diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/security/HBasePolicyProvider.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/security/HBasePolicyProvider.java
index 6fcaddddbe1..efeedcead87 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/security/HBasePolicyProvider.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/security/HBasePolicyProvider.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public class HBasePolicyProvider extends PolicyProvider {
   public static void init(Configuration conf,
       ServiceAuthorizationManager authManager) {
     // set service-level authorization security policy
-    conf.set("hadoop.policy.file", "hbase-policy.xml");
+    System.setProperty("hadoop.policy.file", "hbase-policy.xml");
     if (conf.getBoolean(
           ServiceAuthorizationManager.SERVICE_AUTHORIZATION_CONFIG, false)) {
       authManager.refresh(conf, new HBasePolicyProvider());