TestOptionsParser {
         "hdfs://localhost:8020/target/"});
     Assert.assertEquals(options.getMapBandwidth(), 11);
   }
+  
+  @Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
+  public void testParseNonPositiveBandwidth() {
+    OptionsParser.parse(new String[] {
+        "-bandwidth",
+        "-11",
+        "hdfs://localhost:8020/source/first",
+        "hdfs://localhost:8020/target/"});
+  }
+  
+  @Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
+  public void testParseZeroBandwidth() {
+    OptionsParser.parse(new String[] {
+        "-bandwidth",
+        "0",
+        "hdfs://localhost:8020/source/first",
+        "hdfs://localhost:8020/target/"});
+  }
 
   @Test
   public void testParseSkipCRC() {