diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
index faa8930cbf8..7c3582f3a6d 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1656,6 +1656,8 @@ Release 0.23.0 - Unreleased
 
     MAPREDUCE-3188. Ensure correct shutdown in services. (todd via acmurthy) 
 
+    MAPREDUCE-3226. Fix shutdown of fetcher threads. (vinodkv via acmurthy) 
+
 Release 0.22.0 - Unreleased
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/EventFetcher.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/EventFetcher.java
index 8f0dad75d55..6facb47aa21 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/EventFetcher.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/EventFetcher.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class EventFetcher<K,V> extends Thread {
     LOG.info(reduce + " Thread started: " + getName());
     
     try {
-      while (true) {
+      while (true && !Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
         try {
           int numNewMaps = getMapCompletionEvents();
           failures = 0;
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ class EventFetcher<K,V> extends Thread {
             LOG.info(reduce + ": " + "Got " + numNewMaps + " new map-outputs");
           }
           LOG.debug("GetMapEventsThread about to sleep for " + SLEEP_TIME);
-          Thread.sleep(SLEEP_TIME);
+          if (!Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
+            Thread.sleep(SLEEP_TIME);
+          }
         } catch (IOException ie) {
           LOG.info("Exception in getting events", ie);
           // check to see whether to abort
@@ -76,7 +78,9 @@ class EventFetcher<K,V> extends Thread {
             throw new IOException("too many failures downloading events", ie);
           }
           // sleep for a bit
-          Thread.sleep(RETRY_PERIOD);
+          if (!Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
+            Thread.sleep(RETRY_PERIOD);
+          }
         }
       }
     } catch (InterruptedException e) {
diff --git a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/Fetcher.java b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/Fetcher.java
index 994251addb4..5a213f05c1a 100644
--- a/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/Fetcher.java
+++ b/hadoop-mapreduce-project/hadoop-mapreduce-client/hadoop-mapreduce-client-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/task/reduce/Fetcher.java
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class Fetcher<K,V> extends Thread {
   
   public void run() {
     try {
-      while (true) {
+      while (true && !Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
         MapHost host = null;
         try {
           // If merge is on, block