diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 0ab243cc285..6ce1558d04e 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ Release 0.23.2 - UNRELEASED
     HDFS-2950. Secondary NN HTTPS address should be listed as a
     NAMESERVICE_SPECIFIC_KEY. (todd)
 
+    HDFS-2938. Recursive delete of a large directory make namenode
+    unresponsive. (Hari Mankude via suresh)
+
 Release 0.23.1 - 2012-02-08 
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
index e70ed27c2fe..f846295f0e6 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSNamesystem.java
@@ -1980,15 +1980,8 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     } finally {
       writeUnlock();
     }
-
-    getEditLog().logSync();
-
-    writeLock();
-    try {
-      removeBlocks(collectedBlocks); // Incremental deletion of blocks
-    } finally {
-      writeUnlock();
-    }
+    getEditLog().logSync(); 
+    removeBlocks(collectedBlocks); // Incremental deletion of blocks
     collectedBlocks.clear();
     if (NameNode.stateChangeLog.isDebugEnabled()) {
       NameNode.stateChangeLog.debug("DIR* Namesystem.delete: "
@@ -1997,16 +1990,24 @@ public class FSNamesystem implements Namesystem, FSClusterStats,
     return true;
   }
 
-  /** From the given list, incrementally remove the blocks from blockManager */
+  /** 
+   * From the given list, incrementally remove the blocks from blockManager
+   * Writelock is dropped and reacquired every BLOCK_DELETION_INCREMENT to
+   * ensure that other waiters on the lock can get in. See HDFS-2938
+   */
   private void removeBlocks(List<Block> blocks) {
-    assert hasWriteLock();
     int start = 0;
     int end = 0;
     while (start < blocks.size()) {
       end = BLOCK_DELETION_INCREMENT + start;
       end = end > blocks.size() ? blocks.size() : end;
-      for (int i=start; i<end; i++) {
-        blockManager.removeBlock(blocks.get(i));
+      writeLock();
+      try {
+        for (int i = start; i < end; i++) {
+          blockManager.removeBlock(blocks.get(i));
+        }
+      } finally {
+        writeUnlock();
       }
       start = end;
     }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestLargeDirectoryDelete.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestLargeDirectoryDelete.java
index e9966de4f6d..abbce1d1d0e 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestLargeDirectoryDelete.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestLargeDirectoryDelete.java
@@ -117,8 +117,11 @@ public class TestLargeDirectoryDelete {
           try {
             int blockcount = getBlockCount();
             if (blockcount < TOTAL_BLOCKS && blockcount > 0) {
-              synchronized(mc.getNamesystem()) {
+              mc.getNamesystem().writeLock();
+              try {
                 lockOps++;
+              } finally {
+                mc.getNamesystem().writeUnlock();
               }
               Thread.sleep(1);
             }